SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 5-1, this afternoon at the Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
After going down by one goal early in the opening frame, the Crunch rattled off five consecutive goals to take the win on the road.
Anthony Angello and Max Crozier paced the Crunch with one goal and one assist each, while six other Syracuse skaters notched a point in the victory. The Crunch improve to 24-19-8-4 on the season and finish the four-game season series against the Penguins with a 2-2-0-0 record.
Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson turned aside 26-of-27 shots, while Filip Larsson put a stop to 25-of-29 for the Penguins. Both Syracuse and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton were successful on their lone penalty kills of the afternoon.
The Penguins got out to an early 1-0 lead just 3:15 into the opening frame. Filip Král threw the puck wide of the net for Mathias Laferrière to snag at the left side of the crease where he lifted it in. The Crunch knotted the score at the 16:16 mark with a goal from Tristan Allard. He skated the puck in from the neutral zone to the right circle where he cut back, hesitated and ripped a shot off the post and in.
Anthony Angello’s first goal with the Crunch gave Syracuse a 2-1 lead with 2:44 remaining in the second period. Tobie Bisson’s shot was stopped but Angello hammered in the rebound from in front of the crease.
Syracuse extended their lead, 3-1, with a goal off the stick of Conor Geekie midway through the final frame. He skated down the left wing and through the circle, where he cut across the front of the crease and backhanded a shot in. Max Crozier made the score 4-1 as he cleared the puck and sent it into the Penguins’ empty net with 2:37 remaining in the period. Joel Teasdale added one more score for the Crunch just 33 seconds later. Daniel Walcott dished the puck to Teasdale who stickhandled around Larsson and potted it from the right side of the net.
The Crunch return home to face the Utica Comets on Wednesday.