SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch exploded for a four-goal third period in a 6-1 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
Five Crunch players tallied both a goal and an assist on the night – Boris Katchouk, Jan Rutta, Taylor Raddysh, Alex Volkov, Brady Brassart – while Gabriel Dumont and Cory Conacher recorded multi-point games with two helpers. Syracuse has now won three consecutive as they move to 24-13-2-1 on the season and take the four-game season series against Springfield, 3-1.
Goaltender Eddie Pasquale recorded the win with 28 saves and an assist between the pipes for the Crunch. Samuel Montembeault stopped 21-of-27 in net for the Thunderbirds. Syracuse went 1-for-5 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.
Syracuse opened scoring 4:18 into the first period during a 2-on-1 rush. Dumont carried the puck down the right wing before feeding Katchouk for a quick redirection. Raddysh earned the secondary assist. The Crunch doubled their lead at the 11:38 mark when Rutta scored his first with the Crunch unassisted on a breakaway.
Springfield finally answered while on the power play with 3:10 remaining in the first period. Jacob MacDonald’s slap shot was stopped, but Anthony Greco was down low to clean up the rebound from the goal line. Dryden Hunt recorded a point on the play.
After a scoreless second stanza, the Crunch put up four unanswered goals beginning at the 4:17 mark. Dumont missed on the centering feed from Katchouk, but Raddysh was at the bottom of the left circle to chip it in. Halfway through the frame, Syracuse converted on another 2-on-1 rush. Conacher skated the puck into the zone and sauced it over for Volkov to finish off. Brassart tallied the secondary assist. Just a minute later, Alex Barre-Boulet backhanded a shot from the slot on the man-advantage with the help of Conacher and Rutta.
With 3:50 remaining in the game, the Crunch added a shorthanded goal. Pasquale sent the puck down the ice where Volkov grabbed it at the end boards. He centered a feed for Brassart to send home as he came in down the slot.