SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch rallied back to defeat the Rochester Americans, 4-3, in a four-round shootout tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
After going down by two goals, the Crunch came back to tie the game and send it to overtime before taking the win in the shootout. Syracuse advances to 23-18-7-4 on the season and 4-3-1-1 in the 12-game season series against Rochester.
Crunch goaltender Matt Tomkins earned the win stopping 14-of-17 shots and 3-of-4 shootout attempts. Devon Levi turned aside 33-of-35 shots and 2-of-4 shootout attempts. The Syracuse power play went 1-for-5, while Rochester was 1-for-7.
The Amerks were first on the board halfway through the opening frame. Graham Slaggert gained control of the puck in the bottom of the right circle and centered it for Anton Wahlberg to redirect in from in front of the crease. Rochester made it 2-0 late in the period when Konsta Helenius sent a back door feed for Noah Ostlund to send home
The Crunch cut the lead in half with a goal late in the second period. Derrick Pouliot passed the puck down to Jack Finley along the goal line. He fired it towards the crease where it bounded off an Amerk’s defender and into the net while on the power play.
Syracuse rallied back to tie the game at the 11:52 mark of the final frame. Conor Geekie set up Steven Santini for a wrister shot from the point. Two minutes later, Rochester went back on top when Jagger Joshua tipped in a shot from Zachary Metsa. The Crunch added another goal with just 2:40 remaining in the game to send the teams to overtime. Pouliot fired a shot from the left point that Dylan Duke got a stick on and redirected past Levi as he cut across the slot.
The teams remained tied through the extra period and the game went to a shootout. Max Groshev and Ostlund both scored in the first round before Geekie potted the game winner in the fourth round.
The Crunch complete the weekend’s three-in-three tomorrow at Utica.
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