Amerks on the road for back-to-back games against Laval this weekend

The Rochester Americans have won three of their last four games and are coming off a thrilling 5-4 shootout victory over Bridgeport.
With the victory, Rochester regained its lead atop the AHL's North Division by two points over the Syracuse Crunch. The Amerks have won 10 of their last 16 games while also claiming three of their last five on home ice. Overall, the team has 12 wins at home this season, which is tied for second-most in the AHL.

News and notes

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Zach Redmond and Lawrence Pilut have been named to the AHL All-Star Classic's North Division roster. Redmond leads the Amerks in goals with 15 on the year and is second in league scoring amongst defenseman with 28 points.
Redmond needs three more goals to tie the single-season franchise record for the most by a defenseman of 18, set by Rick Pagnutti during the 1972-73 season. The AHL record for goals by a defenseman is held by John Slaney, who netted 30 for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 1999-00 campaign.
Pilut has recorded 22 points (3+19) in 16 AHL games this season. Pilut's offensive output earned him a recall to the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 21. He's remained with the big club since, picking up three assists in nine NHL appearances.
The two-day event begins on Sunday, Jan. 27 with the 2019 AHL All-Star Skills Competition at 8 p.m. In keeping with its traditional format, the All-Stars from the two Eastern Conference divisions will be squaring off against the All-Stars from the two Western Conference divisions in seven skills events, including hardest shot, fastest skater and accuracy shooting.

The 2019 AHL All-Star Challenge will then take place on the evening of Monday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. For the fourth straight year, instead of a traditional 60-minute game, the league's all-stars will be divided into four teams, one representing each of the league's divisions (Atlantic, North, Central, Pacific).
The teams will then play a round-robin tournament featuring six games of 10 minutes each played entirely at 3-on-3. The two teams with the best records at the end of the round-robin tournament will face off for the championship, a six-minute game also played using the 3-on-3 format.
Rosters for each team will be composed of 11 skaters and two goaltenders.

Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1. Victor Olofsson | 31 | 10 | 20 | 30 | | 2. C.J. Smith (loaned to Buffalo) | 33 | 13 | 16 | 29 | | 3. Zach Redmond | 34 | 15 | 13 | 28 | | 4. Lawrence Pilut (loaned to Buffalo) | 16 | 3 | 19 | 22 | | 5. Danny O'Regan | 34 | 12 | 9 | 21 | | Alexander Nylander | 31 | 7 | 14 | 21 |

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Goaltending leaders

| Player | GP | W | L | OTL | GAA | SV% | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Scott Wedgewood | 21 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 2.84 | .913 | | Adam Wilcox | 14 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2.93 | .900 |

Last Game

Jan. 2: Sound Tigers 4 - Amerks 5 (SO)

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The Rochester Americans (21-11-2-0) overcame a two-goal deficit and tied the game in the final 12 seconds of regulation before needing the shootout to complete a 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (21-9-4-2) Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Forward Kyle Criscuolo booked his third multi-point outing of the campaign as he scored his third goal of the season to go with an assist.
Danny O'Regan, Andrew MacWilliam and Rasmus Asplund rounded out the scoring while goaltender Scott Wedgewood improved to 12-6-1 on the year as he made 22 saves on the night to Rochester improve to 5-1-1 in its last seven meetings with Bridgeport dating back to the 2016-17 season.
Facing a 4-3 deficit and with Wedgewood on the Amerks bench for the extra attacker, Sean Malone won the face-off back to Zach Redmond near the left point. The blueliner centered a pass to Alexander Nylander atop the circles and the third-year pro quickly found Asplund to the left of the Sound Tigers net. Despite a sprawling attempt by Smith, Asplund hammered home the game-tying goal with 12 seconds in regulation to force overtime.
"I just tried to get open," said Asplund. "Nylander is the type of player who can make those passes, so I found some room, and if I got the puck, I knew I had to get it on net."
The Amerks elected to shoot first in the shootout, and of the three Rochester shooters, Victor Olofsson was only player to defeat the goaltender to give the Amerks a 5-4 shootout win while Wedgewood turned aside all three attempts he saw.
In Rochester's three games this season against Bridgeport, Olofsson has delivered the game-deciding goal in all three victories after scoring the game-winning goal in each of the first two meetings back in October.
"Victor is a big-time player," said Amerks head coach Chris Taylor. "He wants to have the puck on his stick and I thought that line (O'Regan, Asplund and Olofsson) played really well for us tonight. They got us some good scoring chances, but overall it was a good team effort as it always is when you trail by two goals."