UTICA, N.Y. – Adam Erne netted his first professional hat trick as the Syracuse Crunch rolled over the Utica Comets, 6-1, to continue a seven-game winning streak tonight at the Adirondack Bank Center.
After giving up the first goal of the game, Syracuse scored six straight to advance to 11-9-1-2 on the season. The Crunch even the 12-game season series with the Comets, 1-1.
Louis Domingue made 24 saves in his fifth consecutive win between the pipes for the Crunch. Richard Bachman turned aside 22-of-28 for the Comets. Syracuse went 1-for-6 on the power play and a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The Comets lit the lamp with a shorthanded goal nine minutes into the opening frame. After picking off a pass, Cam Darcy and Patrick Wiercioch skated in on a 2-on-1. Darcy faked a shot from the right wing and saucered the puck over for Wiercioch to chip in backdoor.
The Crunch knotted the game, 1-1, with 2:04 remaining in the first period. Kevin Lynch cut around the back of the cage and threw a feed for Erne to one-time from the right circle.
Syracuse took over the lead with back-to-back goals from Carter Verhaeghe just 1:07 apart in the middle frame. At the 9:55 mark, the center was positioned down low to clean up the rebound from Dominik Masin’s shot. Erik Cernak tallied the secondary assist. Less than a minute later, Verhaeghe snuck a shot over Bachman’s shoulder from the right circle with the help of Michael Bournival.
The Crunch built a three-goal lead at the 7:54 mark of the third period. After a series of blocked attempts, Matthew Spencer’s shot made it through during a battle in front of the crease for his first professional goal. Anthony Cirelli and Erne recorded the assists.
Erne added two more, two minutes apart to give Syracuse a 6-1 lead. Just past the midway point of the final frame, he shoveled in a backhander from the goal line with the help of Matt Bodie and Cirelli. At 12:47, Erne tipped in Mathieu Joseph’s shot on the power play to complete the hat trick. Cirelli made it a three-point night with the secondary assist.
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