AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Defeat Devils for Eighth Consecutive Road Win

November 24, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Crunch won their eighth consecutive road game, defeating the Albany Devils 4-1 tonight at the Times Union Center.

The Crunch improve to 11-2-1-1 overall and remain the only team in the AHL without a regulation road loss. The Crunch were powered offensively by two-point efforts from Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Richard Panik. Syracuse netminder Riku Helenius stopped 18 of 19 shots for his fourth win of the season.

Despite being outshot 6-4 in the opening frame the Syracuse Crunch held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play thanks to Cory Conacher's ninth goal of the season. During a stretch of four-on-four hockey Conacher blasted a shot from between the circles past Albany goaltender Keith Kinkaid 14:52 into the period. Former Devil Matt Taormina and Brett Connolly were credited with assists.

The Crunch extended their lead to 3-1 through 40 minutes of play with second period goals from Johnson and Alex Killorn. Shots in the second were 11-8 in favor of Syracuse.

The Devils tied the game five minutes into the middle frame thanks to left wing Joe Whitney. Whitney scored with a shot to the top-corner after a breakout pass from Adam Henrique got Whitney one-on-one with Helenius.

The Crunch regained their lead with 11:33 to play in the second period. Johnson stuffed the puck past Kinkaid after a scramble in front of the Devils netminder. Assists were given to Panik and Palat.

Killorn scored from the right circle just as a Brandon Burlon cross-checking penalty expired at the 13:04 mark of the second period. Johnson and Palat were credited with the assists, the second point of the night for both.

The Crunch outshot the Devils 10-5 in the final frame, adding an unassisted goal from Panik for a final score of 4-1. Panik's two points tonight extended his point streak to nine consecutive games.

The Crunch play the second game of a five-game road trip tomorrow in Worcester at 3 p.m.

Crunchables: The Crunch are 7-0-1-0 when leading after the first period...Brett Connolly has 6 points in his last five games...Ondrej Palat has at least one point in every Crunch road game this season...Eight consecutive road wins is a Syracuse Crunch franchise record...

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from November 24, 2012


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