By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
The statistics for American Hockey League goaltenders paint a pretty vivid picture of just how well Devon Levi has played for the Rochester Americans.
The second-year goalie ranks fifth in both goals-against average (2.21) and save percentage (.918), is tied for third in victories (23 in 35 appearances) and is ninth in minutes played (2029.20).
But history provides an even more telling story. After Levi made 28 saves on Friday night in a 6-0 victory over the Bridgeport Islanders, the 23-year-old native of Quebec leads the AHL in shutouts.
An Amerks goalie hasn’t led the league in shutouts outright since Martin Biron in 1997-98 with five and 1998-99 with six. Mika Noronen tied for the lead the following year with six.
Now, a quarter century later, Levi is clearly doing special things. The Beast is becoming Mr. Zero.
“He’s a rock back there,” said forward Graham Slaggert, one of the six different goal-scorers for the Amerks on Friday. “He makes the saves he needs to – and a few he shouldn’t.”
He actually made several of those on Friday, ensuring the Islanders never gained momentum. In doing so, the crowd of 6,377 was again chanting “LEE-VI, LEE-VI.”
Levi admitted the blaring fake drum over the public address system, followed by the chant, is pretty cool.
“It’s pretty special to have your home crowd rooting for you,” he said. “Playing in this building is always a blast. I feel regardless what day it is, they always bring energy.
“You see a lot of the same faces, a lot of super fans that give us their support on a nightly basis.”
While his big saves bring fans to their feet, those stops build the confidence of his teammates.
“Playing in front of him, you can be a little more aggressive because you know he’ll make the save,” defenseman Zach Metsa said.
The matchup against Bridgeport did provide some concerns. It would have been easy for the Amerks (38-18-3-3) to expect an easy victory. The Islanders, after all, are a league-worst 14-43-4-3. Yet Bridgeport went in to Laval and defeated the North Division-leading Rocket 5-2 on March 12.
“These are the games that creep up on you if you’re not prepared,” Levi said. “We know they can score; I was ready for them.”
Which, of course, was no surprise.
“From the time he got pulled (a 5-2 home loss to Laval on Feb. 16) – for maybe the first time in his career – I think he’s has really been the guy down the stretch,” Amerks coach Michael Leone said. “Dev can take it as far as he wants to take it.”
With 10 games remaining, the Amerks are beginning to play with consistency and are doing a lot of the necessary little things when the game is on the line.
“This is when you want to be your best, going into the playoffs,” Levi said.
Said Leone: “A goalie can make a coach look good.”
Or bad. While Levi was terrific on Friday, Bridgeport starter Henrik Tikkanen was bad. There’s just no other way to say it. He stopped 16 of 21 shots and somehow managed to turn perhaps three far-from-dangerous shots into goals before he was replaced midway through the second period.
It’s no stretch to say the Islanders had more Grade-A chances than the Amerks, yet Bridgeport left downtown Rochester as 6-0 losers. For the Amerks, that’s called taking advantage of opportunity.
Metsa scored just 93 seconds into the game. He jumped up into the neutral zone to steal the puck and then moved in on right wing and fired a high shot from the circle that zipped past Tikkanen’s right arm. It was the fifth consecutive start that Tikkanen allowed a goal on the first shot he faced.
Talk about digging a hole. Except it got deeper at 8:22 when Mason Jobst scored on a wrist from the middle off the slot off a quick-transition rush.
When Riley Fiddler-Schultz fired a shot five-hole from the left circle at 17:38, the Amerks led 3-0.
The game officially became a blowout in the second when Noah Ostlund, Josh Dunne and Slaggert scored in a span of 4:42. The goals by Ostlund and Dunne came 2:13 apart during Bridgeport power plays.
“Dev had to make some saves for sure but I thought we played a consistent 60 minutes,” Leone said. “Was it perfect? No, but I liked our game.”
Notes: For the second straight weekend, the Amerks are playing three games in three nights, with the Saturday road game against at Syracuse. And just like last weekend, Levi will stay in Rochester for a day off with Michael Houser backing up Felix Sandstrom against the Crunch. Levi will then start Sunday’s 3 p.m. home game against Syracuse.
How is it that the Amerks are playing multiple 3 on 3 weekends when Lavall plays none…so unfair…also you are the best hockey writer ever…religiously read you when you were with the D and C
Also to be noted, Levi picked up his, yes, 4th, assist of the season!!
Hey Kevin–did you happen to notice the play where the Isles goalie gloved a hard shot, started falling backward and his glove with puck went into the net. Did the ref blow it dead immediately before that happened, because that would have been a goal, correct? Since no one complained we were wondering what happened there.
We also saw the game exactly like you did regarding Levi. When a goalie gets 1st star for a 6-0 shutout win against a dead last team, you know there was more to it.
Truth was especially while the game was still competitive, Levi had to make a lot of tough saves. He was really in the zone. If Bridgeport had any goaltending at all, this game could have been a lot different. As it was though, it was fun to watch a game with no ‘stress’. Syracuse will be a formidable foe next 2 games.
Thanks as always for your great coverage. Hope you will be able to report on all our playoff games, not just the ones at the BCA.
Hi, Dom … Because teams need weekend dates to maximize revenue, 3-in-3s are inevitable, unless the parent team has really deep pockets or the fan base will show up for a Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday game. And thanks for the very kind words…and for continuing to read.
Hi, Ted, I always appreciate your thoughts, as well as your continued loyalty as a reader. I guess I missed the glove into the net but my fairly steadfast rule: If the players aren’t complaining or arguing, then the puck wasn’t in, whether it was a shot that hit cross bar (or inside bar) or a puck across the line in a scramble. The players always know.