HERSHEY, Pa. – The Syracuse Crunch shut down the league’s most lethal home power play, but couldn’t shut down scoring in a 4-2 loss to the Hershey Bears tonight at Giant Center.
Anthony Cirelli opened scoring for the Crunch in the second period before the Bears climbed back to take the lead. Alexander Volkov knotted the game in the third, but Syracuse was unable to get back on top. The loss drops the team to 4-7-1-2 on the season.
Connor Ingram made 22 saves in net for the Crunch, while Pheonix Copley earned the win, turning aside 20-of-22 for the Bears. The Crunch went 1-for-4 on the power play and a perfect 7-for-7 against Hershey’s league-leading home power play.
After a scoreless first period, Cirelli was first to light the lamp on the power play. Ben Thomas dropped off the puck for Cirelli to pick up in the neutral zone. He skated it down the right wing boards before firing a shot from a sharp angle that snuck its way past Copley.
Just 27 seconds into the third, the Bears evened the score. Jeremy Langlois let a slap shot go from the right point that changed direction down low. Assists went to Liam O’Brien and Colby Williams.
Hershey took over the lead at the 4:05 mark. Wayne Simpson threw a feed across the slot for Chris Bourque to score top shelf from the right circle.
Three minutes later, Syracuse knotted the game. Dennis Yan skated around the back of the net and sent a centering feed for Volkov to score with a quick stick. Adam Erne also earned a point on the equalizer.
The Bears regained the lead off Bourque’s second of the night with 7:05 left to play. After Simpson chipped the puck out from the end boards, Bourque batted the puck out of midair to make it 3-2. Travis Boyd recorded the secondary helper.
Lucas Johansen added an empty netter in the final seconds to secure a Hershey victory.
The Crunch travel to face the Toronto Marlies on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Ticket packages for the 2017-18 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or by logging on to Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch.
Crunchables: The Crunch have scored a power-play goal in six consecutive games…Alexander Volkov is on a three-game points streak with a goal and two assists.
