A.J. Greer scored twice, Fabian Zetterlund notched three assists and the Utica Comets stayed alive with a 4-2 win in Rochester on Tuesday night.
With their North Division semifinal series square at two games apiece, the Comets will host a winner-take-all Game 5 on Thursday evening.
Leading 1-0 after 20 minutes on a Nolan Foote goal, Greer broke the game open with two second-period goals, his fifth and sixth of the series. Chase De Leo also scored for Utica, and Nico Daws (2-1) stopped 30 shots, shutting out the Amerks until Rochester potted two power-play goals in the final 4:13 of the contest.
Arttu Ruotsalainen scored his league-leading seventh goal of the playoffs for the Amerks, and Mark Jankowski added his third.
Aaron Dell (2-2) allowed four goals on 26 shots in two periods of work. Michael Houser, in his first Calder Cup Playoff action since 2016, made seven saves in the third.
North Division Semifinals – Series “J” (best-of-5)
N1-Utica Comets vs. N5-Rochester Americans
Game 1 – Tue., May 10 – UTICA 6, Rochester 3
Game 2 – Sat., May 14 – Rochester 4, UTICA 3 (OT)
Game 3 – Sun., May 15 – ROCHESTER 4, Utica 3 (OT)
Game 4 – Tue., May 17 – Utica 4, ROCHESTER 2
Game 5 – Thu., May 19 – Rochester at Utica, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern