HARTFORD, Conn – The Connecticut Whale defeated the Syracuse Crunch, 3-1, Tuesday night at the XL Center in Hartford. Mats Zuccarello, Blake Parlett and Scott Tanski all scored for Connecticut, with defenseman Jeff Woywitka adding two assists. Goaltender Chad Johnson made 23 saves in winning his third straight start in the month of February.
The Whale’s victory put them two points ahead of idle Bridgeport for first place in the AHL’s Northeast Division with 53 points.
“We’re all playing together and playing well right now,” said Johnson. “We’re more conscious of the score and of what we want to do, which is to get the two points.”
The Whale struck first midway through the opening period, taking a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal from Zuccarello 7:31 into the frame. Zuccarello tipped Tim Erixon’s shot from the right point past Syracuse goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (25 saves) for his tenth goal of the season, with the secondary assist going to Brendan Bell.
Jean-Francois Jacques tied the game for Syracuse with 5:11 to play in the first, as he cut across the Whale slot in front of a sprawled Johnson. Jacques was able to flip the puck on the backhand up and over the Whale goaltender for his 14th goal of the season, with the assist going to highly-touted Anaheim prospect Devante Smith-Pelly.
Connecticut would retake the lead with 1:46 left in the second period with the game-winning tally, as the power-play came through for the second time in the game. Parlett’s shot from the blue line managed to fool a screened Drouin-Deslauriers for Parlett’s fourth goal of the season, putting the Whale ahead, 2-1. Woywitka and Casey Wellman would assist on the goal, Wellman notching his second assist in two games with the Whale.
Tanski would increase the Whale lead to 3-1 with 12:08 left in the third period, as he backhanded a Woywitka rebound into the Syracuse cage. Woywitka would receive his second assist of the game on the goal, Tanski’s fifth, with Jordan Owens picking up the secondary helper.
The win kept the Whale perfect in February (3-0-0-0), with tough tests coming this weekend with games in Springfield Friday, Manchester Saturday and a GEICO Connecticut Cup match with Bridgeport on Sunday.
The Whale will return home on Friday, Feb. 17, when they host the Springfield Falcons at the XL Center (7:00 PM).
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