AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Roll Past Monsters, 6-3

Published on February 21, 2020 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


SYRACUSE, N.Y. --- The Syracuse Crunch rolled past the Cleveland Monsters, 6-3, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.

Alex Barre-Boulet put up two goals and three assists for a five-point night, while Peter Abbandonato earned his first two-goal game. The win advances the Crunch to 25-22-3-5 on the season as they sweep the Monsters, 4-0, in the season series.

Goaltender Scott Wedgewood turned aside 21-of-24 shots in net for the Crunch. Veini Vehvilainen stopped 14-of-19 between the pipes for the Monsters. Syracuse went 2-for-5 on the power play and a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

The Crunch opened scoring 14:07 into the first period. Barre-Boulet fired a shot from a sharp angle along the goal line that got past Vehvilainen before redirecting off Mathieu Joseph and in. Ross Colton tallied a point on the goal.

The Monsters evened the score 3:02 into the middle frame when Markus Hannikainen sped down the left wing, cut in front of the goal and backhanded a shot back over Wedgewood.

Barre-Boulet put Syracuse back on top three minutes later off a one-timer from the right circle while on the power play. Mathieu Joseph and Anthony Greco recorded the assists.

The Crunch continued to build a lead in the second period as Abbandonato potted back-to-back goals. At 8:32, he grabbed a loose puck in the bottom of the right circle and wristed it home. Daniel Walcott and Barre-Boulet assisted on the marker. Six minutes later, he came down the right wing and backhanded a shot from the faceoff dot for his second of the night. Alex Volkov and Barre-Boulet collected points on the goal.

Syracuse and Cleveland exchanged goals in the third period beginning at the 4:11 mark when Ryan MacInnis sent a feed out from the end boards for Branden Troock to one-time from the right circle. Two minutes later, Volkov found Boris Katchouk on the backdoor for another power-play goal. Taylor Raddysh picked up a point for the secondary helper.

Halfway through the final frame, the Monsters came back within two again. Hannikainen came around the back of the net and sent home a rebound chance during a battle out front for his second of the game. Barre-Boulet then hit the empty net in the final minute of the game to secure the 6-3 win.

The Crunch host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Ticket packages and single game tickets for the 2019-20 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the War Memorial Arena 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) using #SyrCrunch.

Crunchables: Peter Abbandonato has four goals in four games against Cleveland this season, three of which are game-winners. Tonight is his first career multi-goal game...Alex Barre-Boulet recorded his first career five-point game tonight...The Crunch lead the Eastern Conference with 48 power-play goals.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2020


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