Amerks best player is 'old man on the scoresheet' as they make AHL playoff push

There are players on the Rochester Amerks roster who, if all goes according to plan, will find their way to the NHL in the next year or two such as Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen, Nikita Novikov, and Victor Neuchev, draft picks who the Buffalo Sabres are counting on.

There are other draft picks on the way, some of whom may even join the Amerks if they make it to the Calder Cup playoffs once their junior seasons conclude including first-round picks Matthew Savoie and Noah Ostland.

But as important as all of those players are, coach Seth Appert said last Friday after the Amerks defeated Toronto 5-3 at Blue Cross Arena, “You can easily argue that if you voted for an MVP of our team right now, it’s Mason Jobst. I think it’s an easy argument and what a credit to him.”

Jobst has been a revelation this season for Rochester. He leads the team with 42 points, is tied for the team lead with 18 goals, he plays on the power play, he kills penalties, and just as important as any of that, he is providing a great example for those aforementioned young kids who are trying to figure out how to play professional hockey.

“He’s a 30-year-old that just keeps getting better and instead of staying the same or maybe regressing as he gets older, his career’s still going like this,” Appert said, pointing upward. “That’s the work ethic and daily habits, how he trains, how he attacks the offseason. There’s a reason that we keep bringing him back.”

In the victory over Syracuse, four of the goal scorers were Kulich, Rosen, Neuchev and Novikov, average age 21. Jobst was the outlier as he scored the other goal, the first of the night which tied the game and sent the Amerks on their way.

Jobst laughed when it was brought up that he was the old man on the scoresheet, but he was more excited about the kids because they need to be rolling over this final month of the regular season if the Amerks hope to qualify for the playoffs.

“This is the time of year when we need everyone stepping up - first line, second line, third line, fourth line, D-men,” he said. “It’s critical at this time of year. We’re stringing together some wins here so it’s good. I still think we’ve got a long way to go and we can still get a lot better, but we’re getting better and better and just finding ways to win.”

Jobst joined the Sabres organization in 2021 but was traded to San Jose on March 28, 2022 as he failed to establish himself in the Amerks’ lineup. However, when he became a free agent that summer, he chose to re-sign a contract with Rochester, knowing that his chances of getting to Buffalo would be slim because he wasn’t one of their own prospects.

“Some of the the first year and a half with us maybe it wasn’t shown publicly in terms of games, but we saw it privately,” Appert said of the work Jobst put in and the improvement he made. “What he’s about as a teammate and human, those are the guys who you want in your locker room and you want to mentor your young players.”

Maiorana: Amerks manage to beat Syracuse and Utica during brutal three-game weekend

He produced 14 goals and 38 points last season, added three goals and 13 points in the postseason, and he was such a key piece at both ends of the ice that he was a priority re-sign for this year and now he’s having the best performance of his five-year AHL career.

“Yeah, obviously it feels feels good to help the team win in any way,” he said. “Just playing with confidence right now and things are going in. I’ve come a long way in the three years I’ve been here from being scratched quite a bit the first year to most improved player as a 30-year-old last year. I’m still learning a ton about the game, I still love trying to get better each and every day and right now it just feels like all the hard work the last few years is starting to pay off.”

Devon Levi is on recall to the Sabres

The goaltender has played an integral role in Rochester’s recent stretch where it has won five out of its last eight and has jumped into third place, though barely, in the North Division. But for now, he’s back with the Sabres.

Levi was recalled Sunday because the Sabres had back-to-back games on the West Coast Monday in Seattle and Tuesday in Vancouver, and they don’t want Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen to play both.

Since getting sent down in late January, Levi has posted a 10-4-3 record including wins in five of his last six, and his save percentage is a scintillating .930. The plan is uncertain regarding how long Levi will stay with the Sabres. He may be with them when they finish the trip with games at Edmonton and Calgary, but since those aren’t on back-to-back nights, he may rejoin the Amerks in time for Friday’s home game against Toronto.

For now, Michael Houser is back with the team to join Dustin Tokarski, and Appert is certainly happy about that. He’s been toiling down with Jacksonville in the ECHL where he’s 10-10-2 with a .907 save percentage.

“His play speaks for itself, he’s been a really good goalie in the NHL, the American league and the East Coast league, wherever he’s been,” Appert said of the 31-year-old Houser. “And whatever he means to us on the ice, which is a lot, he means way more in the locker room. He’s one of the ultimate glue guys, he’s beloved in the locker room and he’s beloved by me. He drips with glue and the more guys you can have like that, especially this time of year, the better off you are.”

Zach Metsa showed off his versatility

The Amerks’ are in a roster crunch as they have several forwards either out with injuries or on on call-up to Buffalo. The situation was such that in the Toronto game, defenseman Zach Metsa played forward on a line with Brandon Biro and Graham Slaggert for the first 50 minutes, and then Appert moved him back to defense to help the Amerks protect their 5-2 lead.

“Yeah, it’s always interesting when you’re being told you’re playing forward, but I really have no problem doing it,” said Metsa, who has played there a couple of times for the Amerks, and also did it once in a while in college at Quinnipiac. “It’s a little different game that you’re playing up there, but end of the day, I just want to try to help the team win.”

Appert had Metsa at center because the defensive responsibilities are easier to adapt to. He could have dressed another forward, but he said, “When you’re looking at the lineup, Zach Metsa was in a playoff run with us last year, he’s been there through thick and thin this year. You’re thinking about a big game and you want those types of guys in the lineup.”

Metsa’s primary duty was to make sure he was responsible in the defensive zone, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t want to score.

“When we get down there I want to create, obviously, but maybe a little more emphasis in the D-zone,” said Metsa, who has five goals and 17 points from the blue line. “It’s not necessarily my role to go out there and try to score two or three goals, it’s just kind of being reliable defensively, being an asset to the defense on breakouts and whatnot since I know what’s going through their heads, and trying to help them in any way I can. But yeah, when you cross the red line with the puck, obviously we want to try to create some offense.”

Amerks lineup notes

▶ D Riley Stillman, who has been a veteran rock all year, is probably out a few weeks due to a lower body injury. Fortunately for the Amerks, they’re flush with defenseman at the moment now that Ryan Johnson is down from Buffalo and Calle Sjalin was acquired in a trade.

▶ F Lukas Rousek, who is the Amerks’ second-leading point scorer with 38, has been up with the Sabres and has not played for Rochester since March 2. At some point he’ll be back, and the Amerks need him to round out their lines.

▶ F Brandon Biro had a six-game pointless streak between Feb. 21 and March 8, but in the five games since he has two goals and three assists.

▶ F Viktor Neuchev continues to impress. He, too, had a rough stretch where he was scoreless in seven games, but in his last five games he has three goals and three assists and just looks so much more confident.

What’s next for the Amerks?

Another three-game week and this time they’re all at Blue Cross Arena. Getting points is paramount because after this, the Amerks’ next four games are against Cleveland (two), Syracuse and Providence, three legitimate Calder Cup champion contenders.

Wednesday they host Hartford, currently the fifth-place team in the Atlantic Division though their 67 points are one more in the conference standings than Rochester.

On Friday, Toronto comes back after the teams split a home-and-home set last weekend. As of now, the Marlies sit one point behind the Amerks in the North.

The first two games are 7:05 p.m. faceoffs, and the weekend wraps with a 3:05 start against Utica. The Comets sit last in the North, but they are just six points behind the Amerks so it’s critical that Rochester keep them out of the mix.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out each Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Amerks led by Mason Jobst, Devon Levi recalled by Sabres