GAME PREVIEW: ÖSTLUND RETURNS FOR AMERKS IN MIDWEEK MATCHUP WITH SENS
Five things to know as Amerks close out three-game road trip in Belleville
Dec 9, 2025By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (13-9-2-0) wrap up their three-game road trip seeking points in each contest with a Wednesday clash against the Belleville Senators (11-12-2-0) at CAA Arena.
Here are five things to know as the Amerks play round three of their season series with the Senators.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
Rochester enters the new week a point shy of where they may have expected to be. With under 10 minutes to play in regulation Saturday night, the Amerks watched a 3-1 lead disappear as the Charlotte Checkers rallied to tie the contest, eventually winning the game in overtime, 4-3.
Konsta Helenius, Jagger Joshua, and Carson Meyer scored goals through the first 40 minutes for the Amerks to aid the team in yielding a multi-goal lead, but a pair of power-play goals against helped the Checkers stay afloat before Tobias Bjornfot would net the game-winning conversion 37 seconds into overtime.
Devon Levi and the Amerks as a whole faced a season high-44 shots on goal. The third-year pro registered 40 saves, marking the fifth time as an Amerk that Levi has stopped 40 or more shots. The first time Levi had made 40 stops in an AHL game was his first in the league back on Dec. 1, 2023 at Belleville.
Elsewhere, the Senators had been laboring for a win, but finally earned one against the division-leading Rocket via a 4-3 victory thanks to Garrett Pilon, who scored the go-ahead goal with 2:23 to play. The Sens had a 3-0 lead that Laval managed to erase with a trio of goals in the middle period before Pilon put Belleville ahead for good, ending the Senators’ five-game losing skid.
ON THE MOVE
The Buffalo Sabres made a trio of transactions between Rochester’s last game Saturday and their contest tonight. Defenseman and team captain Zach Metsa has once again earned a recall to the blue and gold, as has forward Isak Rosén, who posted points in each of his five games back with the Amerks (3+3) after spending a month with the Sabres.
In return, the Amerks will receive a returning Noah Östlund, who traveled with the team to Belleville and is expected to make his return to the Rochester lineup for the first time since Nov. 1 in Laval.
Östlund has appeared in six games for the Amerks this season, with all but one of them coming on the road. In that span, the Swedish centerman has put together seven points (2+5), while his time in Buffalo has seen the second-year pro compile three goals and six points in 20 games.
Östlund has only appeared in three career games against the Senators, posting two assists in the process.
WAHLBERG STAYING CENTERED
Amerks head coach Michael Leone has had to seek out his depth within the roster for reliable forwards who can take face-offs and play a 200-foot game. Third-year pro and Sabres prospect Anton Wahlberg has stepped up to embrace the challenge.
Wahlberg, 20, is one of the youngest Amerks on the 2025-26 roster, along with 19-year-old Konsta Helenius. The duo was two of Rochester’s centers for the weekend in Charlotte. Prior to the start of the road trip, Wahlberg had spent the bulk of his time servicing a wing but posted three points (all assists) against the Checkers while winning several key face-offs.
In 94 AHL games, Wahlberg has 16 goals and 46 points. His plus-8 rating leads the team and is tied for 17th in the AHL amongst forwards. Wahlberg is tied with Joshua for fifth in team scoring through the opening third of the regular season.
ARTHURING HIS OWN STORY
They are a game under .500, but scoring has not been an issue for the Senators, who skate into Wednesday with 80 goals for, ranking fourth in the AHL and two behind Rochester, which has a game in hand on the Sens.
Leading the charge offensively for the Senators has been winger Arthur Kaliyev, whom the team acquired from the Los Angeles Kings’ organization. Kaliyev was signed by former teammate and Senators general manager Steve Staios after appearing in over 200 NHL games with the Kings from 2021-24, plus an additional 14 games with the New York Rangers a season ago.
The AHL’s only active Uzbekistan-born player has produced 76 points (38+38) on his NHL resume, while currently ranking fourth in AHL scoring with 15 goals and 24 points. His 15 goals lead the Eastern Conference, which includes two scored opposite the Amerks on Nov. 12 in a 6-4 win for Belleville at Blue Cross Arena.
SENS SERIES
It’s meeting three of eight in the season series between the Amerks and Sens, with each team winning on the road against the other to start the renewal of this North Division rivalry.
The Amerks posted a 5-3-0-0 record against Ottawa’s AHL affiliate in 2024-25. Three of the eight overall games ended in shutouts, and dating back to Mar. 1, 2024, only one of the previous 14 games the Amerks have played against the Senators have been decided by one goal.
The Amerks are 9-7-0-1 over the last five seasons in Belleville, earning at least one point in 10 of the last 17 matchups over that span. Conversely, Rochester sports a 6-8-1-2 mark in the Flower City, which includes a 6-4 defeat on home ice last month.
Belleville is the only team Levi has posted multiple shutouts against, blanking the team at CAA Arena on Apr. 5 and shutting them out on home ice Feb. 7 of last season.