Crunch Rally for 6-4 Win over Monsters in Season Opener
October 15, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL) - Syracuse Crunch News Release
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - After giving up two goals, the Syracuse Crunch rallied back for a 6-4 victory over the Cleveland Monsters in the season opener tonight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The night was full of firsts as Shawn Element recorded his first professional points in his first professional game, Max Cajkovic potted his first AHL goal, Sean Day tallied his first career shorthanded goal and Gage Goncalves netted his first professional marker.
Max Lagace stopped 8-of-10 shots in net for the Crunch before Hugo Alnefelt took over in the second period. He went on to turn aside 14-of-16. Daniil Tarasov stopped 16-of-21 between the pipes for the Monsters. Syracuse went 1-for-3 on the power play and 7-for-8 on the penalty kill.
The Monsters opened scoring 5:53 into the game when Tim Berni fired a wrister from the left circle. Less than two minutes later, Cleveland doubled their lead during 5-on-3 play. Jake Christiansen was in the right circle to rip home a one-timer off a feed from Tyler Angle. The Crunch responded with a power-play goal of their own at 17:18. Element centered the puck for Jimmy Huntington to pick up and score from the slot. Just 1:27 later, Charles Hudon evened the score after redirecting Ryan Jones's left point shot.
Syracuse took the lead 2:55 into the middle stanza. Cajkovic skated in on a 2-on-1 and chipped in the feed from Element backdoor. At 6:57, Cleveland knotted the score. Adam Helewka got the puck during a battle along the goal line and found the back of the net.
The Crunch proceeded to rattle off three consecutive goals to build up a 6-3 lead. With 3:51 remaining in the second period, Day came in on a shorthanded breakaway and beat Tarasov just under his right pad. Almost four minutes in the third period, Goncalves scored after Cajkovic backhanded the rebound to him streaming down the right wing. Dumont then hit the empty net at 16:36.
The Monsters stole one more back at 16:44 when Justin Scott cut towards the net and scored on the backhand, but the Crunch stifled the late effort took their first win of the season.
The Crunch rematch the Monsters tomorrow at 7 p.m.
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: The Crunch have won their last two season openers.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from October 15, 2021
- Stars Name Curtis McKenzie Captain, Alex Petrovic and Andreas Borgman as Alternate Captains - Texas Stars
- Monsters Fall Short in 6-4 Loss to Crunch - Cleveland Monsters
- Crunch Rally for 6-4 Win over Monsters in Season Opener - Syracuse Crunch
- Wolf Pack Knock off Islanders 2-1 on Opening Night - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Hartford Withstands Early Flurry, Tops Islanders in Season Debut - Bridgeport Islanders
- Anaheim Ducks Recall Dostal - San Diego Gulls
- Reign Unveil Season Opening Roster - Ontario Reign
- San Diego Gulls Announce 2021-22 Season-Opening Roster - San Diego Gulls
- Hartford Wolf Pack Announce 2021-22 Season Opening Roster - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Eagles Complete Multiple Transactions - Colorado Eagles
- Penguins Name Taylor Fedun Team Captain for 2021-22 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Heward to Helm Silver Knights to Begin Season - Henderson Silver Knights
- Iowa Wild Releases 2021-22 Opening Night Roster - Iowa Wild
- Heat Host Tucson in Season Opener - Stockton Heat
- Phantoms Announce Opening Night Roster - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Blue Jackets Assign Forward Yegor Chinakhov to Monsters - Cleveland Monsters
- San Diego Gulls Sign Francis Marotte to One-Year Contract - San Diego Gulls
- T-Birds Open Season on Home Ice Saturday & Sunday - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Meet the 2021-22 Checkers - Charlotte Checkers
- Abbotsford Canucks Announce Pop-Up Party on October 16 - Abbotsford Canucks
- Series Preview vs. Colorado: October 15 & 17 - Henderson Silver Knights
- Bears Announce Opening Night Roster for 2021-22 Season - Hershey Bears
- Condors Announce Opening Night Roster - Bakersfield Condors
- Henderson Silver Knights Announce Opening Night Roster - Henderson Silver Knights
- Wolf Pack Kick off 2021-22 Season against Rival Islanders - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Amerks Sign Jankowski to One-Year AHL Contract - Rochester Americans
- Heat Announce Season-Opening Roster - Stockton Heat
- Moose Announce 2021-22 Opening Day Roster - Manitoba Moose
- Florida Assigns Chase Priskie and Maxim Mamin to Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- Cleveland Monsters Announce 2021-22 TV and Radio Broadcast Schedules - Cleveland Monsters
- Providence Bruins Announce 2021-22 Opening Day Roster - Providence Bruins
- IceHogs Announce 2021-22 Opening Night Roster Featuring 16 Rookies, Ten Blackhawks Draft Picks and Five First-Round Selections - Rockford IceHogs
- Islanders Open 2021-22 Season Tonight - Bridgeport Islanders
- Rockford IceHogs Open 2021-22 Season with Friday Night Showdown at Grand Rapids - Rockford IceHogs
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
Other Recent Syracuse Crunch Stories
- Syracuse Crunch Loan Goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick to Orlando Solar Bears
- Crunch Fall to Bears, 4-1
- Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Defenseman Emil Lilleberg from Syracuse Crunch
- Crunch Defeat Senators, 4-2
- Syracuse Crunch Acquire Defenseman Quinn Schmiemann from the Abbotsford Canucks