MONSTERS RALLY IN THIRD TO EDGE AMERKS
Slaggert, Rathbone each record two points in 5-4 loss to Cleveland
Nov 27, 2024A three-goal first period by the Rochester Americans (8-6-3-0) was not enough to stop the red-hot Cleveland Monsters (13-4-0-1), who overcame a multi-goal deficit before scoring the game’s final three goals to escape with a 5-4 win Wednesday night at Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
Despite coming up short for the seventh time in eight games, Rochester has earned at least one point in 10 of its last 14 games dating back to Oct. 23. The loss was the first against Cleveland this season after winning the first three meetings of the season series.
Graham Slaggert and Jack Rathbone (1+1) both added their second multi-point outing of the season while Ryan Johnson (0+2) collected his first two-assist performance of 2024-25 and second of his career. Brendan Warren notched his third goal in his last five games for the Amerks while former Monster Josh Dunne chipped in his fourth and first against his former team. Lukas Rousek, Kale Clague, Viktor Neuchev, and Anton Wahlberg all recorded an assist.
Goaltender Devon Levi (1-1-1) stopped 20 of the 25 shots he faced but suffered the defeat in his third appearance of the campaign. The second-year netminder has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in all but six of his 29 appearances with Rochester.
FIRST PERIOD
In the opening minutes of the contest, Warren led a play out of the Amerks zone as he pushed it ahead to Slaggert. While Slaggert made his way down the left wing, he dropped it back to Clague, who fed it through the slot to Warren to snap over the pad of Greaves for his fourth of the season just 2:14 into the contest.
While the Monsters countered with back-to-back goals from Del Bel Belluz and Pearson, the Amerks flipped the 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead with two goals in a span of 4:40.
Moments after thwarting a potential breakaway, Rathbone dumped the puck down the right wall to Konsta Helenius. As the rookie forward was outside the right dot, he fired a pass to Neuchev and the latter took a hit before playing it to the top of the blueline. Johnson received the puck and spun a perfect one-timer for Rathbone to blast past the blocker at the 15:15 mark.
To close out the scoring in the frame, Johnson bumped a Cleveland forward off the puck in the right corner of his own zone before Rathbone cleared it out of harm’s way while the Amerks were on the penalty kill. While racing towards the loose puck, Slaggert gathered it and snapped a shot off Greaves’ right hip to give Rochester a 3-2 lead with 4.6 seconds left.
SECOND PERIOD
Like Rochester’s first goal of the night, which came in the opening three minutes of the frame, the home club doubled its lead 2:40 into the middle stanza. As Wahlberg carried the puck in the neutral zone, he lowered it into the near corner for Rousek to gain ownership. Eventually, Rathbone kept the puck inside the zone and handed it back to Rousek at the left wing. Rousek flung it towards the net for Dunne to tuck up and over Greaves for his first against his former team.
While the clubs combined for 18 penalty minutes over the final 17 minutes of the frame, the Monsters cut the deficit in half as Denton Mateychuk retrieved a loose puck inside the left circle of the Rochester zone. The blueliner moved it up to the right point for Madison Bowey, who quickly fired a shot towards Levi. Before the puck reached the Amerks net, Del Bel Belluz reached out his stick and redirected into the cage at the 19:24 mark for his second of contest.
THIRD PERIOD
Less than three minutes after being turned aside by Levi’s left pad while on the doorstep, Owen Sillinger got revenge on the netminder as he redirected a Samuel Knazko shot to tie the game at 4-4.
Later in the frame, Cleveland’s Max McCue stepped in-front of a pass from the corner of the Rochester zone before taking a few strides and offering a one-time feed to Gavin Brindley. Despite the rookie winger being stopped, he scooped up the rebound behind the net and tucked inside the far post to re-establish the Monsters’ lead.
The Amerks attempted to extend the game beyond regulation by testing Greaves and company for the final 10 minutes but were unsuccessful even after pulling Levi for the final 76 seconds and earning an offensive zone power-play for the last 11 seconds of regulation.
UP NEXT
The Amerks will close out their homestand in the front-end of a home-and-home series as they welcome the Syracuse Crunch to The Blue Cross Arena on Friday, Nov. 29 for a 7:05 p.m. matchup. All the action will be live carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey. Additionally, the game will be tape-delayed on CW Rochester beginning at 10 p.m.
Goal Scorers
CLE: L. Del Bel Belluz (9, 10), J. Pearson (3), G. Brindley (1)
ROC: B. Warren (4), J. Rathbone (3), G. Slaggert (4), J. Dunne (4)
Goaltenders
CLE: J. Greaves – 37/41 (W)
ROC: D. Levi – 20/25 (L)
Shots
CLE: 25
ROC: 41
Special Teams
CLE: PP (0/4) | PK (6/6)
ROC: PP (0/6) | PK (4/4)
Three Stars:
1. CLE - L. Del Bel Belluz
2. CLE - G. Brindley
3. ROC - J. Rathbone