ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Jeff Tambellini recorded his third shorthanded goal of the season and added a power-play marker as the Syracuse Crunch dropped their season finale, 5-2, to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tonight at the PPL Center.
The Crunch opened the 2015-16 season against the Phantoms and finished the four-game season series, 2-1-0-1. The team completed their 22nd campaign with a 32-29-11-4 record.
Crunch goaltender Adam Wilcox made 24 saves in defeat, while Anthony Stolarz picked up his 21st win of the season, stopping 19-of-21 between the pipes for the Phantoms. Syracuse went 1-for-8 on the power play and successfully killed all four Lehigh Valley man-advantages.
The Phantoms were first on the board at the 8:26 mark of the opening frame. Wilcox poke checked Tyrell Goulbourne’s shot away, but sent the rebound into the slot for Steven Swavely to send home. Travis Sanheim recorded the secondary helper.
Lehigh Valley built up a three-goal lead with two markers in the second period. Four minutes in, Tim Brent shoveled the puck on the backhand and scored from a tough angle on the left wing side. Chris Conner and Reece Willcox grabbed the assists. Halfway through the frame, the Phantoms struck again. Wilcox made the save on Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s shot from the slot, but the puck bounced off his pads and trickled across the goal line. Oskar Lindblom and Cole Bardreau earned points on the tally.
The Crunch finally solved Stolarz and robbed him of an elusive shutout with 24 seconds remaining in the middle stanza. Matt Peca passed ahead for Tambellini to skate in and backhand one five-hole on a shorthanded breakaway.
At 6:43 of the third period, the Phantoms took back their three-goal lead. Travis Sanheim fired through traffic from the top of the right circle. His shot ricocheted off a player and into the net to give the rookie his first professional goal. Danick Martel Pavel Padakin tallied the helpers. The team went on to add an empty net tally from Martel with the help of Padakin.
With 17 seconds remaining in the game, Tambellini added one more. Cameron Darcy won the faceoff in the right circle and passed back for Tambellini to send past Stolarz from the top of the circle. The late period goal was not enough to mount a comeback and the Crunch fell in their final game of the season.
Syracuse Crunch ticket packages for the 2016-17 season are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch office located in the War Memorial at 800 South State Street in Syracuse or by calling the office at 315-473-4444. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@officialsyracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch and #BelieveInBlue.
Crunchables: Matt Spencer made his professional debut with the Crunch tonight…Jeff Tambellini had three shorthanded goals and a team-leading 29 goals this season.
