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Syracuse Crunch

Devils fend off Crunch comeback in high-scoring affair

February 27, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Albany Devils (24-22-4-5) scored five of their seven goals in special teams situations with four power-play goals and one shorthanded tally in a 7-6 victory over the Syracuse Crunch (32-15-8-0) Friday at the War Memorial. The loss knocks Syracuse to third in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Manchester and Hershey, who both won Friday.

Syracuse erased three deficits but after taking its first lead of the game, 5-4 in the second period, the Crunch gave up three third-period goals as the Devils won their first game against the Crunch in six attempts this season.

"We came back and we were up 5-4 and there was a sloppy play to tie it," head coach Rob Zettler said. "We were battling hard, I thought our guys were going to win it. There was a lot of sloppy play in front of our net."

David Wohlberg scored a shorthanded tally to tie the score at five just over a minute into the final frame. Stefan Matteau put the Devils back in front with the team's fourth power-play goal of the game before Darcy Zajac added insurance with the seventh goal for Albany.

Jonathan Marchessault pulled the score within one for the Crunch with his second goal of the game with 10:15 left in regulation. He's tallied eight points in five games since returning from injury a week ago. Marchessault was one of five Crunch players to finish with multi-point nights as he tallied three points (2g, 1a). Vladislav Namestnikov scored the first goal for Syracuse and finished with two points (1g, 1a) to extend his point streak to five games, Cody Kunyk recorded his second two-goal game of the season, Slater Koekkoek added two assists to increase his total to 15, and Carter Ashton recorded his second multi-point game in a Crunch sweater with two assists.

The Crunch erased a 2-0 deficit, a 3-2 deficit, and a 4-3 deficit, but couldn't erase their fourth in a game that saw both starting goalies pulled. Scott Wedgewood was the first to exit after giving up five goals on 15 shots through 30 minutes of action. Maxime Clermont replaced Wedgewood and stopped 10 of 11 shots in relief. Kristers Gudlevskis made it almost five minutes into the third period but after giving up his seventh goal on 23 shots, he was pulled for Allen York. York stopped all four shots he faced from the Devils.

"I thought about it," Zettler said about possibly pulling Gudlevskis before he gave up the seventh goal. "We kept battling back and it was [Gudlevskis] game, and I wanted to give him a chance to win it."

The 13 combined goals is the highest total between the Crunch and an opponent this season. The highest previous goal total in a game for the Crunch was 11 as Syracuse defeated Hartford, 6-5, on Dec. 5. That game featured six power-play goals, a season high for a Crunch game until seven tonight.

The Crunch play their sixth straight game against an in-state rival Saturday when Utica comes to Syracuse for the first time since the record-breaking Toyota Frozen Dome Classic. The Comets, who lost 4-0 against Adirondack tonight, are 1-2-0-0 against the Crunch this season, the teams have three remaining contests this year.

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