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Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Steal One Point in 5-4 Shootout Loss to Amerks

March 11, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Syracuse Crunch scored twice in the final six minutes to climb back to force overtime and claim one point in an eventual 5-4 shootout loss to the Rochester Americans today at Blue Cross Arena.

Erik Cernak and Olivier Archambault tallied the third period markers, while adding an assist each for multi-point performances. Despite the loss, the Crunch still hold second place in the North Division with a 36-19-3-4 record and lead the 10-game season series against the Amerks, 5-1-1-1.

Goaltender Peter Budaj stopped 31-of-35 shots and 2-of-3 shootout attempts in his second game of a conditioning stint with the Crunch. Linus Ullmark earned the win turning aside 28 shots and making three stops in the shootout. Syracuse was held scoreless on three power play opportunities and stopped Rochester's single man-advantage.

The Crunch jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 15 seconds into the game. After chasing the puck into the corner, Carter Verhaeghe cut behind the net and threw it out towards the crease. Mathieu Joseph battled in front and eventually got a shot past Ullmark. Gabriel Dumont picked up a point with the secondary helper on the opening tally.

The Amerks tied the game six minutes later. Eric Cornel picked up the puck as it circled around the end boards and sent it to the top of the zone for Zach Redmond. The defenseman ripped a slap shot from the blue line that redirected off Colin Blackwell's stick as it went through traffic.

With nine seconds remaining in the first, Rochester took the lead. Sean Malone grabbed the rebound from Redmond's right point shot and tried to tuck it behind Budaj as he cut across the slot. The puck slid off his stick, but Justin Danforth was at the post to chip it into an open net.

Syracuse evened the score 3:20 into the middle frame. Dumont sent a pass down to Dominik Masin in the slot. He backhanded a shot that was stopped, but potted his own rebound. Ben Thomas tallied the secondary assist.

Rochester went back on top less than two minutes later and built a two-goal lead by the end of the second period. At the 4:58 mark, Justin Bailey got taken down between the circles before dropping a pass back for Blackwell. He quickly sauced it over for Cornel to score with a wrister from the left circle. At 10:37, Redmond went top shelf with a one-timer from the blue line off assists from Blackwell and Cornel.

The Crunch scored twice in the final six minutes to climb back and force overtime. Fourteen minutes into the third, Archambault won a battle at the end boards and threw the puck out from behind the cage for Cernak to one-time home as he came streaking down the right wing. With 2:08 remaining in the contest, the Crunch capitalized on a failed clearing attempt. Mitchell Stephens kept the puck in the zone at the left boards. His blocked shot bounded out to the right circle where Cernak fired for Archambault to redirect from the crease.

After a scoreless overtime frame, Danny O'Regan scored the lone goal in the first round of the shootout to claim a Rochester victory.

The Crunch travel to face the Binghamton Devils on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.

Single game tickets and packages 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. 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: Gabriel Dumont owns the league's longest active point streak with 12 points (2g, 10a) in seven games... ...Mathieu Joseph is on a career-high six-game scoring streak with eight points (5g, 3a)...The Crunch are 5-7 when requiring extra time.

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