In a match-up of two goaltenders making their AHL playoffs debut, it was Rochester’s Devon Levi that won the battle. The highly-touted Buffalo Sabres prospect stopped 35 of 37 shots, including 13-of-14 in the third period, as the Americans held off the Crunch, 3-2, to win the first game in the best-of-five series. On the other side, Brandon Halverson rebounded from a shaky start to stop 23 of 26.
Rochester staked themselves to a 1-0 lead just over a minute into the game when Anton Wahlberg capped off an excellent individual effort as he out-muscled Chris Harpur and then cut inside Sean Day before tucking a backhand past Halverson.