Swedish trio of Wahlberg, Ostlund and Rosen all score in 3-2 win over Syracuse in playoff opener
Apr 26, 2024
The Rochester Americans (1-0) jumped out to a two-goal lead before Isak Rosén capped a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Syracuse Crunch (0-1) in Game 1 of the North Division Semifinals Friday at The Blue Cross Arena. Rochester leads the best-of-five series 1-0 heading into Game 2 Sunday afternoon.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POSTGAME REPORT
The Amerks, who finished the regular season with a 13-2-1-1 record over its final 17 games, have won four straight postseason contests against Syracuse dating back to last year’s second-round series.
Along with Rosén, rookies Anton Wahlberg and Noah Östlund, who were two of the seven rookies to dress for the Amerks, both found the back of the net in their AHL postseason debuts. Östlund’s goal was his first goal in North America. Lukas Rousek, Viktor Neuchev, Zach Metsa, and Nikita Novikov totaled one assist each in the win.
Devon Levi (1-0) made 35 saves in his postseason debut to become the first rookie goaltender to win a playoff game for Rochester since Andrey Makarov did so on May 2, 2014. Levi was also the first netminder to earn the win in his debut since Ryan Miller on April 20, 2005.
Dylan Duke, who made his AHL debut, and Jordy Bellerive both scored in the second and third periods, respectively, for the Crunch. Brandon Halverson (1-0) manned the pipes for the first time in his AHL postseason career, and despite stopping 23 of the 26 shots, suffered the defeat.
Nearly 90 seconds after the Crunch evened the game at 2-2 in the final period, the Amerks reclaimed their cushion as Rosén redirected Metsa’s shot from the right point. While Novikov was awarded the secondary assist, Östlund broke the puck free from behind the net and moved it up the wall to his fellow rookie teammate.
Each team had chances for the final 9:39 of regulation, but Levi denied the Crunch’s best scoring opportunity in the dying seconds of the contest while Halverson was pulled for the extra attacker to preserve the 3-2 win.
On the second shift of the contest, Wahlberg dumped the puck inside the Crunch zone from the neutral zone. After Syracuse turned it over at center ice, Prow provided a quick pass back to…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Rochester Americans…