SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch rolled past the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 5-2, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
Alex Volkov recorded a four-point night with a goal and three assists to lead the Crunch followed by Taylor Raddysh with two goals and a helper. The win advances the Crunch to 13-9-2-0 on the season and 2-0-0-0 in the four-game season series.
Goaltender Martin Spencer earned the win with 29 saves between the pipes for the Crunch. Jakub Skarek turned aside 27-of-32 in net for the Sound Tigers. Syracuse went 1-for-3 on the power play and a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The Crunch jumped out to a quick lead with an early goal 1:44 into the game. Volkov circled the puck around the zone and dropped it off for Cameron Gaunce at the blue line. The defenseman skated into the high slot and sent home a wrister. Ben Thomas earned the secondary helper.
Syracuse doubled their lead at the 7:22 mark when Raddysh redirected Volkov’s shot from the left point. Gaunce tallied his second point of the night on the marker.
The Sound Tigers finally responded and stole one back 5:06 into the middle frame. Parker Wotherspoon came in and went bar down with a wrister from the right circle. Colin McDonald and Matt Lorito earned the assists.
Late in the period, Volkov grabbed the puck in the neutral zone and beat Skarek on a shorthanded breakaway. Chris Mueller and Thomas earned points on the play.
Nine minutes into the final frame, Bridgeport scored another to come back within one. Sebastian Aho dug the puck out from the end boards for Tom Kuhnhackl to shoot from the slot. His attempt was blocked but Nick Schilkey followed behind to clean up the rebound.
The Crunch added two more in the third period to lock in the victory. At 11:17, Raddysh one-timed his second of the night from the left circle on the power play. Cal Foote and Cory Conacher helped on the goal. Less than a minute later, Volkov forced a turnover behind the net. Raddysh grabbed the puck and centered it for Mueller to finish off from between the circles.