Crunch Fall to Rockford in a Shootout
April 3, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release
Syracuse, NY (April 3, 2009) - The Syracuse Crunch were defeated by the Rockford Ice Hogs in a shootout tonight, 3-2, in front of 4,916 fans at the War Memorial at Oncenter.
With four days since their last contest that finished a stretch of eight games in 10 days and saw the club move into a tie for the North Division's playoff spot, a well-rested Crunch came out ready to play, but was on the wrong end of a bad bounce that led to a 1-0 Rockford lead.
Four minutes and forty seconds into the opening frame, Pete MacArthur's dump-in caromed off the left side boards. As he was going out to play the puck, Crunch starter Kevin Lalande couldn't get back to the net in time as the disk crossed over the goal line to make it 1-0.
As they have done all season, the Crunch kept plugging away despite the fluke goal. Their hard work paid off at the 10:28 mark on the power play.
Dan Spang made a head-man pass to Mike Blunden on the left side. With an Ice Hog quickly bearing down on him, Blunden turned and made a no-look behind the back pass to a streaking Maksim Mayorov, sending him in all alone on a breakaway.
Mayorov came in and snapped a shot to the top right corner over the glove of Corey Crawford to tie the game at 1-1.
Shots favored the Crunch by a 14-12 margin through the first 20 minutes.
Rockford re-took the lead just under a minute into the second stanza when MacArthur notched his second marker of the game. MacArthur took a pass down the left side and his sharp-angle shot squeaked through Lalande to make it a 2-1 game.
Crawford was stellar for Rockford in the second period, denying all 17 Crunch bids. His best stop came on Alexandre Picard with four and a half minutes to go when Picard raced in and deked to his forehand, but Crawford dove across the crease and denied Picard with the paddle of his goal stick.
The Crunch answered again at the 4:24 mark of the third on a great individual effort from Picard.
The Les Saules, Quebec native took a long pass from Derek MacKenzie and bulldozed his way to the cage. As Picard split the defense, he fell down but did not give up on the play. From his stomach, he one-handed a shot on goal that squeezed through Crawford's legs to make it 2-2.
Both teams traded scoring chances the rest of the way, but Crawford shut the door and ended up with 31 regulation saves and stopped three of four shootout attempts against him.
CRUNCHABLES: Matt Kennedy appeared in his first professional game tonight...The Crunch have now scored a power play goal in five consecutive games and are 8-for-28 (28.57%) over that span...Alexandre Picard has 17 goals in his last 18 games.
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American Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2009
- Admirals Sunk by Lake Erie - Milwaukee Admirals
- Houston falls 3-1 to Peoria Friday, could clinch playoffs Saturday - Houston Aeros
- Rivermen Seize Second Place With 3-1 Win Over Aeros - Peoria Rivermen
- Crunch Fall to Rockford in a Shootout - Syracuse Crunch
- Moose drop divisional battle to Marlies, 3-1 - Manitoba Moose
- Bentivoglio's tally 25 seconds into overtime gives Sound Tigers 4-3 victory over Hershey - Bridgeport Islanders
- Bulldogs ground Griffins with a 6-3 win - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Greentree provides offense as Flames top Wolves - Abbotsford Heat
- Griffins fall late in 6-3 loss at Hamilton - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Hartford smacks P-Bruins,6-0 - Connecticut Whale
- Rampage roast Chops - San Antonio Rampage
- Bernier, First In Flight - Manchester Monarchs
- Sharks Edge Albany 3-2 - Albany River Rats
- Phantoms Sneak Past Admirals in Overtime - Norfolk Admirals
- Crawford shines in shootout - Rockford IceHogs
- Devils Lose Battle Versus Pirates, 3-1 - Albany Devils
- Phantoms Take Control Of Playoff Race With 3-2 Overtime Win In Norfolk - Adirondack Phantoms
- Sharks Edge Albany 3-2 - Albany River Rats
- Sharks Riley past Rats 3-2 - Worcester Sharks
- P-Bruins Fall To Wolf Pack 6-0 - Providence Bruins
- Pirates Get 3-1 Victory Over Devils - Portland Pirates
- Sharks reassign forward Ryan Vesce to Worchester - Worcester Sharks
- Moose one of many to thank Flood Fighters with free tickets - Manitoba Moose
- Goaltender Anton Khudobin reassigned to Houston Aeros - Houston Aeros
- Teaming Up for a Great Cause - Cleveland Monsters
- Kings Ink Free Agent Mullen - Manchester Monarchs
- Amerks To Honor Thomas M. Nichols Scholarship Winners April 5th - Rochester Americans
- Dallas Assigns Dan Jancevski To Hamilton - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Amerks Host B-Sens Tonight - Rochester Americans
- Potter Sent to Pack - Connecticut Whale
- Rampage Host Boy Scout Night - San Antonio Rampage
- Boychuk Named AHL's Top Defenseman - Providence Bruins
- Providence's Johnny Boychuk wins AHL's Eddie Shore Award - AHL
- Admirals Team Up with Wisconsin State Fair - Milwaukee Admirals
- Rampage Sign Staal to ATO - San Antonio Rampage
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Admirals Sign LW Brandon Buck to Tryout - Norfolk Admirals
- Aeros visit Peoria tonight at 7 p.m. in battle for second place - Houston Aeros
- Blackhawks Assign Aliu To Rockford - Rockford IceHogs
- Flames Recall Defencemen John Negrin And Matt Pelech From American Hockey League - Abbotsford Heat
- Stanley Cup Visit to Cap Off Griffins' Home Schedule - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Peter White Hall Of Fame Induction Higlights Big Night With Phantoms - Adirondack Phantoms
- Chops stay alive with big 5-3 win in Houston on Thursday - Iowa Chops
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