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Syracuse Crunch

Crunch offense erupts in the third period

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By KEVIN ERLENDSSON | @KErlendsson | Like us on Facebook
March 4, 2017

The Syracuse Crunch exploded for three goals in 2:06 Saturday night to break a third period tie, defeating the Binghamton Senators 4-1. The win snapped a three-game losing streak against the Senators at the War Memorial Arena.

Yanni Gourde led the way for the Crunch, opening the scoring with his 21st goal of the season seven minutes into the second and netting his 22nd in the third to extend the lead to 3-1. Daniel Walcott had a two-point night, recording an assist and the game-winning goal in the third, while Erik Condra provided two assists, including the primary helper on Walcott’s game-winner.

Mathieu Brodeur capped off the scoring at the 4:33 mark of the third period, with Condra and Walcott registering the helpers. Casey Bailey scored the lone Senators goal of the night, tying the game at one just two minutes into the third period.

Kristers Gudlevskies picked up his 11th victory of the season, stopping 28-of-29 shots. Binghamton’s Chris Driedger made 36 saves in the losing effort.

The Senators jumped on the Crunch early, peppering Gudlevskies with 13 shots in the opening frame, and limiting Syracuse to just seven. But the Latvian netminder did well to keep Binghamton off the scoreboard, keeping his team in the game before the offense took over.

“One of his (Gudlevskis) best performances in a long time” Crunch head coach Ben Groulx told the team’s website. “He was loose and focused, I haven’t seen that from him in a long time.”

Once Syracuse found their game, it was all about the top line of Joel Vermin, Cory Conacher and Gourde. The trio were buzzing throughout the night, nearly finishing off an early 2-on-0. Gourde stole the puck as the Senators were breaking out of their zone and worked a quick pass over to Conacher on the right wing, but Driedger made a nice poke check to prevent a deke off the return pass.

The Crunch finally were able to get on the board six-and-a-half-minutes into the second. Gourde buried a Tye McGinn centering pass shortly after a power play expired, slotting the puck in between the post and Driedger’s right skate, putting Syracuse up 1-0 and extending his points streak to seven games.

Gourde nearly doubled the lead later in the period, skating into the Senators zone on a breakaway, but had his shot cleared off the goal line after it trickled through the five-hole. Gudlevskis made a few key saves to take the lead to the intermission.

However, Binghamton was able to start the third like they started the game, getting an extended shift in the Syracuse zone before Bailey put a rebound past Gudlevskis just two minutes into the period, and it seemed as though they would grab the momentum.

This would not end up being the case, as the Crunch immediately responded on the next shift. Condra weaved his way into the offensive zone and fired a shot from the high slot off Dreidger’s pad, before Walcott banged in the rebound to restore the one-goal lead.

Gourde kept the Crunch rolling on the very next shift, carrying the puck down the right wing and rifling it into the top corner.

Brodeur’s goal came 100 seconds later, taking the back-hand feed from Condra and wristing a shot from the point past Driedger.

From then on, the ice was firmly tilted in Syracuse’s favor, and the Crunch shut the game down. A pair of penalties killed off late in the period preserved the win, securing the two points and maintaining their position atop the North Division.

The Crunch cap off the weekend Sunday afternoon with a rematch against the Senators in Binghamton where Mike McKenna is expected to make his second start in goal for the Crunch.

Game highlights from Syracuse Crunch

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