Kulich, Rosen Help Amerks Even Series with Game 2 Win

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AHL Rochester Americans

Kulich, Rosen Help Amerks Even Series with Game 2 Win

May 16, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY) - Jiri Kulich scored a go-ahead power-play goal 12:07 into the third period, helping lift the Rochester Americans to a 5-3 win over the Laval Rocket in Game 2 of the North Division Finals Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.

With the win, the Amerks have evened up their best-of-five series at one apiece as the series now shifts to Laval at Place Bell for Games 3 and 4 Wednesday and Friday, respectively. Game 5, if necessary, would also take place north of the border.

"It was a really good response," said Amerks head coach Michael Leone. "I thought we were just skating and we played with pace. We pressured the puck. They maybe had 10 five-on-five shots. We really leaned on them and credit to the group. They brought it tonight. Unbelievable effort from everyone on both sides of the puck. Really proud of them."

Kale Clague joined Kulich with scoring power-play goals, while Lukas Rousek scored his first goal of the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs and Isak Rosén netted a pair of goals in the victory.

Devon Levi wasn't busy often, but managed 16 saves to secure his fourth win of the postseason, defeating Jacob Fowler, who had previously been 3-0 in goal for Laval in the playoffs. The Rocket netminder made 31 saves in defeat.

FIRST PERIOD

Clague continues to yield the hot hand for Rochester's offense, despite anchoring the blueline. The seventh-year pro scored his fifth goal in as many playoff games this spring 5:58 into the contest.

Just six seconds into their first power-play of the night, the Amerks won a draw and the puck quickly found its way to Clague at the top of the zone. Shuffling to his right, Clague wound up and hammered a slap shot through traffic and the glove of Fowler for his second straight game-opening goal.

Mason Jobst and Rosén both had quality scoring chances that Fowler managed to turn away later in the frame. While on another power-play, Jobst was planted at the net front to receive a pass from Anton Wahlberg, but the Amerks captain drove the puck square onto Fowler. Later in the period, Rosén skated free for a breakaway, aiming to go five-hole on Fowler, but the Rocket goaltender squeezed the legs shut.

While shorthanded, Tyson Kozak found himself sprung for a partial breakaway, skating in from an angle on the left-wing side. The shot was smothered by Fowler to continue denying the barrage of Rochester scoring threats.

A fortunate bounce aided Laval in tying the game at the 13:49 mark of the first, as Laurent Dauphin clipped a bouncing puck sent toward Levi that acted as a knuckleball, floating overtop the shoulders of the AHL All-Star before trickling into the goal to make it 1-1.

The tied contest lasted for 34 seconds.

On the other end, Ryan Johnson hesitated before finding a seam to shoot from atop the zone. There, Rosén skated across to the front of the net to get a piece of the puck and redirect it past Fowler, making it 2-1 in favor of the red, white, and blue.

"I saw RJ (Ryan Johnson) was ready to shoot," said Rosén. "I tried to get a screen, and he shot it perfect."

SECOND PERIOD

Laval evened the score once more 4:41 into the middle period as the Rocket forced a turnover on an attempted Amerks breakout.

Luke Tuch got a piece of a passing attempt, forcing the puck to land out in front of Levi where Lucas Condotta stood and swatted a shot past the Rochester goaltender to make it a 2-2 game.

Jared Davidson provided Laval its first lead of the night just past the 13:00 mark of the period.

With sustained pressure in the attacking zone, Davidson flicked the puck from the right-wing circle. Despite not getting all of his shot, Levi had still been in recovery mode from the previous scoring chance, giving the shot a chance to successfully elude the netminder and gain the Rocket a 3-2 lead.

Rousek would not allow Rochester to trail going into intermission.

With under 40 seconds to play in the period, multiple Amerks hounded away at the net. A bouncing puck was detected by Rousek, who whacked it over Fowler, getting a piece of the Rocket goaltender before wedging its way through, making it 3-3 heading into the final frame of regulation.

THIRD PERIOD

Kulich made his presence felt in the third with Rochester's second power-play goal of the contest, doing so from his usual spot on the right side of the ice.

Rousek from the left half-boards spun the puck across the ice for Kulich, who bent the knee on a one-time blast that Fowler was helpless against with Josh Dunne providing the net-front screen to help the Amerks retrieve the lead with a 4-3 advantage 12:07 into the third.

"He's always making those plays from the wall since my first year," said Kulich. "I know to just give him the puck. I was not surprised he found me."

From there, the Amerks suppressed Laval, limiting the opposition to six shots on goal. With their net pulled, Rosén received a pass down the ice from Östlund to skate toward the empty net, converting for the 5-3 final in the dying seconds of regulation.

UP NEXT

The remainder of the North Division Finals series shifts to Place Bell, beginning with Game 3 Wednesday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:05 p.m. live on AHLTV on FloHockey and 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester.

Goal Scorers

LAV: L. Dauphin (4), L. Condotta (2), J. Davidson (2)

ROC: K. Clague (5-PPG), I. Rosén (3, 4-EN), L. Rousek (1), J. Kulich (2-PPG/GWG)

Goaltenders

LAV: J. Fowler - 31/35 (L)

ROC: D. Levi - 16/19 (W)

Shots

LAV: 19

ROC: 36

Special Teams

LAV: PP (0/4) | PK (2/4)

ROC: PP (2/4) | PK (4/4)

Three Stars:

1. ROC - I. Rosén

2. ROC - L. Rousek

3. ROC - K. Clague

--@AmerksHockey--

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