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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Come Back to Defeat Senators, 5-4, in Five-Round Shootout

February 28, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - After the Syracuse Crunch came back from a three-goal deficit in the third period off two goals from Mike Blunden and a marker from Joel Vermin, Tye McGinn evened the score for a second time with just nine seconds remaining in the contest to force overtime. Blunden and Matthew Peca went on to score in a five-round shootout to defeat the Binghamton Senators, 5-4, tonight at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena.

The victory moves the Crunch to 22-23-9-2 and 7-1-1-0 in the 10-game series with the Senators. Binghamton drops to 21-30-3-1.

Crunch goaltender Adam Wilcox earned his sixth win, stopping 28 shots and 4-of-5 shootout opportunities. Chris Driedger turned aside 31-of-35 and 3-of-5 shootout shots for the Senators. Syracuse was able to convert on 2-of-8 power play opportunities, while killing 3-of-4 Binghamton man-advantages.

The Senators struck twice in the first period to quickly build a 2-0 lead over the Crunch. With Jeff Tambellini in the box for high-sticking, Phil Varone threw a cross-slot feed for Matt Puempel to net from the right circle just 1:19 into the frame. Michael Kostka grabbed a point on the opening tally. Two minutes later, Jerome Leduc fired a shot from the right point that was heading wide, but ricocheted off a defenseman's stick and past Wilcox.

Halfway through the middle stanza, the Senators extended their lead. Jason Akeson stole the puck at the blue line and came in on a two-on-none with Puempel. He sent a feed over for Puempel to net his second of the game from the slot.

The Crunch came back to tie the game with three consecutive goals in the third period. Blunden was down low to chip in two back-to-back rebound opportunities on the man-advantage in a four-minute span off assists from Tanner Richard and Anthony DeAngelo. At 15:26, Vermin tipped Dylan Blujus's shot from the high slot to bring the Crunch back from a three-goal deficit. Jake Dotchin registered the secondary assist on the equalizer.

With 49 seconds remaining, Kostka backhanded a rebound off assists from Phil Varone and Akeson to regain the lead for the Senators. However, McGinn was able to tap in a second chance goal with only nine seconds left in the game to knot the score for a second time and send the teams into overtime. Richard earned his third point of the night with the primary assist, while Tambellini grabbed the secondary helper.

A scoreless overtime frame forced a shootout to determine a winner. Akeson scored in the second round, but Blunden evened it up in the third. Two rounds later, Peca notched the game-winner and claimed the victory for Syracuse.

The Crunch return to the War Memorial Arena to host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms March 2 at 7 p.m.

Syracuse Crunch single game and season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch Box Office located in the War Memorial on 800 South State Street in Syracuse or by calling the office at 315-473-4444. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@officialsyracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch and #BelieveInBlue.

Crunchables: Tanner Richard had his second three-point game of the season with three assists tonight...Joel Vermin potted his first goal since Nov. 14...Mike Blunden has three two-goal games and four multi-point games in the last ten games.

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