AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Take New Division Rival Hartford to OT, Lose 4-3

October 12, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - In their first meeting as division rivals, the Syracuse Crunch and Hartford Wolf Pack had a first period of strong defensive play, a five-goal second period, and a third period that wasn't enough. It took overtime for Hartford to win their first matchup as Northeast Division opponents, 4-3.

Oscar Lindberg scored the game-winner in the 3-on-3 portion of overtime with 2:07 remaining in the period. The goal came after a one-timer opportunity for Mike Blunden couldn't be connected on, and Lindberg found the top right corner of the net to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy in his Crunch debut.

Scoring started early in the second period as Tanner Richard got his first goal of the season 1:35 into the period, and 50 seconds later, the Wolf Pack responded with a goal from Oscar Lindberg.

Both goals were scored on the power-play, and were the first power-play goals of the season for each team. Syracuse went 1-for-6 on the power-play, and Hartford went 1-for-4.

The Crunch took the lead back 4:47 into the second period as Cedric Paquette took a pass from Yanni Gourde that gave him a breakaway, and after a quick move at the net against Wolf Pack goaltender Cedric Desjardins, Paquette slid it through the five-hole to give Syracuse the 2-1 lead.

After Chris Mueller scored the equalizer on a delayed penalty against the Crunch, Paquette scored his second goal of the game after taking a pass at the blue line from Joel Vermin and ripping a shot glove side, right under the crossbar, past Desjardins with 8:58 remaining in the second period.

Hartford once again brought the game back to a tie score, seconds after a penalty on Mike Angelidisended.

A shot by Danny Kristo hit the post, and Marek Hrivik was there in front of the net to knock it past Andrei Vasilevskiy to tie the game 6:35 into the third period.

Prior to the quick scoring in the final two periods, the first 20 minutes of action went without a goal, but the Crunch had many opportunities as they outshot the Wolf Pack, 10-4.

Part of the reason for the Crunch having so many chances in the first period was because of four power-play opportunities.

Overall, the Crunch finished with 32 shots and the Wolf Pack had 27.

Syracuse now has five days to correct their opening weekend losses before another weekend of home games, starting with a rematch against season opener Springfield Friday Oct. 17, and a matchup with Binghamton on Saturday Oct. 18. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from October 12, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central