AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Toppled by Checkers, 6-3

Published on October 27, 2018 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse Crunch were toppled by the Charlotte Checkers, 6-3, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.

The Crunch gave up two goals early in the game before Taylor Raddysh potted his third of the season and second on the weekend. Erik Cernak briefly tied the contest, but the Checkers went on to build up a three-goal lead by the end of the second period. Ross Colton tallied his first professional goal in the third, but it couldn't kick off a comeback. The loss drops the Crunch to 2-5-0-0 on a three-game skid.

Crunch goaltender Connor Ingram stopped 27-of-32 shots in his second consecutive loss, while Alex Nedeljkovic earned the win in net for the Checkers with 24 saves. Both teams went 2-for-7 on the power play.

The Checkers opened scoring four minutes into the game when Aleksi Saarela split the defense and won a race to the corner. He sent the puck back in front of the net for Patrick Brown to score from the slot. The secondary assist went to Spencer Smallman. Five minutes later, Charlotte went up by two on the power play. Quick puck movement across the zone set up Jake Bean for a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle. Greg McKegg and Janne Kuokkanen tallied the assists.

The Crunch got one back with a power-play goal of their own at the 12:40 mark. Mitchell Stephens chipped the puck out from behind the cage for Raddysh to finish it all alone out front. Alexander Volkov earned a point on the tally.

Just 29 seconds into the second period, Syracuse knotted the game on the man-advantage. Cernak ripped a slap shot from the point. Nedeljkovic caught a piece, but it trickled past him and across the goal line. Cory Conacher and Carter Verhaeghe got the assists.

Charlotte added two more in the middle frame to regain a two-goal lead. Halfway through the stanza, Kuokkanen drove towards the net on the backhand and fed Julien Gauthier to beat Ingram point-blank. Morgan Geekie collected a point on the go-ahead goal. With 5:36 remaining in the period, the Checkers converted during 5-on-3 play. Saarela snuck a one-timer in nearside from the top of the right circle with the help of Martin Necas and Bean.

The Checkers extended the lead to three less than a minute into the third period. Roland McKeown flipped the puck towards the slot for Necas to light the lamp. Bean made it a multi-point night on the play.

At the 3:50 mark, Syracuse pulled back within two when Colton grabbed ahold of a loose puck, turned around and shelved it. Verhaeghe earned his second point of the night on the rookie's first pro marker.

The Crunch were unable to build momentum and Clark Bishop added an empty-netter with the help of Brown and Nedeljkovic in the final minutes.

Syracuse is back in action on Friday, Nov. 2 when they host the Belleville Senators at 7 p.m.

Single game tickets and packages for the 2018-19 season 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 or online through Ticketmaster. 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: Taylor Raddysh has goals in back-to-back games, both assisted by Mitchell Stephens...The Crunch have three multi-power-play goal games this season.

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American Hockey League Stories from October 27, 2018


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