Crunch Edged by Amerks, 3-2

February 20, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release

SYRACUSE, N.Y. --- After going down by two, the Syracuse Crunch rallied back to tie the game, but eventually fell to the Rochester Americans, 3-2, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.

The loss puts Syracuse on a four-game skid and moves the team to 1-3-1-0 on the season and 0-1-1-0 in the 12-game season series with Rochester.

Goaltender Spencer Martin turned aside 29-of-32 shots in his first start for the Crunch this season. Dustin Tokarski stopped 37-of-39 in net for the Amerks. The Crunch went 1-for-4 on the power play and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Rochester opened scoring halfway through the first period when Ryan Jones cut down the left side and chipped a shot in. The Amerks doubled their lead in the second period after C.J. Smith threw a centering pass for Brett Murray to redirect in at the 11:18 mark.

Syracuse solved Tokarski halfway through the middle frame and potted back-to-back goals to tie the game. At 13:46, Brady Keeper got a give-and-go pass back from Otto Somppi, skated in down the left side and went top shelf. Five minutes later, Grigori Denisenko fired a wrister from the high slot while on the power play.

Rochester regained their lead 10 minutes into the third period when Ryan Scarfo swept in the rebound of Michael Mersch's shot and held on for their second victory over Syracuse this season.

The Crunch host the Amerks again on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch.

Crunchables: Serron Noel and Jack Finley made their professional debuts tonight...Grigori Denisenko has goals in back-to-back games.

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