Rochester sits atop Eastern Conference with 40 points through 26 games | Buffalo Sabres (2024)

Smith makes impact in return, Mittelstadt joins team

A two-game sweep of the Laval Rocket this past weekend has the Amerks three points ahead of the Toronto Marlies for first place in the AHL's North Division standings with three games remaining prior to the annual Christmas break.
Rochester comes into the week having earned points in 15 of its last 16 contests dating back to Nov. 1, showing a 13-1-1-1 record over that span.
The Amerks have posted different win streaks of three or more, including a stretch of five straight wins from Nov. 13 to Nov. 23.

Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | PTS || --- | --- | --- | --- | --- || 1. Andrew Oglevie | 26 | 10 | 9 | 19 || 2. Jean-Sebastien Dea | 24 | 10 | 8 | 18 || Kevin Porter | 25 | 6 | 12 | 18 || Zach Redmond | 23 | 4 | 14 | 18 || 5. Brett Murray | 21 | 3 | 12 | 15 |

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Goaltending leaders

| Player | GP | W | L | OTL | GAA | SV% | SO || --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- || Andrew Hammond | 15 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2.22 | .916 | 4 || Jonas Johansson | 13 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2.09 | .927 | 2 |

Mittelstadt embracing opportunity in Rochester

On Sunday, the Sabres assigned forward Casey Mittelstadt to Rochester.
Here's a sampling for Monday's written feature on Amerks.com.
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Now that he's here, he's focused and determined to work on the things that made him so successful last season while hoping to contribute to an Amerks team that is surging up the standings. For however long Mittelstadt may be here in Rochester, it's a time for him to grow and learn while alleviating some of the pressure that he may have been feeling at the NHL level while seeing the game from a different viewpoint.
"I think there's always pressure from myself and it's nice to come down here. It's a little bit different and I get to hang out with some of the guys my age that I know really well. Obviously, there's going to be some things that I'm going to need to get used to," stated Mittelstadt when asked if this move could help him get back to his best game.
There's not one particular thing that the second-year pro can pinpoint as to why the move may have happened, but he does admit that sometimes you just go in and out of the flow of the game. After his 16-game rut, Mittelstadt got on the scoresheet only twice with a lone goal and an assist through his last six games in Buffalo. And after an admittedly poor defensive effort against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 7, the forward found himself as a healthy scratch in three of his next four games while still on the Sabres roster.
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"I think there's a lot of things I can still learn, but I think I'm just trying to find what made me good again. Like I said, just to have the puck on my stick, being able to play with the puck on my stick, use my skill and get back to that," the forward remarked when asked how he could take advantage of his playing time while in the American Hockey League.
Mittelstadt is joining the Amerks at a remarkable time, with the team having earned points in 15 of their last 16 games and holding a three-point lead for first place in the North Division over the Toronto Marlies. With all of the back and forth action between players and staff from Buffalo all the way to Cincinnati, Rochester's success can be attributed to the close-knit group that head coach Chris Taylor has at hand.
You can read the full feature here.