Syracuse Crunch shutout at home by Utica

by Steven DiOssi | @StevenDiOssi | Like us on Facebook
January 21, 2017

The Syracuse Crunch yielded four goals in the third period and fell 4-0 to the Utica Comets at War Memorial Arena on Saturday.

The Crunch were shutout for the first time at home since Dec. 19, 2015, and the loss brings their record to 20-12-3-5 on the season. Syracuse maintains their lead in the North Division despite being tied with the Albany Devils with 48 points as they have have one game in hand.

Adam Wilcox made 24 saves while Comets goaltender Richard Bachman turned aside all 20 shots he faced to earn the shutout. The Crunch were unable to convert on four power play opportunities but held Utica scoreless in four chances with the man advantage.

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The teams were scoreless through 40 minutes of play and the Crunch held a narrow lead in shots with 14-13 over the Comets before the decisive third period.

Utica killed off a Syracuse power play to open the final frame and tallied their first goal of the game when Cody Kunyk controlled the puck as he entered the offensive zone and beat Wilcox from the left circle at 10:42. The Comets made it a two-goal game just 16 seconds later on Evan McEneny’s fourth goal of the season.

The Crunch went on their second power play of the period when Curtis Valk was called for hooking at the 11:09 mark, but couldn’t begin to close the scoring gap.

Utica struck again when Kunyk fed the puck to Mike Zalewski from the corner. Zalewski fired a shot off the post and Cole Cassels potted the rebound with just 3:41 left in regulation. With Wilcox pulled for an extra-attacker, Comets forward Darren Archibald tallied the empty netter 35 seconds later.

The Crunch play the first of six-straight road games when they take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday.

Full game highlights from Syracuse Crunch

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