The Rochester Americans hoped to build off the momentum of a 5-1 victory in Game 4 against the Laval Rocket on Friday in a fifth and deciding game, but the Amerks fell behind early and could not catch up to the North Division champs, losing 5-0 at Place Bell on Sunday.
After taking advantage of rookie Jacob Fowler and scoring four goals on 14 shots in Game 4, Rochester was stymied by Rocket goalie Cayden Primeau, who is following up an impressive regular season (21-2-2, 1.96 GAA, .927 save %) with three wins against the Amerks.
Devon Levi made 29 saves in the loss.
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“You’ve gotta credit Laval.” Rochester head coach Michael Leone said after the game. “Their coaching staff. Incredible season, 50 wins. We forced it to a game five. They were just better tonight. There’s no other way to put it. They did a really good job on our top guys….They were just better in every facet. They were just really good tonight. We had no answer. They just kept coming.”
In the list of impressive performers for Rochester, defenseman Kale Clague led the club in scoring with 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists), Isak Rosen tied with Clague for the club lead in goals with five, and rookie Konsta Helenius had six points in eight games. In the disappointing category, Noah Ostlund had only 2 assists in the playoffs.
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