Special Teams Shine in Blowout Win over Belleville
AHL Rochester Americans

Special Teams Shine in Blowout Win over Belleville

Published on December 11, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Belleville, ON) - Six different skaters produced a multi-point effort as the Rochester Americans (14-9-2-0) dominated from start to finish in a decisive 6-1 thrashing of the Belleville Senators (11-13-2-0) Wednesday at CAA Arena.

With the win, Rochester finished its three-game road swing by taking five out of a possible six points while also having points in five straight and six of the last seven overall dating back to Nov. 22.

Forward Konsta Helenius scored for the fourth straight game to go with a pair of assists while Noah Östlund (1+2) and Riley Fiddler-Schultz (1+2) also totaled three points each. Nikita Novikov tallied his first two-goal outing, which featured the first shorthanded goal of his AHL career for the Amerks, who return home for four straight games starting on Saturday.

Defensemen Jack Rathbone (0+2) and Zac Jones (0+2) both logged two assists each while Viktor Neuchev (1+0) and Issac Belliveau (0+1) closed out the scoring for Rochester, which remains in second place of the AHL's North Division and are just three points back of Laval.

Goaltender Devon Levi (10-3-2) picked up his second win of the season versus Belleville and 10th victory overall as he stopped 37 of the 38 shots he faced. Levi, who made a season-high 40 saves in Saturday's overtime loss at Charlotte, is tied for second amongst the league's netminders in wins.

Olle Lycksell netted his fourth goal of the season for Belleville, which shows a 1-6-0-0 mark since Thanksgiving Eve. Goaltender Mads Søgaard (1-5-2) finished with 23 saves as drew the start in the crease before Jackson Parsons (4-3-0) finished the game stopping 11 of 13 in 26 minutes of relief.

FIRST PERIOD

Towards the end of Rochester's first man-advantage of the contest, Belliveau exchanged a quick pass with Rathbone in the defensive zone before carrying the puck up the ice. As the Boston native looked up, he fired an outlet feed to Fiddler-Schultz at the far blueline. Fiddler-Schultz sped ahead all alone towards Søgaard and snapped a shot past the glove to open the scoring just 3:27 into the frame.

Seven minutes later, it was déjà vu again for Rochester as the club drew a holding infraction before capitalizing on the power-play.

After carrying the puck through the neutral zone and retrieving Carson Meyer 's drop pass, Östlund pushed it to the top of the right point for Jones. The Virginia native garnered much of the attention of the Belleville defense before sending a cross-ice pass to Helenius, whose one-timer zipped past Søgaard and inside the left post for his fourth goal in as many games at the 10:46 mark.

Shortly after Belleville cut into the deficit as Lycksell buried a power-play goal of his own, Fiddler-Schultz drew a holding infraction with 2:31 left in the stanza.

Less than 60 seconds later, Fiddler-Schultz dug the puck out of the boards before he darted in front of the net to provide a screen. While Fiddler-Schultz was eyeing position atop the crease, Jones and Helenius traded passes atop the zone, eventually moving it to Östlund at the near dot. The Swedish forward, who was loaned back to Rochester after spending the last month with the Sabres, sniped the top corner to restore the two-goal lead.

It marked the first time Rochester scored three power-play goals in the opening frame of the same game since Feb. 21, 2024, which also came against Belleville.

SECOND PERIOD

After the opening period scoring frenzy, the second seemed more like a shooting gallery as the clubs combined for 29 shots.

It seemed like both goaltenders were going to escape the frame unscathed, however, after rebounding from his own turnover, Helenius banked the puck off the boards around a Senators' skater. Östlund soon gained possession and took a few strides before providing an outlet pass to Neuchev at center ice. The shifty winger carried the puck into the offensive zone then proceeded to go bar down to put a premature end to Søgaard's night with his sixth tally of the season as with 5:48 left on the clock.

The Amerks entered the intermission break with a 4-1 lead as well as a 30-23 shot-advantage through the first 40 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD

Rochester was whistled for a hook early in the final period of play, and moments after the ensuing face-off, the Amerks forced a turnover. After Fiddler-Schultz and Graham Slaggert had an odd-man rush, Novikov joined the play, eventually wiring his first career shorthanded goal to extend the lead.

Nine minutes after pushing the score to 5-1, Novikov capped the scoring on the night as he completed his two-goal effort at the 11:59 mark from Rathbone and Fiddler-Schultz.

Before the final horn sounded and the game well out of reach, Belleville's tempers boiled over as nearly 50 penalty minutes were issued in the final 1:45.

STARS AND STRIPES

Rochester has won all 11 games when defenseman Nikita Novikov has scored since the start of the 2023-24 campaign while also winning eight of the last 12 games against Belleville during that same span ... Konsta Helenius, who has produced five goals and eight assists since Nov. 14, has tallied 18 points (7+11) in 12 career games versus the Senators ... Dating back to Mar. 14, 2025, Noah Östlund has produced 23 points (11+12) in 16 regular season games with Rochester.

UP NEXT

The Amerks return home to Rochester for the start of a four-game homestand on Saturday, Dec. 13 when they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the only time this season. All the action from The Blue Cross Arena will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey. The game will also be televised live locally on CW Rochester.

Goal Scorers

ROC: R. Fiddler-Schultz (5), K. Helenius (9 - GWG), N. Östlund (3), V. Neuchev (6), N. Novikov (2, 3)

BEL: O. Lycksell (4)

Goaltenders

ROC: D. Levi - 37/38 (W)

BEL: M. Søgaard - 23/27 (L) | J. Parsons - 11/13 (ND)

Shots

ROC: 40

BEL: 38

Special Teams

ROC: PP (3/6) | PK (2/3)

BEL: PP (1/3) | PK (3/6)

Three Stars:

1. ROC - N. Novikov

2. ROC - K. Helenius

3. BEL - O. Lycksell

Check out the Rochester Americans Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 11, 2025


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