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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Downed by Comets, 8-5

March 4, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse Crunch were downed by the Utica Comets, 8-5, in a back-and-forth affair tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.

Charles Hudon paced the Crunch with two goals on the night as the team moves to 22-20-6-1 on the season and 2-6-1-0 in the 14-game season series against the Comets.

Crunch goaltender Hugo Alnefelt stopped 7-of-10 shots before being relieved by Max Lagace late in the first period. Lagace went on to stop 12-of-15 shots. Akira Schmid earned the win turning aside 37-of-42 between the pipes for the Comets. Syracuse went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Utica was 1-for-2.

The Comets were first on the board 12 minutes into the opening period when Frederik Gauthier scored with a wrister from the right circle while skating down the wing. The Crunch evened the score at 13:24. Gabriel Dumont dug the puck out from along the end boards and centered it for Gage Goncalves to jam in with a quick stick from the top of the crease.

Utica regained their lead with two more goals to close out the first period. At 14:21, Graeme Clarke capitalized on a turnover when he stole the puck, cut in front of the net and put it behind Alnefelt. One minute later, Nolan Foote sent the puck down low for Brian Flynn to score backdoor.

Syracuse came back within one at the 2:11 mark of the second period. Sean Day's left-point shot was blocked, but the puck kicked out for Remi Elie to grab and chip in from a sharp angle along the goal line. The Comets again responded and a minute later regained their two-goal lead when Chase De Leo centered the puck for Alexander Holtz to score from the bottom of the right circle.

At the 8:27 mark of the middle frame, Hudon sent in a shot from the right faceoff dot to make the score 4-3, but the Comets went back up by two at 13:37 when Fabian Zetterlund blasted a one-timer from the left circle during the man-advantage. Utica added another with 1:05 remaining in the period when Michael Vukojevic tipped in a point shot.

The teams exchanged four more goals in the second half of the third period. At 13:23, Hudon potted his second of the night on the power play when he chipped in the rebound from Barre-Boulet's right-circle shot. Utica responded with their first of two empty netters at 17:27 when Foote found the unmanned cage. Just nine seconds later, Antoine Morand rushed the net and forced the puck past Schmid, but the Comets tallied another empty-netter, this time from A.J. Greer, to secure the win in the final seconds.

The Crunch and Comets face each other again tomorrow.

Single game tickets and ticket packages for the 2021-22 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch).

Crunchables: Remi Elie is on a three-game goal scoring streak against Utica...Gage Goncalves has three goals in four games...Alex Barre-Boulet has six points (3g, 3a) in his last two games.

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