AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Stymied by River Rats in Albany

Published on November 21, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Albany, NY (November 21, 2008) - The Syracuse Crunch were defeated by the Albany River Rats tonight, 3-1, in front of 5,316 fans at Times Union Arena.

The tone for this contest was set just two minutes into the game when Syracsue's Jon Mirasty and Albany's Trevor Gillies made acquaintances and got the crowd into it with their battle.

The Crunch had the early opportunities, but could not convert on three first period power plays, including a one minute, seven second 5-on-3 advantage when Albany's Jonathan Paiement and Tim Conboy committed back-to-back infractions at the 14:42 and 15:59 marks, respectively.

Albany's Justin Peters denied all nine shots the Crunch threw at him, while Syracuse's Sebastian Dahm stopped all six bids he faced from the River Rats in the first.

Although tacking on another 10 shots in the second period and holding a 19-13 advantage in that department through two stanzas, it was Albany who cashed in first with a power play goal at the 9:25 mark to go ahead 1-0

Dan LaCouture's shot from the top of the right circle was sticked aside by Dahm, but the rebound came right to the waiting lumber of right wing Jerome Samson, camped out on the left side of the cage. Samson's shot squeaked by Dahm after the Danish netminder got a piece of it.

The game remained that way until the 14:21 mark of the third when Albany grabbed a 2-0 lead. Nicolas Blanchard shook off a Crunch defender behind the net and slid a pass out in front to Mike Angelidis. Angelidis found an opening through the five-hole of Dahm to give Albany some breathing room.

The Crunch pulled Dahm with about 1:30 left for an extra-attacker, and made it a 2-1 game with 1:06 to go when Mike York fed Kris Russell from behind the net, who beat Peters low to the stick side from the bottom of the right circle.

But, that goal was not enough, as Albany's Angelidis added his second of the game with an empty-netter with two seconds remaining to ice a 3-1 win for the River Rats.

CRUNCHABLES: Crunch Goaltender Sebastian Dahm made his first start since October 18 @ Hershey...Dan LaCosta had started eight games in a row, a Crunch season-high...Tonight's loss marks only the second time all season the Crunch lost back-to-back games...The Crunch allowed the first goal for the fifth consecutive game tonight...Syracuse has been tied or trailed going into the third period in 14 of 17 games this season.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2008


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