SYRACUSE, N.Y. – After taking over the lead in the second period, the Syracuse Crunch went on to net three in the final frame to overwhelm the Utica Comets, 5-1, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
The Comets were first on the board before Cory Conacher scored his first of the night to even the score in the first period. Henri Ikonen gave the Crunch the lead in the second period, while John Kurtz, Byron Froese and Conacher contributed in the third to keep Syracuse atop the North Division with a 33-22-6-5 record and .583 points percentage. The Crunch are now 5-4-1-0 in the 12-game season series against the Comets.
Mike McKenna earned the win in net for the Crunch with a 20-save performance. Thatcher Demko turned aside 28-of-33 shots on goal between the pipes for the Comets. Syracuse went 2-for-5 on the power play and a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
The Comets opened scoring halfway through the first period. Chad Billins sent a no-look pass to the high slot for Mike Zalewski to blast home. Pascal Pelletier recorded the secondary helper.
At the 11:56 mark, the Crunch responded. Conacher picked the puck up behind him, cut across the slot and jammed it in five-hole for his 15th of the season. Michael Bournival and Mathew Peca tallied points on the equalizer.
With 7:30 remaining in the second period, Syracuse went on top with a power-play marker. Adam Comrie fired a rocket from the right point that was redirected by Ikonen who was parked in front of Demko. Ben Thomas earned the secondary helper.
Syracuse netted three more in the third period to secure a 5-1 victory. At the 4:57 mark, Peca set the puck down to the goal line for Kurtz to chip in short side from the left wing. Erik Condra tallied a helper on the play. Four minutes later, Syracuse added another on the man-advantage. After receiving a pass from Conacher at the goal line, Taormina sent a feed to the left circle for Froese to one time. With 6:34 remaining in the game, Tye McGinn chipped the puck into the neutral zone for Conacher to pick up, get ahead of the defense to skate in on the breakaway. He pulled to his right and backhanded a shot over Demko’s left leg.
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