GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS VIE FOR PERFECT ROAD TRIP IN FINALE AT LAVAL
Five things to know as Rochester looks to complete weekend sweep in Laval
Nov 1, 2025By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (7-2-0-0) look to carry their winning ways into November, beginning the month with the conclusion of a four-game road trip and a rematch against the Laval Rocket (5-4-0-0) Saturday afternoon at Place Bell.
| GAME NOTES | MEDIA KIT |
Here are five things to know as the puck drops on the first full month of the 2025-26 AHL season.
JOHNSON 5
Today is the second meeting in less than 24 hours between the Amerks and the Rocket. On Friday, Devon Levi and Kappa Kähkönen dueled each other to a scoreless contest through 40 minutes. Jared Davidson would strike first, putting Laval on top early in the third period, before Amerks defenseman Ryan Johnson put his cape on for Halloween to play superhero for the red, white, and blue.
The third-year pro evened the score midway through the third with his first of the season and third career goal, dancing his way around the top of the zone while evading Laval defenders in the process. Then, with under four minutes left, Johnson flung the puck from his own end to the far wall where Trevor Kuntar was able to catch a pass before motoring down the ice to beat Kähkönen and give the Amerks the 2-1 edge needed to win the contest, extending the team’s win streak to five games.
Johnson, 24, began this season in Buffalo, playing in three games for the Sabres after signing a three-year contract with the team over the offseason. Since being reassigned to Rochester two weeks ago, the Newport Beach, California native has been on a tear, posting a goal and five points through six games. Last night was Johnson’s fourth career multi-point outing as an Amerk, with three of those occasions taking place on the road.
Today’s rematch between Laval and Rochester marks Johnson’s 100th game as an Amerk.
SIXCESS
The Amerks will attempt to extend their win streak to six games should they manage to top Laval Saturday. Under the Mike Leone era, Rochester has already seen three different win streaks of six games or more, with the most recent coming during a stretch from Jan. 25 to Feb. 11. The Amerks best run a season ago was a seven-game win streak from Dec. 20 to Jan. 10.
On their current heater, the team has outscored the opposition, 18-7. Last night marked only the second of Rochester’s five wins on its current streak that have been decided by one goal. The 2-1 final snapped a streak of 15 consecutive regular season wins for the Amerks in which the team scored at least four goals dating back to the start of the new year.
Rochester is doing all of this against North Division teams as well, with the first 11 games of the season taking place within the division. Of Rochester’s seven wins on the year, only one required overtime (4-3 win at Cleveland Oct. 25).
THE WHOLE IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS
What’s most impressive about the Amerks’ successful start to the 2025-26 campaign is that they have yet to ice their full lineup for a game this season.
To start the season, Johnson and forward Josh Dunne were in Buffalo. A week later, Johnson returned to the Amerks, but was swapped out for team captain Zach Metsa, who got the chance to make his NHL debut. Dunne would return to Rochester briefly, before being called up again, joining Noah Östlund, who had spent a couple of weeks in blue and gold. Östlund was then reassigned ahead of games this weekend against Laval as the Sabres decided to flip Swedes with the Amerks, calling up fourth-year pro and leading scorer, Isak Rosén, who is off to the best start of a season in his career.
Though he did not appear in a game, defenseman Zac Jones was also recalled, bringing the total number to six different Amerks getting NHL recalls through the first month of the season.
NOVEMBER RAIN
As the Amerks begin their first full month of regular season play, so too begins one of their busiest schedules of the season. November sees Rochester playing 12 games. Only January matches that. Both months will see the Amerks split their home and away games evenly, however, November will see the team face Atlantic Division competition more times than any other month, with six different out-of-division matchups lined up.
The Amerks won’t see the Rocket again after today until the calendar flips to 2026. The team will return home for a pair of games next week, before then entering a week of four games in seven days from Nov. 9-15, with three of them coming on the road, all against teams from the Atlantic.
SWEEPING UP
Saturday marks the third of eight meetings on the year between Rochester and Laval, with the Amerks having won the first two encounters. In the majority of past situations, when the Amerks have played in Laval during the regular season, they tend to be scheduled in pairs of games. Rochester will look to get a two-game sweep of the Rocket for the first time in four years, dating back to Oct. 29-30, 2021, when the Amerks pulled 4-3 and 6-5 wins out of Place Bell on back-to-back nights
Rochester is 31-16-3-0 all-time against Laval in the regular season. The Amerks have picked up at least one point in 17 of their first 26 road games in Laval, going 15-9-2-0 over that span. Conversely, since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, the Amerks have posted a 16-8-1-0 mark at The Blue Cross Arena versus Laval, earning points in all four meetings during the 2023-24 season.