SENS PULL AWAY FROM AMERKS IN THIRD
Meyer scores lone Rochester goal, Levi makes 22 saves in 3-1 loss to Belleville
Feb 4, 2026A tightly contested affair between the Rochester Americans (21-16-4-2) and Belleville Senators (20-19-8-0) remained tied for nearly the duration of regulation until a late goal by the visitors followed by an empty-net conversion was enough to hand the Amerks a 3-1 loss Wednesday at Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
Despite the regulation loss, Rochester has earned at least one point in 10 of its previous 15 contests against Belleville.
Forward Carson Meyer, who’s first goal as an Amerk came earlier this season against the Senators, notched his eighth tally of the campaign midway through the second period. Nikita Novikov added an assist while Trevor Kuntar collected his 11th helper of the campaign, which established a new career-high.
Goaltender Devon Levi (15-10-6) stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced in his 31st appearance of the campaign. The Quebec native has appeared in 11 of Rochester’s last 13 games since the turn of the new year while allowing two or fewer goals in eight of his last 10 appearances since Jan. 7.
Jorian Donovan notched two assists for Belleville, which has points in 10 of its last 11 games since Jan. 10, while netminder Leevi Meriläinen (5-8-4) made 21 saves to earn the win.
FIRST PERIOD
While Rochester registered the first four shots of the contest, Belleville drew the initial power-play. Despite allowing six shots, the Amerks successfully cleared of the interference infraction to keep the game scoreless midway through the frame.
The stalemate continued as they combined for just five shots prior to the end of the first period.
SECOND PERIOD
With the game still scoreless, both teams were called for a penalty early into the second stanza.
The Rochester shorthanded unit cleared off its infraction but then was unable to solve Belleville on its ensuing power-play. Immediately after serving his time in the box, Wyatt Bongiovanni was on the receiving end of a breakaway pass. The 20-plus goal scorer from a season ago carried the puck all alone towards Levi but the Amerks netminder denied the attempt.
The Amerks cleared off another penalty after the save, however, seconds after the penalty, Thomson snapped his 12th goal of the season from atop the right faceoff dot at the 8:54 mark.
Rochester responded 57 seconds later to even the score at 1-1, though. Zac Jones provided a bank pass off the boards to Kuntar. The Buffalo native tried a centering attempt, but gathered his own rebound and handed it to Novikov, who was streaking down the left wall. As the rugged defenseman gathered the puck, he pitched it in front for Meyer to steer in for his eighth of the season.
The two teams went into the intermission break knotted at 1-1 while Belleville held a narrow 18-17 shot-advantage.
THIRD PERIOD
In the final period of regulation, neither club was able to sustain much offensively, thus the game remained tied.
As the clock continued to wind down, the Senators won a face-off inside the Amerks zone following an icing. After winning the draw back to Donovan, Jan Jeník gained positioning in-between the circles just as Cameron Crotty was about to unleash a shot towards the net-front. Before the puck reached the top of the crease, Jeník was able to provide a last-second redirection over the glove of Levi, putting the Senators ahead 2-1 with less than six minutes left in the period.
Rochester made a last-ditch effort to try and force overtime by pulling Levi for the extra attacker, however, Keean Washkurak sealed the 3-1 win as he scored into the empty net with 41 seconds remaining.
UP NEXT
The Amerks close out their season-long six-game homestand on Friday, Feb. 6 when they host the Springfield Thunderbirds for the only time this season at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey. The matchup will also be televised locally on CW Rochester.
Goal Scorers
BEL: L. Thomson (12), J. Jeník (8), K. Washkurak (7)
ROC: C. Meyer (8)
Goaltenders
BEL: L. Meriläinen– 21/22 (W)
ROC: D. Levi – 22/24 (L)
Shots
BEL: 25
ROC: 22
Special Teams
BEL: PP (0/4) | PK (1/1)
ROC: PP (0/1) | PK (4/4)