SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Alexander Volkov scored twice as the Syracuse Crunch rolled past the Belleville Senators, 4-1, and extended the winning streak to seven games tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
The win advances the Crunch to 43-19-3-4 on the season and 6-0-1-1 after the final game of the eight-game series against the Senators.
Eddie Pasquale turned aside 27-of-28 shots in victory for the Crunch. Filip Gustavsson stopped 26-of-30 for the Senators in his second North American start. The Crunch were unable to convert on three power play opportunities, but went a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
The Senators were the first on the board 3:19 into the game. After receiving a pass from Nick Paul along the goal line, Boston Leier jammed the puck past Pasquale as he slid across the crease.
The Crunch responded two minutes later. Alex Gallant and Gabriel Dumont did some quick tic-tac-toe passing down the zone to Volkov for the rookie to score five-hole with a backhander.
Volkov tallied his second goal of the game halfway through the second period with a one-timer from the slot. Mathieu Joseph and Ben Thomas recorded assists on the go-ahead goal. With his two tallies, Volkov became the first Crunch player to surpass the 20-goal mark on the season.
The Crunch extended their lead 3:16 into the final frame after Dumont won the faceoff in the right circle. Joseph charged the loose puck and fired from the slot.
With just over three minutes remaining in the game, Syracuse added one more. Alexey Lipanov sent a precise cross-zone feed for Kevin Lynch to one-time from the left circle. Carter Verhaeghe earned the secondary assist.
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