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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Surpassed by Comets, 4-2

December 27, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Dylan Blujus opened scoring early on the power play, but the Syracuse Crunch were caught by the Utica Comets and surpassed, 4-2, this afternoon at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Slater Koekkoek recorded his first goal of the season, while Blujus tallied number three. Anthony DeAngelo hit the 20-point mark with his 17th assist this year.

The power-play unit did all of the scoring for Syracuse, going 2-for-4 on the man-advantage. The team was perfect in killing all four penalties. Crunch goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves, while his opponent, Richard Bachman, recorded the win with 20 stops.

The Crunch are now 1-3 in the 10-game Galaxy Cup series with the Comets and 12-12-4-1 on the season. The Comets advance to 16-10-2-2.

The Crunch were quick to strike, converting on the man-advantage just three minutes into the first period. DeAngelo passed along to the blue line to Blujus at the left point. Blujus found a lane and fired a wrist shot to light the lamp first. Cameron Darcy recorded the secondary assist.

With 2:04 remaining in the first, the Comets evened the score. Alexandre Grenier carried the puck down the left wing side and was caught up by the Crunch defense. He shoveled it to the slot, where David Shields backhanded it into the net. Hunter Shinkaruk grabbed a point on the play.

Early in the second frame, the Comets took the lead. John Negrin fired a shot from the left boards that was tipped in front of the cage by John Kurtz and slipped inside the left goal post. Mike Zalewski assisted on the go-ahead goal.

At the 13:27 mark, the Crunch went 2-for-2 on the power play, requiring just three seconds of the advantage to knot the game for the second time. Tanner Richard won the faceoff in the left circle and pushed the puck back to Matt Taormina at the left point. He slid it over for Slater Koekkoek to power home for his first of the season.

The Comets didn't allow the game to stay tied for long and stole back the lead four minutes later. Jon Landry beat Vasilevskiy with the help of Jordan Subban and Brendan Gaunce. Utica went on to build a two-goal lead over the Crunch at the 2:53 mark of the final frame. Danny Syvret ripped one from the left point off assists from Shields and Alex Friesen.

Syracuse was unable to climb back and fell to Utica, 4-2. The Crunch are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to face the Hershey Bears at 7 p.m.

Syracuse Crunch single game and season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch Box Office located in the War Memorial at 800 South State Street in Syracuse or 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 (@officialsyracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch and #BelieveInBlue.

Crunchables: Anthony DeAngelo recorded his 20th point (3g, 17a) of the season tonight...Luke Pither made his Crunch debut after being signed to a PTO with the team on Dec. 26.

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