The Rochester Americans completed a series comeback and advanced to the North Division finals with a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory over the Syracuse Crunch at the Upstate Medical University Arena on Saturday night.
Rochester became just the 12th team in AHL history to win a best-of-five playoff series after losing the first two games.
Lawrence Pilut netted the game-winning goal on the power play at 11:35 in the extra period, his second of the night. Tyson Kozak, Jiri Kulich, and Michael Mersch also potted goals for the Amerks, while Malcolm Subban made 44 saves.
Declan Carlile, Simon Ryfors, Gabriel Dumont, and Trevor Carrick scored for Syracuse. Max Lagace turned aside 11-of-15 shots before being replaced by Hugo Alnefelt, who stopped 9-of-10.
The Amerks will take on the Toronto Marlies in the North Division finals. Game 1 of the best-of-five series is set for Thursday at 7 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].