By Warren Kozireski —
Protecting a 1-0 lead on a Konsta Helenius first period goal, Rochjester withstood physical and offensive zone pressure from Syracuse before Juri Kulich changed the complexion of the game with a power play just 14 seconds before the end of the second period to lead the Amerks to a 4-0 win Sunday afternoon.
It marks the first playoff shutout for the team in almost two years (April 30, 2023, also against Syracuse) and gives them a two-games-to-none advantage in their best-of-five first round playoff series. Game three is in Syracuse Thursday night.
“It was a 4-0 game, but the score doesn’t really show you what happened out there,” goaltender Devon Levi, who made 35 saves in net, said. “We got fortunate, but I think we put in the work to get those bounces. Playing a tough team we’re also a tough team and we didn’t back down from them tonight and it was really cool to see.”
Defenseman Kyle Clague, who had three points in the game, put the game out of reach almost six minutes into the third with his second goal in two games. And Isak Rosen added a late empty netter.
Rochester played almost 35 minutes of the game without defenseman Vsevold Komarov, who was injured in a fight and later saw blueliner Jack Rathbone also leave briefly with an injury and Zach Metsa received a ten-minute misconduct and the end of the second period.
The winner of this series will play the winner of Cleveland vs Laval, which starts either Wednesday or Thursday night depending on the outcome of the Montreal Washington NHL playoff series.
