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Syracuse Crunch

Crunch prevail at Bridgeport in penalty-filled affair

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by Steven DiOssi | @StevenDiossi | Like us on Facebook
December 17, 2016

The Syracuse Crunch emerged with a 5-3 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Webster Bank Arena on Saturday. The win marked the fifth consecutive game the Crunch have earned at least a point.

Syracuse exploded for three goals in 1:02 during the first period while the teams combined for four goals and 118 penalty minutes in a fight-filled second period that saw both goaltenders ejected. Special teams proved the difference as the Crunch scored twice on the man advantage while killing off four Bridgeport opportunities.

Brian Hart, Jeremy Morin, Yanni Gourde, Mike Halmo and Adam Comrie all scored for Syracuse, which recovered after blowing a three-goal lead.

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The Crunch opened the game’s scoring on the power play when Hart tipped a Ben Thomas slap shot past goaltender Eamon McAdam with just one second remaining with the extra attacker. The goal was Hart’s second in as many games for Syracuse and came at 14:01 of the first period, which started ignited offensive outburst over a span of 62 seconds.

Syracuse struck again just 46 seconds later when Gourde potted a rebound off of Mathieu Brodeur’s shot. The sequence began when Michael Bournival carried the puck into the offensive zone and passed it to Gourde who immediately gave it back to him. Bournival fed the puck to Brodeur who was trailing behind him and fired a shot toward the Bridgeport net. McAdam was able to stop the initial attempt but Gourde picked up the rebound to make it 2-0.

The Crunch capitalized on another rebound when Morin netted his fourth goal of the season at 15:03 of the first period. Jake Dotchin and Matt Taormina were each credited with an assist on the play and McAdam was replaced by Stephon Williams in the Bridgeport net.

When Bridgeport forward Stephen Gionta scored to cut the Syracuse lead to two goals at 9:24 of the second period, it set off a string of fights including a bout between goaltenders Kristers Gudlevskis and Williams. When the smoke cleared, Dotchin, Gudlevskis and Daniel Walcott each received game misconducts and Luke Witkowski earned 17 penalty minutes. Bridgeport also had a shortened bench as Patrick Cullity, Kellen Jones and Williams were each ejected. Gudlevskis, who allowed one goal on 13 shots, was replaced by Adam Wilcox while McAdam returned between the pipes for the Sound Tigers.

Bridgeport knotted the game at three with two goals in a span of just over three minutes in the second period but the Crunch regained the lead when Halmo redirected Taormina’s shot past McAdam with four seconds remaining in the second.

Syracuse made it a two-goal game when Comrie tallied a power play marker at 5:53 of the third period. Taormina picked up his third assist of the evening, while Matthew Peca added his second. The Sound Tigers had two more power play opportunities in the period but the Crunch killed them off to preserve the victory.

Syracuse concludes a three-in-three this weekend against the Providence Bruins on Sunday.

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