Crunch Suffer 5-2 Loss to Penguins, Eliminated from Calder Cup Playoffs
April 29, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release
SYRACUSE N.Y. - The Syracuse Crunch were eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs with a 5-2 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defeated Syracuse, 3-0, in the best-of-five Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series.
Crunch goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 19-of-23 shots. Penguins goaltender Matt Murray earned his third victory of the series, allowing only two goals on 33 attempts. The Crunch were unable to convert on one power play opportunity, while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton capitalized all three of their man-advantages.
The Penguins opened scoring on the power play, but the Crunch were able to even the score before the first intermission. Conor Sheary fed Scott Wilson across the slot for a one-timer from the right circle just 7:53 after puck drop. Andrew Ebbett tallied a point for the secondary assist.
With 3:07 remaining in the first frame, the Crunch responded. Matthew Peca chipped the puck out from the boards to Luke Witkowski at the right point. After a pump fake, Witkowski slid a pass to the slot for Yanni Gourde to direct bar down.
It took the Penguins 2:39 in the second period to break the tie. Tom Kostopoulos ripped a shot that was turn aside by Gudlevskis. However, the back door was left open for Sheary to shovel in and steal back the lead. Defenseman Derrick Pouliot recorded a helper on the go-ahead tally.
The Penguins built up a two-goal lead less than two minutes into the final frame. With the man-advantage, the team set up the same play that was effective in the first period. Brian Dumoulin passed to Wilson at the blue line. A feed across the zone positioned Sheary for his second goal of the night with a one-timer from the right circle.
Another power-play goal for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton came at the 4:30 mark when Pouliot fired through traffic from the high slot. Assists went to Kasperi Kapanen and Taylor Chorney.
The Crunch finally stole one back a minute and a half later. Tanner Richard received a pass from Slater Koekoek that he was unable to control. He spun around and threw a back hander on net that slipped past Murray. Gourde earned a multi-point game with the secondary helper.
A comeback was stopped short when Ebbett added an empty net goal with the help of Dominik Uher to knock the Crunch out of the post season.
2015-16 Syracuse Crunch ticket packages are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch Box Office located at the War Memorial on 800 South State Street in Syracuse, or by calling the office at (315) 473-4444. For the latest Crunch information, visit the team's official website, syracusecrunch.com, or follow the club on Facebook, facebook.com/syracusecrunch, Twitter, @SyracuseCrunch, and Instagram, @officialsyracusecrunch.
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