AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Down \'Dogs to Snap 10-Game Winless Skid

Published on December 27, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Crunch were given a prescription tonight to cure their recent ills and it turned out to be exactly what the doctor ordered, as Adam Pineault tallied the game-winning goal with just over three minutes left in regulation to defeat the Hamilton Bulldogs by a 5-4 count in a see-saw battle in front of 6,032 fans at the War Memorial at Oncenter.

The first period was exactly what the Crunch were looking for, as the team used its home-ice advantage to nab the game's first goal on a shorthanded opportunity just 2:25 in.

Hamilton starter Marc Denis went to play the puck behind his own net, but underestimated the forecheck of Trevor Frischmon who chipped the puck away and fed John Vigilante all alone in the slot.

Viglilante rifled the disk past Denis to put the Crunch out ahead with a 1-0 lead.

That lead lasted until the 5:39 mark of the second period when Yannick Weber's point shot found its way through traffic to tie the game at 1-1.

The game took a strange turn in Hamilton's favor when they notched two goals in a six second span at the 8:04 and 8:10 marks of the period to make it 3-1.

Sebastian Dahm replaced Crunch starter Dan LaCosta after Hamilton's third goal.

The Bulldogs' two-tally lead did not last long, however, when Maksim Mayorov buried his sixth of the year on a rebound of an Andrey Plekhanov point shot just 18 seconds later to make it 3-2.

The score remained 3-2 until the 1:13 mark of the third when Grant Stewart snuck a shot under the pads of Dahm to give Hamilton back a two-goal lead at 4-2.

Things looked bleak for the Crunch with Hamilton up 4-2 and on a power play when Grant Clitsome was trotted off for hooking at the 5:10 mark.

But, the tide turned when Ryan Garlock came in on a shorthanded 2-on-1 with Clay Wilson just under seven minutes into the third, but elected to shoot after his passing lane was taken away. Garlock sniped a shot over the glove of Denis, his first as a member of the Crunch, to make in 4-3 and swing the momentum in favor of Syracuse.

The Crunch continued riding the wave when Vigilante's shot from the top of the left circle eluded Denis to tie the game at 4-4 with just under five minutes to go in regulation.

Syracuse took back the lead late in the game just 1:51 later when Petr Pohl used his speed to break into the Bulldogs' zone and get the puck to Adam Pineault. On a fluke play, Pineault flipped a backhand from the right corner behind the goal line that Denis couldn't handle and found its way to the back of the net for the Crunch's third unanswered goal and the game-winner.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2008


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