WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Syracuse Crunch wrapped up their first three-in-three of the season with a 6-1 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this afternoon at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Mike Halmo was the sole goal scorer for the Crunch as the team moves to 4-3-0-0 on the season and 0-2-0-0 in the six-game season series against the Penguins.
Crunch goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis turned aside 21 shots, while Casey DeSmith earned the win with a 22-save performance for the Penguins. Syracuse was unable to convert on four power play opportunities. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went 2-for-3 on the man-advantage.
The Penguins put a stop to the Crunch’s recent trend of scoring first and took a 3-0 lead in the opening period. At the 3:52 mark, Carter Rowney tipped a shot past Gudlevskis with the help of Steve Oleksy and Barry Goers. Kevin Porter then netted back-to-back markers. With 5:09 remaining in the frame, Porter received a pass in the high slot from Cameron Gaunce and lit the lamp. Four minutes later, he scored on the power play off a second chance opportunity from the right wing side.
Tom Kostopoulos built a 4-0 lead for the Penguins at the 13:54 mark of the second period. Jake Guentzel threw a centering pass from behind the cage for Kostopoulos to redirect from the slot.
The Crunch finally got on the board 4:56 into the final frame. Cameron Darcy wrapped around the net and had his scoring attempt turned aside, but Halmo was there to chip in the rebound and end a shutout chance for DeSmith.
With 6:10 remaining in the game, the Penguins went back up by four. Gudlevskis stopped Patrick McGrath’s shot, but the puck bounded off his glove and dropped down for Jean-Sebastien Dea to score backdoor. Minutes later, Oskar Sundqvist scored a power-play marker from the right circle to secure a 6-1 victory over the Crunch.
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