Courtesy of Amerks.com
Cleveland, OH – Isak Rosen recorded a career-high four points (2+2) to help the Rochester Americans (8-4-2-0) earn a 7-5 win over the Cleveland Monsters (8-4-1-0) in a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday.
With the win, the Amerks split the two-game set to improve to 40-20-6-4 record against Cleveland over the last 11 years dating back to the start of the 2011-12 campaign. Additionally, the club has earned at least one point in 29 of the last 44 games overall.
Along with Rosen amassing a multi-point performance, Ethan Prow, Michael Mersch, Viktor Neuchev and Lukas Rousek, who was reassigned to Rochester on Friday, all notched two assists each. Brandon Biro, Zach Metsa, Jiri Kulich, Mason Jobst, and Riley Stillman each had one goal in the win. Jeremy Davies, Tyson Kozak and Nikita Novikov rounded out the scoring as they added an assist.
Goaltender Dustin Tokarski (3-2-0) made his fifth appearance of the season and second straight against the Monsters after drawing the nod Thursday night. The veteran netminder made 26 saves to earn his third win of the campaign.
Kent Johnson (1+3), Mikael Pyyhtia (0+2), Marcus Bjork (1+1), and Brendan Gaunce (0+2) all had a multi-point effort for Cleveland, which suffered its first regulation loss of the season when scoring the first goal of the game (6-0-1-0). Carson Meyer completed the scoring as he notched his sixth goal of the season in the final period.
Goaltender Jet Greaves (7-3-0) took the defeat in the Monsters crease as he finished with 17 saves in his 10th appearance of the season.
Entering the third period, Rochester saw Cleveland score three times in the first 7:45 to grab a 5-4 lead before countering back with three of its own.
The Amerks kicked off their three-goal run as Davies carried the puck nearly the length of the ice before sending a pass to Neuchev in the right corner. The rookie winger centered it for Metsa, whose attempt was blocked by a Monsters skater. Metsa retrieved the puck, and after Neuchev and Rousek traded passes, the rookie defenseman hammered a one-time feed from the right slot as Biro was providing a screen in-front of Greaves.
Just 4:15 after Metsa’s second goal of the season, Stillman found a rebound in-front of the crease. The defenseman spun and tucked a shot underneath the crossbar to restore Rochester’s lead with 5:07 left in regulation from Neuchev and Prow.
Holding a 6-5 advantage in the final two minutes, Davies dug the puck out of the corner of the defensive zone while Greaves was summoned to the bench for an extra skater. Rousek darted up the ice, and as he was forced to wall, he lobbed a pass for Rosen to tuck into the empty net.
Rosen’s fourth point of the night and second goal of the contest sealed the 7-5 victory.
In the opening period, the teams traded goals and exchanged penalties as the contest was deadlocked at 1-1 after one.
Cleveland reclaimed its lead 47 seconds into the middle frame before Rochester flipped a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
On the ensuing shift after Johnson scored for the Monsters, Jobst provided an outlet pass for Mersch at the far blueline. As the Amerks captain carried the puck down the right wall, he centered a pass towards the front of the crease. Prior to the pass reaching the goaltender, Jobst redirected it behind the left arm of the netminder.
Rochester took its first lead of the night 18 seconds later as Novikov quickly jumpstarted the transition play inside his own zone. Kozak darted through the neutral zone, and as he approached the left face-off dot, he slid a pass for Rosen to snipe underneath the crossbar at the 1:59 mark.
The Amerks continued to increase their lead and drew a pair of penalties for a two-man advantage for 1:55.
On the power-play, Mersch and Rosen exchanged passes before Biro finished off the play with his third goal of the slate.
The teams combined for six goals in the final 20 minutes as Rochester avoided the two-game sweep with a 7-5 win to close out the weekend.
The Amerks conclude their streak of 11 straight games against North Division opponents as they host the Laval Rocket for a pair of contests beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 7:05 p.m. The pre-Thanksgiving showdown will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
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