SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch toppled the Rochester Americans, 6-3, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
Eleven different Crunch players registered a point as the team moves to 19-18-4-1 on the season and 4-3-0-0 in the 12-game season series against the Amerks.
Crunch goaltender Amir Miftakhov stopped 27-of-30 shots in victory, while Aaron Dell turned aside 25-of-30 between the pipes for the Amerks. Syracuse went 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-5 on the penalty kill.
The Crunch opened scoring just 3:55 into the game when Gage Goncalves stickhandled down the left wing before firing a shot from a sharp angle that ricocheted off a defender and in. The team doubled their lead at 8:21 during a 2-on-1 rush. Simon Ryfors skated the puck into the zone down the right side and passed it over to Remi Elie who beat Dell as he cut back in front of the crease.
The Amerks stole one back at the 18:06 mark of the first period when Ryan Scarfo netted a backdoor feed while on the power play.
Syracuse regained their two-goal lead 2:51 into the middle frame. Otto Somppi threw a centering pass from along the goal line for Daniel Walcott to redirect into the back of the net. Rochester responded with another power-play goal at the six-minute mark when Oskari Laaksonen fired a wrister from the point past a screened Miftakhov, but the Crunch took it back a minute later. Gabe Fortier was in front of the net to capitalize on a centering pass that came from the end boards.
The Crunch netted a power-play goal of their own 5:47 into the third period when Charles Hudon cashed in from the high slot to make it, 5-2. The Amerks yet again responded with another goal on the man-advantage at 8:56. The team connected for another backdoor feed, this time to Brandon Biro, but the Crunch locked in their win with Gabriel Dumont’s empty-netter in the final minutes of play.
The Crunch travel to face the Belleville Senators on Monday at 3 p.m.
You must be logged in to post a comment.