SUPPORT FROM DEPTH, FANS HELPS AMERKS IN JANUARY 2026 REPORT CARD
Amerks get through first month of 2026 with a .500 record
Feb 2, 2026By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
It was a loaded month for the Rochester Americans (21-15-4-2) with the team playing a season-high 12 games in the month (tied for November for most in a single month).
Rochester’s continued bout with adversity rolled on, as did the team, fighting through all the punches to post a 5-5-1-1 mark past the midway point of the 2025-26 campaign.
Let’s take a look at how they made it happen.
HOME, SWEET HOME: A+
January ended with the Amerks logging four straight at home in the midst of the team’s six-game homestand at Blue Cross Arena. Overall, the Flower City hosted six of Rochester’s 12 games to kick-off 2026, highlighted by Military Appreciation Night on Jan. 24, which drew 9,412 Amerks fans to downtown Rochester for the second largest attended home game of the season.
The Amerks also had a pair of crowds over 7,000 at Blue Cross Arena for Jan. 9 and to end the month with Hall of Fame night Jan. 30.
With an average of 5,649 fans per game, the Amerks are drawing the second-most fans of any North Division team with a building that seats fewer than 12,000.
CALL TO THE CAVALRY: B+
With injuries and call-ups to Buffalo mounting, Amerks head coach Mike Leone was forced to swipe the depth card of the Sabres’ organization, tapping every player on ECHL-Jacksonville with an AHL or NHL contract to get recalled.
Aidan Fulp earned his recall in the middle of the month after assembling an All-Star season in the ECHL.
His fellow defenseman Peter Tischke had the phone ring a week later, with the 30-year-old seeing action in the AHL for the first time in three years.
Isaac Belliveau has earned playing time on a consistent basis now, even getting reps on the power-play.
Red Savage has been up for over a month now with the Amerks, while the team has seen Matteo Costantini go back and forth between the two leagues, including another recall on Monday afternoon.
Scott Ratzlaff took the crease in a relief appearance, plus two starts on the road.
As the Amerks number of man games lost due to injuries and call-ups swells toward 200, the team has found a way to stay the course and still remain entrenched in the playoff race.
KILLING TIME: A
Regardless of who has been in the lineup, the Amerks have shown prowess on their penalty kill.
The team ended January without allowing a power-play goal against in their last five games. Overall, Rochester killed off 29 of 34 man-down situations in the month, clicking at an 85.2% rate that would put them first in the Eastern Conference if the month were a standalone.
Players like Graham Slaggert, Brendan Warren, Jagger Joshua, and Jake Leschyshyn have come to the rescue while down a man, even generating chances.
The team’s greatest killer has been its goaltender. Devon Levi started 10 of Rochester’s 12 games in January, allowing only three power-play goals against. The 2025 All-Star continues to lead the league in games and minutes played, along with becoming the first goaltender in the AHL to reach 700 saves this season.
FEBRUARY SYLLABUS
With All-Star break playing a role, the Amerks will play just nine times in February after a dozen tilts to drop the puck on the new year.
Seven of the nine outings come against teams within the North Division, as the race toward the Kelly Cup Playoffs heats up with the Amerks in the thick of things, currently entering the month in the fifth and final playoff seed in the division.
Home cooking continues for Rochester, which plays six of its nine games on home ice, including each of its only two games in February against Atlantic Division competition as Springfield and Charlotte will visit Blue Cross Arena.