AHL Syracuse Crunch

Palmieri Scores Two as Crunch Edge Penguins 4-3

Published on January 7, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Wilkes-Barre, PA - Two-time AHL All-Star Kyle Palmieri scored twice, including the game winner, as the Syracuse Crunch edged the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-3 tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

New defenseman Matt Smaby recorded his first point as a member of the Crunch and goaltender Jeff Deslauriers had 32 saves helping the club improve to 15-15-3-1 on the season.

Smaby scored his first goal in a Crunch uniform to give the Crunch a 1-0 lead at the 10:29 mark of the first period. Smaby carried the puck from the blue line into the Penguins defensive zone before lifting the puck into the top corner of the net on Brad Thiessen's glove side for a power-play tally.

The Penguins struck back just 44 seconds later when Matt Rust stuffed a rebound past Deslauriers to tie the game 1-1. Deslauriers made the initial stop on a Paul Thompson shot but Rust was in perfect position to put in the rebound.

Kyle Cumiskey gave the Crunch a 2-1 lead at the 6:26 mark of the second stanza. Caputi held the puck on Thiessen's left side, delaying a few seconds before finding Cumiskey who's one timer beat Thiessen for the Crunch's second man-advantage goal of the night.

The Crunch struck again less than three minutes later with a goal from Palmieri. Palmieri took a feed from Caputi, wrapped around the net and backhanded the puck between Thiessens' skate and the goal post to make it 3-1.

Smaby got called for tripping less than a minute into the third period giving the Penguins their fourth power - play opportunity of the contest. Penguins right wing Geoff Walker capitalized by tipping an Alex Grant shot past Deslauriers for a power-play goal just 1:23 into the final frame.

The Crunch regained a two-goal lead at the 12:10 mark of the third period. Palmieri roofed the puck over Thiessen from one knee for his second goal of the game and 21st of the season.

The Penguins came within one when Walker scored his second goal of the game just 58 seconds later, resulting in the final score of 4-3.

The Crunch will play their fifth consecutive road game on January 13th when they travel to Binghamton for a clash with the defending Calder Cup Champion Binghamton Senators.

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