GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS RING IN NEW YEAR SATURDAY IN TORONTO
Five things to know as Amerks and Marlies meet north of the border for the first time since opening weekend
Jan 2, 2026The Rochester Americans’ (16-10-3-1) three-game road trip takes them into the new year as the puck drops on 2026 with a Saturday matinee against the North Division rival Toronto Marlies (17-13-1-1) at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Here are five things to know for the first game after flipping the calendar.
WISHBONES
Rochester’s hopes of ending the year on a high note came to fruition Monday in Cleveland when defenseman Jack Rathbone scored the overtime winner to help the Amerks pick up a 4-3 win against the Monsters. The goal was Rathbone’s second career overtime game-winner and his third goal overall this season. On the other end of the ice, Scott Ratzlaff made his AHL debut, stopping 23 shots, including a magnificent try from Cleveland in a two-on-one sequence in overtime to secure the win.
Vsevolod Komarov, Red Savage, and Isak Rosén each found the back of the net in regulation Monday night as the Amerks ended December with 12 out of a possible 18 points, picking up standings points in eight of their nine games before ending 2025.
Toronto has seen an abnormal schedule this week, playing Tuesday and Thursday, but the change in routine hasn’t resulted in a change of luck. The Marlies skate into the weekend having won four straight, including a New Year’s Day overtime win against Syracuse thanks to former Amerk Alex Nylander.
Both Rochester and Toronto own 36 points to sit in a tie for third place in the North Division standings, but the Amerks own the regulation wins tiebreaker and have two games in hand on the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate.
HEATING UP FOR WINTER
After a single-digit total of games in December, the pace picks up for the Amerks to start the new year with the team playing 12 games in January to match November as the two busiest months of the season for Rochester.
The Amerks will split their dozen contests evenly with six at home and six away from the Flower City, though the red, white, and blue will play only two of their first eight games of January at Blue Cross Arena. Today marks the lone occasion the Amerks face Toronto this month, but besides a pair of games against Hershey at the end of January, every other opponent for the Amerks will come from within the North Division, including a trio of games spread across 12 days against the Syracuse Crunch.
The Amerks will also get multiple glimpses of Belleville and Utica this month, while having one-offs against the Marlies, along with Laval and Cleveland.
RED-EYE
After nearly two months of play in the ECHL, forward Red Savage was recalled to the Amerks following the holiday break and made an impact in the team’s final game of the year. The third-generation pro scored a goal and an assist in the win over the Monsters on Monday night. Savage’s goal was his second of the season, tentatively serving as the go-ahead conversion during the second period, while his assist came on being awarded a shift in overtime where the rookie dropped the puck along the near wall for Rathbone to collect and finish the game.
Savage had been with the Amerks earlier in the season and now has four points (2+2) in seven games with the team. Most of the 22-year-old’s first pro season has been spent with Rochester’s ECHL affiliate in Jacksonville, where Savage has posted a goal and five points through 12 contests.
Should he draw a spot in the lineup, it would be the first time Savage faces the affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team his great uncle and Amerks Hall of Famer Larry Hillman played for and won four of his six Stanley Cups with during the 1960s.
27 IN THE 6
Devon Levi has shown mastery in his play against the Marlies. Over the course of his three-year tenure as an Amerk, the 24-year-old displays a 5-1-0 record against Toronto, with his lone loss coming at the end of the 2024-25 campaign. This marks just the second time that Levi would start a game in Toronto and the first at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Levi’s only prior game against the Marlies that came North of the border was back on Feb. 19, 2024, where the Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec, native churned out the best performance of his career. That day, Levi made an astounding 52 saves down the street at Scotiabank Arena as the Amerks pulled out a 2-1 overtime win.
On Oct. 10 this past year, Levi picked up 24 saves in the team’s 4-3 win over Toronto that opened the 2025-26 season. As the new year begins, Levi carries an 11-5-4 record, with his 1,193 minutes played topping all Eastern Conference goaltenders, as does his 540 saves made through 20 starts.
KEEP IT CLOSE
After an up-and-down start to the season, the Marlies have gotten their act together of late, picking up four straight wins and going 7-3-0-0 over the past 10 games to pull into a tie for third in the division with the Amerks. Toronto’s success has been by the slimmest of margins, with each of their four consecutive wins being decided by one goal.
The Marlies lead the AHL with 12 one-goal wins on the season. They are also 12-0-0-0 when leading after two periods. Bo Groulx, the son of former Amerks head coach Benoit Groulx, has been leading the charge as the fifth-year pro is on pace for a career season with 14 goals through 31 games.
Similar to Rochester, the Marlies have utilized five different goaltenders this season, though Artur Akhtyamov has taken the bulk of the work with an 11-6-0 record, winning five of his last six starts.
This is the third of six meetings on the season between Rochester and Toronto. Six of the last 10 matchups have been decided by a goal. The Amerks are 12-12-2-2 versus Toronto since 2020.