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Syracuse Crunch

Crunch keep pace in division race heading in to final game

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By Steven DiOssi | @StevenDiOssi | Like us on Facebook
April 8, 2017

The Syracuse Crunch extended their winning streak to three games with a 4-1 victory over the Binghamton Senators at War Memorial Arena on Saturday.

Michael Bournival, Erik Condra, Brett Howden and Matthew Peca scored goals for the Crunch as they stayed within one point of the Toronto Marlies who are in first place in the North Division with one game left in the regular season.

The game also marked the return of Luke Witkowski to Syracuse — as a member of the ice crew. The defenseman helped clean the ice between whistles, much to the entertainment of his teammates and the home crowd. Witkowski was ineligible to be re-assigned to the Crunch at the conclusion of the NHL regular season because the Tampa Bay Lightning did not want to risk putting him on mandatory waivers in order to reassign him to Syracuse back in February.

Mike McKenna earned a win in his second consecutive start, stopping 28-of-29 shots he faced. Senators goaltender Marcus Hogberg made 33 saves in the losing effort. The teams combined for 14 power plays, with the Crunch going 2-for-8 and Binghamton being held to 1-for-6 on the evening.

The Crunch tallied 18 shots on goal in the first period but found the back of the net just once.

Late in the period, with Syracuse set up in their offensive zone, Peca came off the bench and burst into over the blue line with speed. He grabbed a loose puck and stickhandled through the slot with it before finding Bournival on the back door right near the goal line. With Hogberg drawn to the other side, Bournival shot it into the empty net to put the Crunch on the board with just 52 seconds left in the period.

The Crunch potted two more goals in the first 11:09 of the middle frame, in a period where they were outshot by a 14-7 margin by the Senators.

During a 5-on-3 power play, Syracuse set up in the offensive zone and began to move the puck around. After Cory Conacher fired a puck on net from the right circle, it was blocked by a man in front of the net, a failed clear by the Senators sent the puck towards Matt Taormina who controlled it at the point. He passed it over to Conacher who sent a cross-ice feed to Condra at the bottom of the left circle. Condra fired a one-timer past Hogberg to make it a two-goal game 9:26 into the period.

The Crunch added to their lead on the power play when Peca stickhandled a puck towards Hogberg from the top of the right circle before snapping off a hard shot into the top left corner at 11:09. Taormina and Condra each received assists on the goal. Taormina’s assist tied him with Conacher for the Syracuse scoring lead with 60 points.

After Mike Halmo was taken off for a pair of minor penalties at 11:49, Binghamton capitalized on the ensuing power play. Gabriel Gagne made it a two-goal game when he beat McKenna with a shot on the man advantage at 13:01 of the period.

Syracuse outshot the Senators 12-9 in the third period, as Howden tallied the second goal of his professional career with an empty-netter with 1:43 left to play. Tye McGinn and Joel Vermin each were credited with assists on the goal.

The Crunch will close out the regular season against the Utica Comets at home on Saturday.

Full Game highlights from Syracuse Crunch

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