Levi, Jobst come up big as Amerks complete the sweep

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

SYRACUSE – First, Devon Levi stood on his head – literally.

While sashaying away from a first-period net-mouth scrum in his goal crease, he took a misstep and, while trying to catch his balance, ended up taking an awkward tumble that brought laughter from the fans at Upstate Medical Center Arena.

“I got tripped and I might have stepped on his foot, I think, and yeah, I just felt like doing a handstand,” he said with smile.

Then, Levi stood on his head – figuratively.

The Beast was clearly in Beast mode on Thursday night and broke the spirit of the Syracuse Crunch with another night of big-save goaltending, backstopping the Rochester Americans to a 4-0 victory and a sweep of the best-of-five Calder Cup North Division semifinals.

“We have the best goalie in the AHL,” said defenseman Kale Clague, who scored yet again – his third goal in three games – as the Amerks moved on to meet either Laval or Cleveland in the best-of-five North finals, very likely starting the week of May 12.

Levi stopped all 30 shots he faced to post his second consecutive shutout, just the third goalie in franchise history to accomplish the feat. Bobby Perreault was the first, in 1957, and Mika Noronen did so in 2000, when he finished with six shutouts during a run to the Calder Cup finals.

Meanwhile, Mason Jobst was scoring two goals and Brendan Warren provided a little rub-it-in-insurance with an empty net goal with 78 seconds remaining.

And while Levi was clearly a star in the series, this was a total team performance.

“I gotta give credit to our D-corps,” coach Michael Leone said. “Syracuse is a big, heavy team, I’ve heard all about it, but our guys gave up no goals in two games. Yeah, it’s the goalie for sure, credit to Dev, he got the game puck today, but there’s five other guys out there that are making it really hard on the other team.”

That all-for-one approach is why Leone was so pleased.

“I can’t say enough about the team,” he said. “They’re selfless.”

Which is why this series sweep was very much just a stepping stone.

“Anyone in the room will tell you we have the group to do specially things,” Clague said.

The past two springs, the maximum five games was needed to determine a winner. In 2023, the Amerks pulled off the reverse sweep, falling behind 2-0 before winning three straight. Last year, the Crunch overcame a 2-1 series deficit and won the deciding fifth game.

This year, however, the Amerks proved they were simply the better team with the sweep. They simply had too much skill, too much mobility and too much Levi.

Although this was by no means a cakewalk sweep.

“These guys (the Crunch) almost feel like our kryptonite,” Levi said. “For us to pull off a sweep is pretty incredible.”

The Crunch were very much in Superman mode in the first period. They were their usual physically dominating selves, using their forecheck and hound-the-puck style in the offensive zone to apply pressure.

But the Amerks withstood the backs-to-the-wall surge by the Crunch and then slowly began to assert control. They started to do so when Jobst scored the only goal in the first period, converting on a breakaway at 15:51 while the teams skated four-on-four.

Josh Dunne created the chance, stepping up to derail a Logan Brown rush into the Amerks zone before poking the puck out to center.

Jobst picked it up in full stride, sped down the slot and fired a low shot past goalie Brandon Halverson before following the puck into the net himself.

“You need big-time guys to step up in big games and Yabbo, I can’t say enough about him,” Leone said.

The Crunch had at least three great chances on their nine shots in the period but Levi was perfect. His best save came during a Syracuse power play late in the period when he kicked out his left leg to deny a one-timer by Derrick Pouliot.

Levi robbed Pouliot again in the second period, and again on a power play. First he stopped a point shot by Max Crozier, then quickly squared up to Pouliot and smothered his rebound try from the deep slot.

Halverson prevented the Amerks from going ahead 2-0 when he blocked Jiri Kulich’s shot out of traffic from the right hash marks four minutes later.

Clague, the sudden offensive star from the blue line, extended the lead to 2-0 just 1:45 into the third period.

With Tyson Kozak battling with Crunch defenseman Roman Schmidt at the top of the crease, Clague unloaded a slap shot from the point that rocketed past Halverson high on the short side.

“It’s Cale Makar (the star of the Colorado Avalanche), not Kale Clague,” Leone joked.

Moments earlier, it was a defensive play by Kulich in the Amerks zone – tying up Gabriel Fortier in the slot – that spared Levi from facing another Grade-A chance.

Six minutes after Clague’s goal, Jobst scored again, this time with a mid-slot deflection of Zach Metsa’s wrister from the right point that slithered between the legs of Halverson and the final 13 minutes were essentially just a formality.

As the third period wound down, the hundreds of Amerks fans in the crowd of 5,034 were cheering loudly and performing the customary LEE-VI, LEE-VI chant that has become a staple at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

“It almost felt like a home game at times,” Clague said.

Said Jobst: “It gave us such a boost when it’s the third period and you’re on the road and it sounds like you’re at home.”

Leone had a good luck wish from an NHL great

A night after was Tampa Bay eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Amerks took out the Lightning AHL affiliate.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper and Leone had exchanged texts before the playoffs began, with Cooper wishing his former player good luck.

Leone was part of two Robertson Cup championships with the Cooper-coached St. Louis Bandits of the North American Hockey League.

Notes: With defenseman Vsevolod Komarov in concussion protocol and unable to play, Erik Brannstrom played for the first time in the series. Anton Wahlberg, who had been injured, also played for the first time in the series. He replaced Lukas Rousek, who has an undisclosed injury.