By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
The goal could have meant a whole lot more had the Rochester Americans been better as a team in first period, had goalie Devon Levi been able to make the saves that he’s expected to make.
So while goal No. 1 in an Amerks sweater for Carson Meyer came in a 6-4 loss to the Belleville Senators on Wednesday night, it nonetheless had great meaning to the sixth-year winger.
Sure, when Meyer scored 6:14 into the third period, the Amerks still trailed 4-1. But that one shot – and slapper from the left circle off a rebound – gave him instant peace of mind.
It justified all the work. It brought closure to an eight-and-a-half month rehabilitation from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. And it signaled in his mind that he was back to be the player he had always been.
“Personally, that was one of the most, if not the most, significant goals of my life mentally,” Meyer said after his season debut. “It’s tough coming back from any injury but that was the toughest one I ever had.
“It’s eight-and-a-half months of every day doing (rehab) stuff. There’s times you wonder, ‘Am I going to be able to get back to the player I was?’ ”
A free-agent signee in the offseason, Meyer looked very much like his old self on Wednesday.
“He’s around the puck, he forechecks, he’s always around the net,” Amerks coach Michael Leone said. “I’m really happy to have him a part of our group because he’s going to help us a lot.”
Meyer’s goal triggered a three-goal outburst in just two minutes and 20 seconds. Anton Wahlberg zipped a backhander from the right of the slot past goalie Hunter Shepard at 7:03 before Riley Fiddler-Schultz shoveled home Trevor Kuntar’s centering pass at 8:34.
A 4-0 blowout was suddenly a one-goal nail-biter and the Senators were in panic mode. But calm was restored for Belleville just 65 seconds later when Philippe Daoust somehow managed to drive a sharp-angle shot from deep in the left circle past Levi.
“The fifth one can’t go in, it just can’t,” Leone said. “He’s got to be better.”
Leone didn’t hesitate to make his displeasure known during the game, either. He pulled Levi, replacing him with backup Topias Leinonen. Levi stopped 18 of the 23 shots he faced and has now allowed 13 goals in his past three starts.
It just the second time Levi has been pulled from a start. The other was on Feb. 16, when he allowed four goals on 11 shots in 35:41 against Laval.
“Just because your name’s Devon Levi doesn’t mean you can’t get pulled,” Leone said. “I know he’s a really good goalie but it’s not about him, it’s about the team. We believe in him, but at the same time part of your development is, we need a save.”
The Amerks did pull within a goal again when Jake Leschyshyn swept in a Viktor Neuchev centering pass with 3:28 remaining but the B-Sens held on.
Levi couldn’t be faulted on Belleville’s two first-period goals. Jamieson Rees, playing for the first time since opening night due to an injury, scored on breakaway goal at 6:09 before Arthur Kaliyev rocketed a shot from just below the right point rocketed in off the cross bar on a power play at 13:45.
Daoust’s redirection goal on a power play at 17:36 of the second period extended Belleville’s lead to 3-0, and then totally blown coverage to start the third period left Wyatt Bongiovanni alone to the right of the net to convert Stephen Halliday’s centering pass at 59 seconds.
“If you score four, you shouldn’t lose the hockey game,” Leone said.
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