LEVI, AMERKS FLIP THE SCRIPT ON MARLIES
Rochester staves off elimination with 4-0 shutout win over Toronto in Game 2
Apr 24, 2026After coming up empty-handed in Game 1 on Wednesday, the Rochester Americans (1-1) had a massive response in Game 2 on Friday, relying on a 29-save performance by goaltender Devon Levi and four different goal-scorers to stave off elimination in a 4-0 shutout win over the Toronto Marlies (1-1) at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
The Amerks, who have won all four of their home games versus the Marlies in both the regular and postseason, tied the series at 1-1, setting up a winner-take-all Game 3 Sunday afternoon back in Toronto.
Konsta Helenius (1+1), Ryan Johnson (1+1) and Anton Wahlberg (0+2) all turned in multi-point efforts for Rochester, which improved to 7-3 when facing elimination since the start of the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs. Carson Meyer, Vsevolod Komarov, and Ryan Johnson all scord their first professional playoff goal in the win.
Riley Fiddler-Schultz and Chris Douglas, who made his postseason debut along with Liam Valente, each produced an assist to cap the scoring.
Goaltender Devon Levi logged the third postseason shutout of his career and earned his first win of the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs. Two of his three shutouts in the playoffs have come on home ice since making his debut in the postseason.
Rookie forward Easton Cowan, who appeared in 66 regular-season games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, finished with a game-high five shots for the Marlies. Goaltender Artur Akhtyamov stopped 20 of the 23 shots he faced but took the defeat 48 hours after posting a 16-save shutout over Rochester in Game 1 of the series.
FIRST PERIOD
Just after Douglas nearly tucked in his first playoff goal, Wahlberg, who was playing on the opposite wing, drew the first power-play of the game as he crashed by the Toronto net.
On the ensuing man-advantage, Fiddler-Schultz won the draw from the left dot inside the Marlies’ net. The puck was gathered by Helenius after it caromed off the wall, and he carried it to the middle of the blueline from where he fired a shot that initially glanced off a Toronto skater and zipped by Akhtyamov to break the scoreless game at the 13:20 mark.
Less than three minutes later, Helenius and Wahlberg almost doubled the Amerks lead before Wahlberg followed up the chance by intercepting the puck in the middle of the neutral zone. The third-year forward quickly gave a pass back for Johnson, who was near the Rochester blueline. After Johnson worked his way down the left wing, he centered it for Meyer, who jumped on the ice for his shift to wire over the glove of Akhtyamov, increasing Rochester’s advantage to a pair with 3:02 left in the frame.
The Amerks took a 2-0 lead into the intermission break as well a 10-8 shot-advantage but had 37 seconds of carryover penalty time.
SECOND PERIOD
After Rochester finished clearing off its infraction to begin the period, they drew another power-play but was unable to add to the goal total.
Both Levi, who denied Benoit-Olivier Groulx in the slot, and Akhtyamov, who turned aside Red Savage’s odd-man rush, both made timely saves over the course of the period to keep the game a 2-0 score.
THIRD PERIOD
Holding a lead to start the final period, Douglas and Wahlberg forced a turnover in the left corner of the Marlies net near the midway point. Helenius retrieved the puck and sent a cross-ice pass to the right point for Komarov. The blueliner, who returned to the lineup after missing the last five games dating back April 10, patiently waited before unleashing a shot that made its way through traffic and past an unsuspecting Akhtyamov with 11 minutes left in the contest.
Toronto tried to spoil Levi’s bid for a shutout in the closing minutes of regulation and pulled Akhtyamov for an extra attacker. Two minutes later after Toronto exhausted its timeout, Johnson capped the 4-0 win as he flipped the puck the length of the ice into the vacant net.
STARS AND STRIPES
Forward Konsta Helenius notched his 23rd multi-point game of his career, which includes both the regular season and playoffs since making his AHL debut in 2024-25 ... Rochester owns a 20-1-2-0 record over that span while outscoring its opponents 100-44 ... Over his last 11 games, Anton Wahlberg has produced nine points (2+7) ... Through the first two games of this series, Rochester has seen nine different players make their professional playoff debuts.
UP NEXT
The best-of-three opening round series returns to Toronto on Sunday, April 26 for a decisive Game 3 at 4:00 p.m. The winner-take-all showdown from Coca-Cola Coliseum will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM WGR Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
TOR: None
ROC: K. Helenius (1 – GWG), C. Meyer (1), Komarov (1), R. Johnson (1)
Goaltenders
TOR: A. Akhtyamov – 20/23 (L)
ROC: D. Levi – 29/29 (W)
Shots
TOR: 29
ROC: 24
Special Teams
TOR: PP (0/3) | PK (1/2)
ROC: PP (1/2) | PK (3/3)
Three Stars:
1. ROC - D. Levi
2. ROC - K. Helenius
3. ROC - R. Johnson