AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Sneak Past Springfield in a Shootout

February 14, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Syracuse, NY (February 14, 2009) - The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Springfield Falcons in a shootout tonight, 2-1, on the strength of 27 saves from Sebastian Dahm in front of 5,829 fans at the War Memorial at Oncenter.

The tone of Saturday's match was set early when Crunch captain Dan Smith squared off against Falcons captain and Rome, NY native Tim Sestito less than thirty seconds into the contest.

The two teams battled with no result until less than a minute remained in the first period. Falcons right-winger Carl Corazzini was sent to the box at 19:10 for hooking; about 45 seconds into the power play Alexandre Picard drew a hooking penalty from Bryan Young to create a 5- on - 3 advantage for the Crunch.

Just four seconds into the two-man advantage, Mike York won a faceoff back to Andrey Plekhanov. Plekhanov quickly found an open Aaron Rome at center point who skated in and wristed a shot past Springfield goaltender Dany Sabourin to put the Crunch up 1-0.

The Crunch supplied continuous offensive pressure throughout the first, outshooting the Falcons 14-8. In his sixth consecutive start for the Crunch, Sebastian Dahm stopped all eight shots he faced in the opening stanza.

The Falcons evened the score in the second with a power-play goal by Springfield defenseman Cody Wild. Springfield went on the power play after John Vigilante was called for hooking at 7:34. Nine seconds later Wild scored with Jean-Francois Jacques and Taylor Chorney picking up the helpers.

The Crunch took twice as many shots as the Falcons during the third period (14-7), forcing Sabourin to make 14 saves in the third to send the game in overtime for the second consecutive night.

The Crunch had a man-advantage, but were unable to convert after Johann Kroll drew a holding penalty from Syracuse native and Springfield left wing Rob Schremp 1:37 into the extra period. The Falcons killed the penalty, sending the contest to a shootout.

Tonight was the second consecutive shootout the Crunch won on the strength of a game-winning goal from Mike York. After York netted his goal, Dahm turned away all five of the Falcon shooters to secure the win. Dahm was named the game's first star for his effort.




American Hockey League Stories from February 14, 2009


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