Penguins Hand Crunch 2-1 Loss
December 21, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release
Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Crunch suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
The loss drops the Crunch to an overall record of 12-12-1-3 and 7-6-1-1 record away from the War Memorial. Former Crunch defenseman Brendan Mikkelson notched the game winning goal 1:58 into the third period and Penguins netminder Jeff Deslauriers stopped 25 of 26 shots to give the Penguins a 3-0-0-1 edge in the season series.
Penguins Zack Torquato opened the scoring with a power-play goal 9:15 into the first period. With Crunch defenseman Luke Witkowski serving a tripping penalty Torquato's shot from the blue line got past a screened Cedrick Desjardins to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Desjardins made 21 saves on 19 shots in defeat.
Mikkelson's goal doubled the Penguins lead after a scoreless second period. The power-play goal was assisted by Barry Goers and Anton Zlobin.
Crunch forward Evan Rankin cut the Penguins lead in half with ninth goal of the season at the 18:17 mark of the final frame. Tanner Richard and Brett Connolly were credited with the assists.
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