ROSÉN’S FIRST HAT TRICK NOT ENOUGH IN OT LOSS TO SENS
Amerks overcome 3-0 deficit to force overtime, but fall short in final visit to Belleville
Jan 16, 2026The Rochester Americans (19-12-4-1) overcame two separate multi-goal deficits to force overtime thanks to Isak Rosén’s first career AHL hat trick, yet were unable to come away with the win, dropping a 5-4 loss to the Belleville Senators (16-18-6-0) Friday in their final visit to CAA Arena.
Despite the overtime defeat, Rochester has picked up points in 14 of its last 18 games dating back to Nov. 22, including each of the last four games versus Belleville. The Amerks have also recorded at least one point in five of the first six games thus far in the eight-game season series.
By earning a point and following a Syracuse win over Utica tonight, the Amerks are tied for second in the North Division, sitting four points back of Laval.
By scoring his team-leading 16th, 17th, and 18th goals of the campaign, Rosén is now tied for sixth amongst all AHL skaters in goals despite appearing in only 22 games this season for Rochester. Jagger Joshua tallied his sixth of the seasn while Anton Wahlberg (0+2) logged his fourth two-assist outing.
Zac Jones, Carson Meyer, Nikita Novikov and Riley Fiddler-Schultz (0+1), who extended his point streak to seven games (4+3), all added an assist. Fiddler-Schultz became the fourth Amerk this season to reach the 20-point mark while Meyer (10) reached double digits in helpers. Jones, meanwhile, is the only AHL skater to record 30 assists on the season.
Goaltender Devon Levi (13-7-5) manned the pipes for the 12th time since Dec. 1 and 25th time this season. Despite finishing with 28 saves, he was dealt his fifth loss of the season beyond regulation, which bypasses his total from each of his first two seasons with the club.
Cameron Crotty, Wyatt Bongiovanni, Tyler Boucher, Keean Washkurak all scored in regulation for Belleville before Arthur Kaliyev capped the overtime-win with his league-leading 25th goal the season. Goaltender Hunter Shepard stopped 26 of the 30 shots he faced to improve to 6-6-1.
FIRST PERIOD
The Amerks were unable to capitalize early in the first period as Trevor Kuntar was denied in the middle of the slot as Shepard and the Senators carried much of the play in the opening frame.
Belleville, which successfully cleared off the only penalty of the stanza, got on the board in the final 70 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. Crotty sent a long-range shot from the top of the zone that eluded Levi while Xavier Bourgault provided a screen atop the goal crease with 1:01 on the clock.
The Senators took the lead into the intermission while also carrying a 10-6 shot-advantage.
SECOND PERIOD
Early in the middle frame, Scott Harrington began the play from inside his own zone, providing an outlet feed to Jamieson Rees before he connected with Boucher. As Boucher and Oskar Petterson reached the face-off circle to the right of Levi, Boucher beat the Amerks’ netminder through the five-hole to double to Belleville lead at the 2:33 mark.
Later in the stanza, after killing off the first three penalties of the night, Belleville drew back-to-back infractions to gain a two-man advantage for 33 seconds.
Rochester was able to get a clear of the puck early in the shorthanded situation, however, the Senators entered the zone and relied on quick movement before Stephen Halliday dished a cross-ice pass for Kaliyev to fire towards the net. While Levi made the initial stop, the rebound popped to his right for Bongiovanni to finish off for his 11th of the slate.
Trailing by three, Rochester found some late momentum in the period as they scored twice in 31 seconds before the period expired.
On the first of the two, Wahlberg gathered a loose puck atop the left point and flung an innocent-looking shot on net. Shepard made the initial save, however, the rebound was scooped up by Rosén, who quickly tucked in a backhanded shot for his 16th of the season as he beat the two-time Calder Cup Champion at the 17:43 mark.
Less than a minute later, Kuntar tipped the puck into the offensive zone while being taken down to the ice, preventing an icing violation. While Joshua pressured a Belleville skater into attempting a breakout pass, Fiddler-Schultz intercepted it atop the left point. The Edmonton native fired a shot on Shepard but the netminder could not completely make the save as Joshua slipped in the rebound for his sixth of the season.
THIRD PERIOD
Belleville regained its two-goal cushion in the first minute of the final frame as Jorian Donovan fired a shot from the left point. The puck appeared to be heading wide of the net, but Jan Jenik redirected it at the last second, ultimately ricocheting off Washkurak’s midsection before falling in behind Levi just 45 seconds in.
The score remained 4-2 in favor of Belleville until near the halfway mark. The Amerks forced a face-off inside the Senators’ zone and Wahlberg won it back to Novikov. The rugged blueliner drifted to the high slot and rifled a shot for Rosén to redirect past the blocker of Shepard, cutting into the deficit.
Late in the frame, Rochester drew its fifth penalty of the night. The visitors not only used their timeout but also pulled Levi for a 6-on-4 man-advantage as the clock was inside three minutes to play.
The Amerks pressed and tested the Senators shorthanded unit, and as the power play had expired, Meyer dug the puck out of the right crease of Shepard before connecting with Jones atop the zone. The now two-time AHL All-Star wasted little time and dished a perfect one-time feed for Rosén to blast into the net, knotting the score at 4-4 with 88 seconds left in regulation.
Belleville had one final shot in the frame to reclaim its lead, but it was blocked and the overtime period was deemed for the second straight meeting between the two clubs.
OVERTIME
Much like the previous meeting this past Sunday, Belleville won the only draw of the extra frame. All three Senators touched the puck before Kaliyev caught the Amerks flatfooted and carried it towards the Rochester net from the left side of the ice. The forward cut to the center of the zone, opening Levi’s pads and sealed the 5-4 win just 24 seconds into overtime.
UP NEXT
The Amerks continue their road-swing as they head to Adirondack Bank Center to face the Utica Comets on Saturday, Jan. 17 for a 6:00 p.m. contest. The North Division matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
ROC: I. Rosén (16, 17, 18), J. Joshua (6)
BEL: C. Crotty (3), T. Boucher (4), W. Bongiovanni (11), A. Kaliyev (25 – OT GWG)
Goaltenders
ROC D. Levi – 28/33 (OTL)
BEL: H. Shepard – 26/30 (W)
Shots
ROC: 30
BEL: 33
Special Teams
ROC: PP (0/5) | PK (1/2)
BEL: PP (1/2) | PK (5/5)
Three Stars:
1. BEL - A. Kaliyev
2. BEL - K. Washkurak
3. ROC - I. Rosén