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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Fall to IceCaps, 4-3, in OT

November 20, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


ST. JOHN'S, NL - Yanni Gourde tallied a late third period goal to force overtime, but the Syracuse Crunch were unable to top the St. John's IceCaps and fell, 4-3, tonight at the Mile One Centre.

The Crunch fought back and knotted the score twice during the contest. Henri Ikonen and Tye McGinn helped the team climb back from a two-goal deficit with second and third period goals. After St. John's took back the lead in the third, Gourde evened the score for the second time with only 3:27 remaining. However, the IceCaps were quick to score in the extra frame and downed the Crunch in their first meeting this season.

Three Crunch players saw firsts in tonight's matchup. Ikonen tallied his first goal, while David Broll recorded his first point of the season. Daniel Walcott earned his first professional point with an assist.

Syracuse fired a season-high 47 shots on goal. St. John's goaltender Eddie Pasquale turned aside 44. Syracuse netminder Adam Wilcox stopped 24 of 28. Both teams notched one power-play tally, with the Crunch going one-for-five and the IceCaps one-for-three.

After a scoreless first period, the IceCaps struck twice in less than two minute during the middle frame. At the 5:30 mark, Mark Barberio passed ahead to Sven Andrighetto, who sped past Nikita Nesterov and fired on Wilcox. The goaltender made the initial save, but Andrighetto was able to jam the rebound home.

Just 1:24 later, the IceCaps capitalized on a turnover in the offensive zone. Gabriel Dumont gained control of the puck in the slot. He skated to the left circle and threw one on net. Stefan Fournier was in the crease to redirect the shot backdoor for his first of the season. Mark MacMillan picked up the secondary assist.

The Crunch cut the lead in half with 4:25 remaining. After receiving the puck from Broll, Ikonen ripped a shot from the top of the left circle that slid just under the crossbar. Slater Koekkoek grabbed a point on the tally.

McGinn evened the score early in the third period. Walcott tied up an IceCaps defender in front of the crease and allowed McGinn to light the lamp from the slot.

With 6:16 remaining in the contest, St. John's took back the lead. MacMillan stole the puck away from Koekkoek behind the cage and threw it out to Jeremy Gregoire. Gregoire got a shot off before losing his balance that hit the post and continued into the net.

The Crunch came back again, this time while on the man-advantage, to force overtime. After a series of shots that were rejected by Pasquale, Gourde finally flipped the puck past the netminder. Dylan Blujus and Anthony DeAngelo were credited with the helpers.

After making an unbelievable kick-save, Wilcox was beat by Andrighetto and Barberio for the second time and Syracuse was defeated in overtime, 4-3.

By making it to overtime, the Crunch earned one point as they move to 7-5-1-1. The IceCaps are 9-5-2-1 on the season.

The Crunch return to the Mile One Centre to rematch the IceCaps tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET.

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.

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