GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS’ PLAYOFF HUNT CONTINUES AGAINST PENS
Rochester’s final regular season road trip takes them to Pennsylvania for two games
Apr 18, 2026By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
After falling a goal and point short of securing a playoff spot Friday night, the Rochester Americans (31-30-5-4) will give it another go as they head to Pennsylvania for a two-game swing, beginning Saturday night against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (45-17-7-2).
| HOW TO WATCH | PLAYOFF PRIMER | GAME NOTES | MEDIA KIT | LINE CHART |
Here are five things to know before puck drop at Mohegan Sun Arena.
POINTLESS
After tying Friday’s game on a third-period power-play goal from Olivier Nadeau, the Amerks were well on their way to punching their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs. Then, the game got flipped on its head.
In a 1-1 tie with five minutes to play, Cleveland forward Jack Williams was able to barely beat Devon Levi with a wrist shot that hit a piece of the goaltender’s glove before trickling through to give the Monsters a 2-1 lead en route to stunning Rochester in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,662 at Blue Cross Arena.
Despite the goal against, Levi muscled 28 saves in his league-leading 51st start of the season. Nadeau’s goal was his 13th of the season and seventh since the beginning of March. Gavin Bayreuther was the quarterback of the power-play that took the shot Nadeau redirected through, giving the Amerks power-play goals in nine of their last 11 games as the team’s man-advantage continues to be a top-four group in the AHL.
While the Amerks traveled following their game, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton remained home after topping Bridgeport by a 4-1 final Friday night. Ville Koivunen led the charge with a goal and three points to help the Penguins win their eighth game over the team’s last 10.
THE ONE
For the third time this week, the Amerks have a magic number of one and for a second consecutive evening, the scenarios are identical.
Rochester needs a single point to reach the Calder Cup Playoffs. Getting to overtime alone against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will satisfy this requirement. An hour after the Amerks and Penguins’ game gets underway, Utica will be on the road dropping the puck against Providence. Should Rochester lose in regulation at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, they would then also need Utica to fall in any fashion to the Bruins.
The only way Rochester cannot clinch a playoff berth Saturday would be if they were to lose in regulation and Utica were to win at Providence.
RATS VS. PENGUINS
With it being a three-game weekend, Amerks head coach Mike Leone will give his workhorse a rest, with Levi not dressing for Saturday’s game. Rookie goaltender Scott Ratzlaff is tabbed for the call to the crease, with fellow first-year Amerk Topias Leinonen backing up.
Ratzlaff, 21, will make his 13th appearance and 11th start of the 2025-26 campaign. The Irma, Alberta, native shows a 3.23 goals-against average, coupled with an .885 save percentage. In his most recent performance, Ratzlaff made 25 saves while facing 27 shots in the team’s 3-1 loss to Springfield last Friday. Springfield is the only team Ratzlaff has faced from outside the North Division this season. He is 4-5-1 on the season with three of his four wins taking place on the road.
Should Leinonen factor into this weekend, the former second-round pick from Buffalo could see his first bit of AHL action since Dec. 5, 2025 at Charlotte. Leinonen is 3-3-0 with Rochester while also getting the net seven times with ECHL-Jacksonville.
ROSTER UPDATES
Friday saw the return of Jack Rathbone after the Amerks’ alternate captain had been out for over a month due to injury. Unfortunately, Rathbone’s return came just as Zac Jones, the AHL’s leader in points by a defenseman, went down with injury. Jones is expected to miss the rest of the weekend, while Rochester could get forward Riley Fiddler-Schultz back for Sunday’s game.
In other news, center Kaleb Lawrence is expected to return to the lineup Saturday after being out since April 3rd. Lawrence has dropped the gloves three times in 10 games with the Amerks.
DUNDER MIFFLIN
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will finish second in the Atlantic Division regardless of how they end their season Saturday. Despite a flurry of call-ups to Pittsburgh throughout the season, the baby Pens have offered a consistently well-balanced lineup no matter who dresses for the team, as 53 different players have played in the black and gold for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
The AHL’s Penguins are 20-10-4-1 going into their regular season finale on home ice. They can become just the third AHL team this season to reach 100 points and in doing so would reach triple-digits for the first time since the 2016-17 Penguins won the Mac Gregor Kilpatrick Trophy as regular season champions of the league.
The Penguins are 8-1-1-0 over their last 10 and are led by their leading goal scorer, Avery Hayes, who has potted 24 in just 41 games. Sergei Murashov is fifth in the league in both goals-against average (2.26) and save percentage (.917%).
Rochester’s only other game against the Penguins this season came Nov. 5, 2025, when the team topped Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 6-4 win.