SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Toronto Marlies, 5-4, tonight at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.
The Crunch improve to 6-1-0-0 on the season and 1-0-0-0 in the four-game season series with the Marlies. Four Crunch players each recorded a goal and an assist while sixth other skaters registered a point in the victory.
After a one-goal Toronto lead following the first period, both offenses exploded in the second frame and Syracuse led 4-3 after 40 minutes. The Crunch outlasted a two-minute 5-on-3 penalty kill and the teams traded goals at the end of the third en route to Syracuse’s sixth win of the season.
Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson earned the win stopping 20-of-24 shots faced. Dennis Hildeby turned aside 18-of-22 for the Marlies. Syracuse converted on 2-of-4 power play opportunities while the penalty kill went a perfect 6-for-6.
The Marlies were first on the board at the 13:01 mark of the opening frame. Logan Shaw picked up an errant pass and dished it to Travis Boyd for a wrister from the slot.
The Crunch knotted the score with 14:22 to go in the second period as Wojciech Stachowiak ripped a shot from the low left circle over the arm of Hildeby. Tommy Miller’s first Crunch goal made it a 2-1 game less than a minute later. Tristan Allard fed the puck to the slot, it ricocheted off a Toronto skater to Miller and he fired it in through traffic from the high slot. A 5-on-3 power-play goal for the Crunch gave them a 3-1 lead at the 10:56 mark of the frame. Declan Carlile fired a one-timer from the top of the right circle and Jakob Pelletier was at the bottom to pick up the rebound and shove it in. Another Syracuse power-play goal came less than two minutes later as Conor Geekie shot from the right dot and it was tipped in by a Toronto skater.
Toronto began climbing back eight seconds after Syracuse took a 4-1 lead. Alex Nylander came down the right wing and slipped a shot in from in front of the crease to make it a 4-2 game. The Marlies were back within one with a right circle shot from Chas Sharpe.
With a minute remaining in regulation, Boris Katchouk potted an empty-net goal to give the Crunch a 5-3 lead. Henry Thrun then netted a snapshot from the high point to make it 5-4, but Syracuse held on for the final 17 seconds to earn the victory.
The Crunch are hosting the Utica Comets on Friday for the annual Halloween Spooktacular game.
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