WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Adam Erne recorded his first career multi-goal game as the Syracuse Crunch doubled up the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-2, tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Erne notched two markers, while Mike Blunden and Slater Koekkoek contributed one each in tonight’s victory.
The Crunch picked up their first win against the Penguins this season as they advanced to 14-12-4-1 on the season and 1-2 in the four-game season series. The Penguins are 21-8-0-1.
Syracuse converted on 1-of-3 power play opportunities tonight and stopped 1-of-3 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton man-advantages. Crunch goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in his second consecutive victory. Penguins netminder Brian Foster allowed three goals on 19 shots.
The Penguins were first on the board with a power-play tally, scored just 7:03 into the first period. Adam Clendening received a feed from Will O’Neill at the top of the left wing circle. He let off a shot that was tipped in front of the cage by Jean-Sebastien Dea and redirected into the back of the net.
The Crunch responded with a power-play goal of their own with 4:04 remaining in the frame. Tanner Richard sauced one across the slot for Mike Blunden to fire on net. Adam Erne got his stick on the puck and redirected it five-hole.
Two minutes later, Syracuse took over the lead. Richard won the offensive zone draw and chipped the puck up to Blunden at the top of the circle. His wrist shot through traffic beat Foster and put the Crunch up, 2-1, after twenty minutes.
At the 8:16 mark of the second period, the Penguins knotted the score for the second time. Sahir Gill potted a goal on the man-advantage with the help of Dominik Simon and Tom Kuhnhackl.
Erne notched his second of the night at the 10:25 mark. Erne and Cameron Darcy skated in on an odd-man rush. After Darcy fired wide, Erne grabbed the rebound off the end boards and jammed home the go-ahead goal and eventual game-winner.
Koekkoek added an empty net tally off assists from Tye McGinn and Luke Witkowski with 1:11 remaining in the contest to secure a 4-2 victory for the Crunch.
You must be logged in to post a comment.