SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 2-1, tonight at the PPL Center.
The victory advances the Crunch to 27-15-3-2 on the season and gives Syracuse the first win in the two-game season series against Lehigh Valley.
Crunch goaltender Hugo Alnefelt stopped 25-of-26 shots. Parker Gahagen turned aside 24-of-26 in net for the Phantoms. The Syracuse man-advantage went 2-for-4, while Lehigh Valley was 1-for-4.
After a scoreless first period, the Crunch opened scoring 11:26 into the middle frame with a power-play goal. Waltteri Merelä threw a pass down to Gabriel Dumont along the goal line. Dumont tipped the puck and sent it bouncing off the goaltender, back to himself and then off a Phantoms defender before it went into the net. The Phantoms tied the game with a power-play goal of their own late in the frame. Rhett Gardner was positioned in the slot to redirect a shot from Bobby Brink.
Syracuse regained their lead with another power-play goal just 1:32 into the third period. Cole Koepke fired a wrister from the right circle that ricocheted off a defender’s stick in the slot and past Gahagen for the eventual game-winner.
The Crunch travel to face the Utica Comets on Friday.
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