Amerks Come up Short to Rocket in Overtime
AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Come up Short to Rocket in Overtime

Published on February 20, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Rochester, NY - The Rochester Americans (24-17-5-3) twice came back from one-goal deficits to force overtime, but it was the Laval Rocket (32-14-2-3) emerging from the extra session with a 3-2 win Friday at The Blue Cross Arena.

By earning at least one point for the fifth time in its last six games dating back to Feb. 6, the Amerks moved to within three points of the Cleveland Monsters for third place in the AHL's North Division standings.

Forwards Carson Meyer and Isak Rosén scored in the first and second periods, respectively, for the Amerks. Zach Metsa, who has 14 points (2+12) in the AHL dating back to Nov. 5, Anton Wahlberg, Konsta Helenius, and Gavin Bayreuther all notched an assist in the contest.

Goaltender Devon Levi (17-10-8) made 34 saves in his AHL-best 35th appearance of the season. The netminder, who has allowed two or fewer goals in 11 of his last 14 games since Jan. 7, stopped 28 shots over the final 40 minutes of regulation.

FIRST PERIOD

After registering eight of the first 10 shots of the contest and clearing the initial penalty of the night, Rochester saw Laval take a 1-0 lead with just under seven minutes left in the frame.

Owen Beck gathered a loose puck below the goal line in the Amerks and zone moved it to Joshua Roy. The two exchanged passes before Beck dished a cross-ice feed for former Amerk Tobie Bisson to rocket a shot over the left shoulder of Levi for his second tally of the slate.

Shortly after, the Amerks drew a power-play before capitalizing it with just five seconds left on the man-advantage.

As the man-advantage was nearing its completion, Metsa absorbed a hit as he dumped the puck into the Laval zone from the right wing. Wahlberg eventually gained possession and returned it to the Rochester captain, who found Meyer for the equalizer at the 16:21 mark.

Before the completion of the first period, Luke Tuch grabbed a loose rebound in the left corner of Levi and fired a shot that pinballed between the Amerks' netminder and trickled across the goal-line.

SECOND PERIOD

The Rocket fired 21 shots over the course of the second stanza on Levi whereas Laval's Kaapo Kähkönen faced 10 shots, but the two netminders kept the game a one-goal affair going into the final period of regulation.

THIRD PERIOD

Despite being unable to find any success on its power-play in the opening minute of the period, Rochester knotted the score seven minutes later to ultimately send the game into overtime.

Soaring up the defensive zone with the puck, Bayreuther connected with Jagger Joshua outside the penalty boxes. The Michigan State University product handed the puck to Helenius as he was skating down the right wing. Helenius, who is two points away from reaching the 40-point for the first time in his AHL career, entered the zone and gave it to Rosén outside left face-off dot. The three-time AHL All-Star waited briefly then exchanged a give-and-go with Bayreuther before hammering a shot past both Jagger and Kähkönen to even the score at 2-2

The clubs eyed the go-ahead goal for the final 13 minutes but were unsuccessful and overtime was required.

OVERTIME

In the extra frame, the Amerks had a few looks at the net in the first minute but denied any shooting lanes before Kähkönen settled a loose puck behind his net. Marc Del Gaizo collected the feed from his goaltender and darted into the offensive zone on an odd-man rush with Samuel Blais. Electing to shoot, Del Gaizo roofed the game-winner just 1:23 into the period.

UP NEXT

The Amerks hit the road for the final time this month on Wednesday, Feb. 25 when they face the Cleveland Monsters for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop. All the action from Rocket Arena will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.

Goal Scorers

LAV: T. Bisson (2), T. Tuch (8), M. Del Gaizo (7)

ROC: C. Meyer (11), I. Rosén (25)

Goaltenders

LAV: K Kähkönen - 27/29 (W)

ROC: D. Levi - 34/37 (OTL)

Shots

LAV: 37

ROC: 29

Special Teams

LAV: PP (0/2) | PK (1/2)

ROC: PP (1/2) | PK (2/2)

Three Stars:

1. LAV - M. Del Gaizo

2. ROC - I. Rosén

3. ROC - D. Levi

--@AmerksHockey--

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American Hockey League Stories from February 20, 2026


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