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Syracuse Crunch

Crunch fall at home for third time this season

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by Steven DiOssi | @StevenDiossi | Like us on Facebook
December 21, 2016

The Syracuse Crunch fell to the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-4 despite a strong comeback effort in the third period at War Memorial Arena on Wednesday.

Adam Erne tallied four points and Adam Wilcox made 19 saves as the Crunch dropped to 16-8-0-3 on the season. Hartford goaltender Brandon Halverson stopped 28 of 32 shots to earn the win.

Syracuse was held scoreless on two power play attempts while the Wolf Pack converted on one of three opportunities with the man advantage as the Crunch lost on home ice for just the third time this season, snapping a 10-game point streak at War Memorial.

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The Crunch were held off the board during two power plays early in the first period but opened the scoring when Adam Erne tapped his own rebound past Halverson at 16:08 of the frame to make it 1-0.


The lead was short-lived, however, as the Wolf Pack answered on a goal by Ryan Greaves with 18 seconds left in the period.

Syracuse put Hartford on their first power play of the contest when Joel Vermin was taken off for hooking at 2:07 of the second period. Just 16 seconds into the penalty kill, it became a 5-on-3 as Luke Witkowski was called for a delay of game penalty.

The Wolf Pack made quick work of the two-man advantage, as Adam Tambellini scored to make it 2-1 at 2:58. They made it a two-goal game when defenseman Mat Bodie found the back of the net just a few minutes later.

The Crunch cut Hartford’s lead to one goal when Brian Hart wristed the puck past Halverson to score for the third time in the past four games. Erne added an assist for his second point of the game.


Syracuse penalty killers got to work again near the midway point of the period when Michael Bournival was called for holding the stick but were able to keep Hartford’s power play unit from scoring. However, the Wolf Pack would strike late in the second straight period when Ahti Oksanen beat Wilcox at the 17:28 mark.

Syracuse entered the intermission being outshot 20-19 and trailed by two goals, as the Wolf Pack held a 4-2 lead with one period remaining.

The Crunch struck at 1:01 of the final frame when Erne came in alone and stuffed a backhand past Halverson for his second goal of the game. Matt Taormina was credited with an assist on the play.


The Wolf Pack responded quickly again, as Justin Fontaine made it 5-3 just over a minute later. Syracuse cut the lead to one at the four-minute mark of the third period as Daniel Walcott skated in and fired a slap shot off the right post and into the Hartford net to tally his first goal of the year. Yanni Gourde and Erne added assists on the play, giving Erne four points on the evening.


Despite putting a lot of pressure on Hartford and outshooting them 13-4 in the final period, the Crunch were unable to complete the comeback and fell short by a goal.

Syracuse will return to action again when the Crunch travel to Rochester to play the Americans on Monday.

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