TACO BELL WRAP-UP: AMERKS ON THE BRINK OF PLAYOFFS AFTER GOING .500 ON ROAD TRIP
Amerks enter last week of regular season with magic number down to one
Apr 13, 2026The Rochester Americans (31-29-5-4) finished a grueling stretch of 10 games over 16 days, doing so with a four-game road trip last week that saw the team emerge .500 over the slate.
A shootout win over Cleveland was followed by another one-goal victory at Syracuse. Though the Amerks left empty-handed on the New England portion of their trip, the team still managed to shave points off their magic number, sitting just one point away from securing a fifth straight trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs.
ROAD RESILIENCE
With a lot of home hockey in March, the Amerks quietly had struggled outside the Flower City despite a well above .500 record away from home in each of their last three seasons. The Amerks entered last week having gone winless in their previous six away games. A 3-1 lead in Cleveland quickly evaporated late in the game, with the Monsters tying it up in the final minute of Monday’s game to force overtime.
Fortunately for Rochester, Vsevolod Komarov and Carson Meyer came through in what eventually turned into a shootout to nab the Amerks their first road victory since Feb. 14.
Success continued into Wednesday against the Crunch, when a 2-2 tie was broken up by newcomer Chris Douglas scoring his first professional goal midway through the third period, getting Rochester its second win of the season at Syracuse this season.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The youth movement continues to go through Rochester as three more rookies burst onto the scene this week.
On Wednesday, Maxim Štrbák made his professional debut as an Amerk. The blueliner was drafted in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Sabres. He is coming off an 18-point season with Michigan State University, helping the Spartans to a third straight Big-10 championship.
Returning into the fold Friday was defenseman Radim Mrtka, who returned to the Amerks after his season with WHL-Seattle. Mrtka began the season with Rochester after being reassigned from Buffalo out of training camp. The 6-foot-6 prospect patrolled the blue line in four games with the Amerks in October before returning to his junior team. Mrtka was the big-ticket item for the Sabres in the offseason, with Buffalo using its 19th overall pick on the Czechia-born teenager last Summer.
Making a splash was forward Liam Valente, whom the Amerks have already inked to a one-year deal for the 2026-27 season. Valente joins Rochester on a professional tryout for the remainder of the season. The Western Michigan University product didn’t waste time acclimating to the pro game. In the first period of his debut Saturday at Providence, Valente crept into the Bruins’ zone from the left side before pulling off a toe drag and roofing a puck to the back of the net for his first professional goal.
The 22-year-old amassed 41 goals over four years with the Broncos, spending part of his collegiate career with now fellow Amerk Matteo Costantini.
MORE MILESTONES
A trio of Amerks reached milestones in what continues to be a banner year for the organization when it comes to the goal of development.
On Friday in the final minutes of Rochester’s game against Springfield, Trevor Kuntar scored his 20th goal of the season, becoming the third different Amerk to reach 20 this season and doing so for the first time in the young Williamsville, New York, native’s career. Kuntar has produced more points in one season with Rochester than he had in 124 games with Providence over his first two professional seasons.
Assisting on Kuntar’s goal was Zac Jones, who posted his 50th assist of the season and 60th point. Jones has had a historic year for Rochester, as he not only continues to lead the league in scoring by a defenseman, but also became the first Amerk since Clay Wilson (2009-10) to reach 60 points from the blueline. Jones is the eighth defenseman in the 70-year history of the franchise to hit 60 points and became the first Rochester defenseman since Terry Hollinger to record 50 assists in a single campaign, with Hollinger having done so 30 seasons ago in 1995-96 when Rochester won its last Calder Cup.
The following night in Providence, Konsta Helenius joined the 20-goal club, giving the Amerks four 20-goal scorers (Isak Rosen, Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Trevor Kuntar and Konsta Helenius) for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign.
Devon Levi then got his flowers on Saturday with his league leading 50th start of the season when the Amerks took on Providence. The 2025 AHL All-Star became the first Amerks goaltender since Linus Ullmark to appear in at least 50 games in a single season for the team, with Ullmark reaching 55 during the 2016-17 season. Levi is only the third goaltender in the last 13 years to reach the half-century mark in a season, joining Ullmark and former United States Olympian, David Leggio, who took the net 64 times during the 2012-13 season for Rochester.
COMING UP NEXT
The 70th season of Amerks hockey ends this weekend (at least the regular season, that is). The Amerks could end up already clinched in the playoffs as they are idle Wednesday night while the Utica Comets pay a visit to Belleville. A Comets loss of any kind Wednesday will punch Rochester’s ticket to the postseason.
Regardless of the outcome Wednesday, the Amerks will not have an easy finish to the end of the season as they face three teams in three nights across three different cities. That trio of opponents are all looking to be playoff bound as well, starting Friday at home when Rochester hosts its final regular season game of the year at Blue Cross Arena against the Cleveland Monsters in what could still end up serving as a playoff preview.
The Amerks then make their way to the Keystone State, playing a pair of Pennsylvania opponents, beginning Saturday evening in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, then putting a bow on the season Sunday afternoon against their oldest AHL rival, the Hershey Bears, in what will also be the final regular-season game for retiring Amerks Hall of Fame broadcaster Don Stevens.