PLAYOFF PREVIEW: AMERKS LOOK TO EVEN SERIES IN GAME 2 AGAINST ROCKET
Rochester enters Friday following first loss of the postseason
May 15, 2025
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans host Game 2 of the North Division Finals looking to even the best-of-five series against the Laval Rocket Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.
GAME 2 TICKETS!
The Amerks will be looking to respond following their first loss of the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs, while subsequently trying to put the first blemish on Laval’s road record, as the Rocket have gone 3-0 south of Canadian soil in the postseason.
Following tonight, the series shifts to Place Bell north of the border for the remainder of the series, beginning with Game 3 next Wednesday.
GAME 1 RECAP
Rochester scored early and had 1-0 and 3-2 leads, but a back-and-forth encounter with the Rocket ended with the visitors scoring late in regulation to secure a 5-4 final Wednesday night at Blue Cross Arena.
Kale Clague boomed his signature one-timer from the left point past Laval’s Cayden Primeau 4:33 into the series, but the Rocket scored a pair of goals in the first to take a 2-1 lead into intermission.
In the second, goals from Konsta Helenius and Josh Dunne scored less than five minutes apart gained the Amerks a 3-2 lead. A pair of middle period conversions, including a goal in the final minute from Alex Barre-Boulet, allowed Laval to again yield a lead, but Isak Rosén struck midway through the third, making it a 4-4 game.
With 4:38 to play, Oliver Kapanen deflected a shot past Devon Levi to put Laval up for a third and final time to secure the 5-4 final.
Levi finished the contest with 29 saves, while Primeau posted 23 stops for his first win in this year’s playoffs, as Jacob Fowler secured each of the three wins for the Rocket in their series against Cleveland.
HEL OF A RUN
Sabres’ prospect Konsta Helenius has been on his best stretch of hockey in North America since the tail-end of the regular season. The teenager scored five goals over his final five regular season games (including his first career hat trick April 5) and has operated at a point-per-game pace in the Calder Cup Playoffs with a pair of goals and assists, totaling four points in as many games played.
Helenius joins Clague as the only Amerks who have registered at least one point in each of the team’s four postseason contests. On Wednesday, the first-round draft pick from last summer shelfed a one-timer over the blocker of Primeau inside the three-minute mark of period two.
Both of Helenius’ goals in the playoffs have come on home ice, with his other being in Game 2 against Syracuse on April 27. He’s one of eight rookies with four or more points in the playoffs so far and is the only rookie with four points on a team still playing in the Eastern Conference.
During the 2023-24 playoffs overseas, Helenius scored two goals as part of a six-point postseason appearance with Jukurit in the top Finnish hockey league.
PERSEVERANCE
Both Amerks forward Lukas Rousek and defenseman Vsevolod Komarov returned to Rochester’s lineup for Game 1 after both missing Game 3 of the North Division Semifinals with upper-body injuries. Each player showcased themselves in vital moments for the team, with Rousek getting things started by feeding Clague for the game’s opening goal, then later assisting on Helenius’ conversion to post a two-point night. Rousek was one of three Amerks with multi-point affairs, joining Clague (1+1) and Jiri Kulich (0+2).
Komarov didn’t post any points, but he certainly prevented one with one of the team’s best saves of the playoffs. After Rosén tied the game 4-4 with under 10 minutes to play, Laval rushed down the ice hunting after a puck that Levi came well out of his net to prevent. Levi matched the Laval forward, but a secondary chance saw the Rocket staring at a yawning target. As a shot was fired from the right side, Komarov came sliding in as a makeshift goaltender to rob the Rocket of taking the lead at that time.
Komarov is experiencing playoff hockey for the first time as a pro, while Rousek owns 27 points (7+20) through 32 Calder Cup Playoff games across four seasons. The Czechia-born winger has also found the scoresheet in eight of his last 11 playoff games, dating back to Game 5 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals.
GOAT IN GOAL
While not looking his sharpest so far this postseason, Cayden Primeau represents one-half of a goaltending tandem that finished for the fewest goals-against in the AHL during the regular season. The second-generation pro debuted in the AHL with Laval during the 2019-20 season, but never had a campaign like the one he just did.
Primeau joined the Rocket just after Christmas after starting the season with the Canadiens and was the AHL’s most dominant goaltender over the second half of 2024-25. He posted the best single-season record in AHL history at 21-2-2 (.880) in 26 appearances, including wins in each of his first 10 decisions and an 11-0-2 streak to close out the regular season. The nephew of former Amerk Wayne Primeau, he also finished second in the league with a 1.96 goals-against average and third with a .927 save percentage. Including his game one win, Primeau is 3-0 against Rochester this season.
Backing him up in the playoffs has been rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler, who joined Laval coming out of Boston College at the end of the season. Between three regular season and three postseason starts, the 20-year-old is 5-1-0 during his brief AHL tenure, including a shutout in Game 2 against the Monsters last round.
