Trusting the process, Levi earns the Amerks a point

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

To paraphrase Mark Twain, had the great American author written about hockey: Reports of any regression in development by Devon Levi have been greatly exaggerated.

With the top three skilled forwards missing from the Rochester Americans lineup, they still had a chance to defeat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday evening thanks to Levi’s goaltending.

The third-year veteran stopped 38 shots in regulation and overtime and another seven in the tiebreaker shootout before the Phantoms finally prevailed 2-1.

Tucker Robertson, Lehigh Valley’s eighth shooter and the 16^th of the shootout, was able to fire a shot high past Levi’s left shoulder after 15 combined misses by the two teams.

While the out-of-division Phantoms (13-9-1-2) earned the two points for the victory, Amerks coach Michael Leone found consolation in the one point. Isak Rosen and Noah Ostlund are on recall to the parent Buffalo Sabres and Konsta Helenius was unable to play because of illness.

That’s their top two goal producers (Rosen and Helenius, each with nine) and their best playmaker, and partially explained why the Amerks (14-9-2-1) were outshot 39-26 and held to just one goal.

“Was it perfect? No,” Leone said. “But for us to get a point in that game shows a lot about the group. I’m really proud of the guys.

“Obviously Dev did a really good job to get us the point.”

Indeed, Levi earned first-star honors with at least a half-dozen terrific saves, the best of which were late. He robbed Anthony Richard from the middle of the slot on a Phantoms power play with eight minutes remaining and then left Maxence Guenette shaking his head with 35.7 seconds to play in overtime when he stopped his uncontested shot from the high slot.

“Luckily Devon played fantastic and gave us a chance to get the point,” said Carson Meyer, whose sixth goal in just his 12^th game of the season staked the Amerks to a 1-0 lead just 3:44 into the first period.

He was, however, one of the eight shooters that could not convert against Carson Bjarnason in the shootout, along with Jack Rathbone, Viktor Neuchev, Zac Jones, Matteo Costantini, Anton Wahlberg, Isaac Belliveau and Riley Fiddler-Schultz.

“It’s definitely something we have to practice,” Leone said.

The Phantoms also had little success against Levi until Robertson finally broke the drought.

While the shootout has perhaps gotten a little stale over its two decades of use, Levi was enjoying the showdown.

“It’s fun seeing their best guys and what moves they pull out,” Levi said. “Mano a mano; may the best man win.”

While Levi’s statistics don’t compare positively to his performance a year ago (2.79 GAA vs 2.20, .909 save percentage compared to .919), he said he like where he is on the development path right now.

It’s easy to see why. Over his past three starts, he has stopped 121 of 127 shots.

“It’s less about the outcome of the game and more about my process, and that has been consistent this month,” Levi said.

That wasn’t necessarily the case back in November, when too many pucks that shouldn’t have found the net did. A 5-4 loss to Belleville on Nov. 12 was the low point, with Leone pulling his goalie after the fifth goal and then providing a blunt, critique of his play afterward, saying making key saves are an important part of development.

But he likes where his goalie is at now.

“He’s in a really good place,” Leone said. “He looked poised. He’s doing a better job getting whistles when chaos is around him.”

The only goal scored in regulation time on Saturday came at 8:02 of the second period when Jacob Gaucher was able to dig loose a rebound and sweep it home during a net-mouth scramble.

“Mentally and intentionally I’ve been doing the same thing,” he said. “I’m showing up to the rink with the same attitude, the same intent. I know what works for me.”