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Syracuse Crunch

Crunch beat Bears in overtime to snap losing streak

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by Steven DiOssi | @StevenDiossi | Like us on Facebook
December 28, 2016

The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Hershey Bears 3-2 in overtime behind Yanni Gourde’s two-goal effort at War Memorial Arena on Wednesday.

Mathieu Brodeur and Gourde scored shorthanded goals 26 seconds apart to give the Crunch a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Hershey battled back to tie the game just over a minute into the second period. After a scoreless third, the game entered overtime and Gourde tallied the game-winning goal to secure the extra point for the Crunch. Syracuse snapped a three-game skid and the win brings their record to 17-9-0-3 on the season.

Adam Wilcox made 17 saves while Hershey goaltender Vitek Vanecek stopped 25-of-28 shots on the night. The Crunch were unable to capitalize on eight power play opportunities but held the Bears to just one goal on six chances with the man advantage.

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Tensions were high early in the contest, as Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond fought Hershey forward Liam O’Brien at the 3:20 mark of the opening frame. Each player received five-minute majors for fighting, while Letourneau-Leblond receiving an additional two-minutes for roughing. The Crunch killed off the first Hershey power play of the night and the team’s were back to even strength.

After the Crunch were unable to convert on a power play of their own, they were put on the penalty kill when Ben Thomas was called for cross-checking at 15:05 of the first period. Syracuse was able to capitalize shorthanded as they tallied two goals on the same Hershey power play.

Brodeur opened the scoring when he potted the rebound off of Erik Condra’s shot at 16:17 of the first period. Cory Conacher also added an assist on the goal.




Gourde made it a two-goal game just 26 seconds later when he stole the puck at the Hershey blue line and skated along the boards before firing a wrist shot that beat Vanecek on his blocker side.




Hershey cut the Syracuse lead to one goal when Garrett Mitchell found the back of the net with traffic in front of Wilcox with just over a minute left in the opening period. At the end of twenty minutes, the teams were tied at seven shots a piece but the Crunch maintained a 2-1 lead.

The Bears tied the game on the man advantage when Christian Thomas took a Christian Djoos pass and fired a one-timer past Wilcox just 1:20 into the middle frame. The Crunch outshot Hershey, 9-5, but was held scoreless in the period.

The Crunch were unable to convert on a power play in last half of the third period and entered the extra session tied, 2-2, despite outshooting the Bears 25-17.

Syracuse received their eighth power play of the game when Hershey forward Paul Carey was called for slashing just three seconds into overtime. The opportunity was short-lived, as Conacher received a tripping penalty ten seconds into the man advantage. However, both teams were kept off of the board.

Gourde tallied the game-winning goal when he one-timed a Luke Witkowski pass into the back of the net from the slot at 3:01 of overtime. Matt Taormina was also credited with an assist.





The Crunch lead the North Division with 37 points and are back in action again when they host the Binghamton Senators on Friday.

Game highlights, courtesy of the Syracuse Crunch

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