AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Edged by Bears, 5-4, in OT

Published on December 20, 2015 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


HERSHEY, Pa. - Syracuse Crunch specials teams struck four times tonight with three power-play goals and a shorthanded marker, but were outlasted by the Hershey Bears and fell, 5-4, in overtime at the Giant Center.

Tye McGinn led the Crunch with two goals, while Adam Erne and Jeff Tambellini contributed one each. Syracuse went 3-for-6 on the man-advantage, while shutting down all five Hershey power plays.

By making it to overtime, Syracuse took home one point as they move to 11-11-4-1 on the season. Hershey evened the six-game season series, 1-1, and advanced to 15-8-1-5.

Crunch goaltender Adam Wilcox made 39 saves in his ninth contest this season. Bears goaltender Justin Peters allowed three goals on eight shots before being relieved by Dan Ellis in the first period. Ellis went on to stop seven of eight.

The Crunch came out swinging, scoring three times in the first period, all on the man-advantage. At the 8:06 mark, Erne threw a centering pass for McGinn to net one from the slot. Tambellini earned a point on the opening tally.

After a hit on Henri Ikonen halfway through the opening stanza, Liam O'Brien was assessed a major penalty for checking from behind and opened the door for the Crunch to score two more times before the frame came to a close. At 10:45, Matt Taormina passed down low to Philippe Paradis, who feed Erne for a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle. Less than three minutes later, McGinn recorded his second of the night. Anthony DeAngelo ripped a shot from the high slot that was tipped by McGinn to give the Crunch a 3-0 lead and chase Peters from the game. Matthew Peca was credited with the secondary helper.

The Bears finally solved Wilcox with 6:21 remaining in the second stanza. After faking a shot, Carter Camper threw the puck over for Ryan Stanton to place it top shelf from the top of the left circle. One minute later, Chandler Stephenson redirected a pass from Riley Barber at the end boards. Madison Bowey picked up the secondary assist.

Just 2:25 into the final frame, Tambellini notched a shorthanded goal five-hole off an assist from Paradis to build back a two-goal lead. However, the Bears were quick to steal it back and go on to knot the contest and force overtime. At the nine-minute mark, Mike Moore banked one off the end boards for Sean Collins to pick up on the other side of the cage and jam home. Walker recorded a multi-point game with the assist. Christian Djoos evened the contest off a give-and-go on the right wing with Stephenson. Dustin Gazley nabbed the secondary assist on the equalizer.

Collins potted his second of the game with the help of Stephenson 25 seconds into the overtime frame to complete a comeback and top the Crunch, 5-4.

Syracuse returns to the War Memorial Arena on Saturday to host the Springfield Falcons 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: Charlie Dodero made his season debut with the Crunch tonight...The Crunch scored three power-play goals tonight, the most since Feb. 27 against Albany...Jeff Tambellini scored the Crunch's first shorthanded goal of the season...The Crunch had 16 shots on goal, the fewest since the team registered 17 on Nov. 27 against Toronto.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 20, 2015


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