Amerks return to winning ways with victory in Cleveland

The Rochester Americans (22-13-2-4) and Cleveland Monsters (18-20-2-2) each traded a pair of goals in regulation before Lawrence Pilut delivered the game-winner with 1:36 remaining in overtime as the Amerks snapped out of a seven-game skid with a 3-2 win over the Monsters Wednesday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The matchup was the second meeting in less than a week between the North Division rivals and the fourth of fifth meetings this season decided beyond regulation. Rochester has now won three of the last four.

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Casey Mittelstadt (1+1) led the scoring for Rochester, providing the eventual tying goal and an assist on the game-winner. Remi Elie (1+0) scored his second goal in the last two games, marking his fifth of the season.
Pilut (1+0), who was playing his first game back with the Amerks following a brief six-game stint with the parent Buffalo Sabres, notched the game-winner with just 96 seconds to spare in overtime action, with Mittelstadt collecting the lone assist. AHL All-Star Jonas Johansson (12-3-3) made the start in the net for Rochester, stopping 23 of the 25 shots that he faced in net to improve to 10-1-1 in his last 12 appearances.

Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1. Jean-Sebastian Dea | 39 | 12 | 17 | 29 | | 2. Zach Redmond | 38 | 5 | 20 | 25 | | 3. Lawrence Pilut | 30 | 6 | 16 | 22 | | Kevin Porter | 34 | 6 | 16 | 22 | | 5. Andrew Oglevie | 34 | 10 | 10 | 20 |

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Goaltending leaders

| Player | GP | W | L | OTL | GAA | SV% | SO | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Jonas Johansson | 19 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 2.21 | .924 | 2 | | Andrew Hammond | 23 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 2.67 | .899 | 4 | | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen* | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.38 | .887 | 0 | | *Assigned to Cincinnati (ECHL) |

News and notes

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Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, an ECHL All-Star, made his season debut for the Rochester Americans last weekend. Luukkonen made two starts, going 0-1-1 and stopping 55 of 62 total shots.
And yesterday, Erik Portillo, Buffalo's third-round pick in 2019 (67 th overall), was named the USHL's Goaltender of the Week.

Portillo has 13 wins this year, placing him in a three-way tie for third in the USHL. He also ranks first in goals against (2.05) and second in save percentage (.918). He represented Sweden at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship earlier this month.

Amerks goaltender Jonas Johansson will represent Rochester at the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic.