Amerks Fall to Monsters in Regular Season Home Finale
AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Fall to Monsters in Regular Season Home Finale

Published on April 17, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Rochester, NY - The Rochester Americans (31-30-5-4) came within minutes of punching their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs for the fifth straight year only to surrender the go-ahead goal with 5:01 remaining in regulation in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the Cleveland Monsters (36-26-6-3) in Friday's regular season home finale at The Blue Cross Arena.

GAME SUMMARY

The Amerks, who still need just one point of securing a postseason berth, suffered their first losing season against the Monsters since the 2020-21 campaign. Rochester had a .500 winning percentage or better in seven of its last eight years versus Cleveland, which included a 7-1-0-0 mark in 2024-25.

Olivier Nadeau got the Amerks on the board with his 13th goal of the season as Gavin Bayreuther and Anton Wahlberg each notched an assist on the third-period marker. Of Nadeau's 13 tallies, four have come against Cleveland while Wahlberg stretched his point streak to a career-best seven straight games dating back to April 3.

Goaltender Devon Levi (23-20-8) made 28 saves, which included 10 in each of the second and third periods, in his league-leading 51st appearance of the campaign. Over his last 10 starts, the Quebec native shows a 6-4-0 record while making 238 saves since Mar. 22.

Brendan Gaunce collected a second-period goal while Jack Williams capped the victory with the eventual game-winner in the final frame. Netminder Zach Sawchenko improved to 14-10-3 as he made his career-best 28th appearance for the Monsters, who finished the season-series by earning a point in all eight games.

FIRST PERIOD

In a back-and-forth opening period where both goaltenders made big stops, the two clubs were even as they both registered eight shots apiece while also successfully clearing off their only penalty of the stanza.

Levi made a series of stops near the four-minute mark whereas Sawchenko denied Wahlberg on two different occasions. The Swedish forward was turned aside on a breakaway attempt as well as a shot from the right face-off dot while Rochester was on the power-play with under five minutes to play in the frame.

SECOND PERIOD

Moments after Wahlberg was unsuccessful on a penalty shot opportunity, the Monsters held ownership of the puck inside the Rochester zone. After Dustin Mayo received a pass atop the right point, he fired a shot towards Levi, but it caromed off Zach Aston-Reese's right knee. The puck slid to left dot and Gaunce broke the scoreless contest at the 6:35 mark.

THIRD PERIOD

Less than 4:30 into the third period, Konsta Helenius drew a tripping penalty near center ice, giving Rochester its second power-play of the contest.

On the ensuing man-advantage, the Amerks had the puck inside the offensive zone after Helenius carried it across the blueline. The Amerks cycled the puck around the outer perimeter before Wahlberg and Bayreuther exchanged passes. On the return feed, Bayreuther hammered a shot on the net for Nadeau to redirect past Sawchenko to even the score at 1-1.

The Amerks continued to search for their first lead of the night, and 10 minutes after Nadeau made it a 1-1 score, Cleveland retook the lead at the 14:59 mark on Williams' goal that trickled in off the glove of Levi after making the initial save.

Trailing by a goal and the clock winding down, Levi was summoned to the bench for an extra skater in the waning minutes. Rochester used its timeout following an icing violation, but was ultimately unable to force overtime.

UP NEXT

The Amerks hit the road to close out their historic 70th anniversary season in the AHL with the first of two from the Keystone State beginning with a 6:05 p.m. matchup with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday, April 18. All the action from Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM WGR Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.

Goal Scorers

CLE: B. Gaunce (15), J. Williams (15)

ROC: O. Nadeau (13)

Goaltenders

CLE: Z. Sawchenko - 32/33 (W)

ROC: D. Levi - 28/30 (L)

Shots

CLE: 30

ROC: 33

Special Teams

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

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

Three Stars:

1. CLE - Z. Sawchenko

2. CLE - J. Williams

3. ROC - O. Nadeau

--@AmerksHockey--

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