ALBANY, N.Y. – After going down by three, the Syracuse Crunch attempted a third period comeback, but were unable to overtake the Albany Devils and fell, 3-2, tonight at the Times Union Center.
Yanni Gourde kicked off scoring for the Crunch before Tanner Richard pulled the team within one. Syracuse couldn’t find the equalizer and fell in regulation. The Crunch are 
now 22-13-4-5 on the season.
Goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis made 24 saves in net for the Crunch. Ken Appleby earned the win, stopping 22-of-24 between the pipes for the Devils. Syracuse converted on 1-of-5 power play opportunities and went a perfect 3-fo-3 on the penalty kill.
The Devils opened scoring late in the first period. Josh Jacobs passed ahead for Nick Lappin who sped into the zone and fired from the right circle. The secondary assist went to Jan Mandat.
Albany built a three-goal lead in the second period. During 4-on-4 play, Brian Gibbons cut off an errant pass at the blue line and beat Gudlevskis on the breakaway at the 2:17 mark. Four minutes later, Ben Sexton tipped in Blake Coleman’s shot to make it 3-0.
The Crunch finally solved Appleby while on the power play at the 7:03 mark of the final frame. Cory Conacher passed across the zone for Joel Vermin to redirect into the slot. Gourde was waiting to one-time the feed for his 16th of the season.
With 5:23 remaining in the third, Gudlevskis went to the bench to add an extra attacker during 4-on-4 to help pull the Crunch within one. Erik Condra shot on net from the right circle. Appleby made the save, but the rebound kicked out in the crease for Richard to sweep in. Slater Koekkoek earned a point on the goal.
The Crunch were unable to complete the comeback and fell to the Devils. The team is now 2-1-1-0 in the eight-game season series with Albany.
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