AHL Syracuse Crunch

Win Streak at Five as Crunch Beat Bears, 4-1

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


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse Crunch (15-7-3-0) won their fifth-straight Friday at the War Memorial Arena, defeating the Hershey Bears (13-10-1-1) in come-from-behind fashion, 4-1.

Joel Vermin scored the game-winner during a power play with 4:57 remaining in the third period, the rookie's seventh goal of the year. Dylan Blujus garnered the primary assist, with his point blast getting redirected by Vermin above the crease. Slater Koekkoek contributed the second assist, his fifth of the season.

"I saw that Blujus was probably going to shoot because he had a really good lane, so I tried to get out of the corner and in front of the net," Vermin said. "I was just lucky that it hit my stick and it went in."

Dalton Smith added an insurance marker two minutes later to solidify the victory, which keeps Syracuse perfect in the month of December. Henri Ikonen dumped one into the empty net to cap a three-goal third period. Vladislav Namestnikov registered his seventh point in four games, assisting on Smith's goal.

Hershey scored the first goal of the game and stopped Andrei Vasilevskiy's shutout streak at 159:04 when Stanislav Galiev netted a power-play marker at the 15:48 mark of the first period.

Mike Angelidis scored the game-tying goal, 4:13 into the second, when he charged to the net mouth alongside Mike Blunden and Henri Ikonen and sent a rebound past Philipp Grubauer. The captain's ninth goal prompted a downpour of stuffed animals from the War Memorial crowd for the fourth-annual Stanley Steemer Tired Teddy Toss.

Vasilevskiy stopped 29 of 30 shots in his fourth-straight victory, and eighth this season. The rookie goaltender has allowed two goals during his winning streak, including shutouts of Rochester and Springfield. Grubauer stopped 28 of 31 shots he faced, his second consecutive loss.

The Bears' league-leading penalty kill unit went 1-for-2 on the night. Syracuse stopped three of four Hershey man-advantages.

The Crunch are undefeated against Hershey this season, winning the three games by a total of 13-3.

"We've been able to hold onto a lot of pucks and grind it out down low and have a lot of chances down there," said head coach Rob Zettler about the Crunch's success against the Bears.

Syracuse battles Utica Saturday at the Aud. The Crunch topped the Comets, 2-1, Nov. 22 at the Toyota Frozen Dome Classic, but the Comets took round two, 5-4, Nov. 26 in Utica.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2014


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