SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch scored three goals in the first period on their way to a 5-2 trouncing of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
The win snaps the Penguin’s 12-game point streak that started against the Crunch on Oct. 15.
Jamie McBain and Michael Bournival put up a goal and an assist each, while Matthew Peca tallied two helpers in the team’s first set of back-to-back wins this season. The victory pushes the Crunch to 6-9-1-2 on the season and evens the four-game season series, 1-1.
Louis Domingue earned the win turning aside 23-of-25 shots on goal between the pipes for the Crunch. His counterpart, Casey DeSmith, made 25 saves. Syracuse went 1-for-2 on the power play and 6-for-7 on the penalty kill.
The Crunch were first on the board less than two minutes into the game. Alexander Volkov skated the puck out of the corner and into the slot where he snapped a wrister past DeSmith with the help of Peca and Adam Erne.
At the 8:39 mark, the Crunch doubled their lead off the faceoff. Kevin Lynch won the draw in the left circle and sent the puck towards the blue line. McBain grabbed the loose puck and fired a rocket for his first power-play goal of the season. Just 57 seconds later, Lynch redirected McBain’s shot down low to build a three-goal lead. Bournival picked up the secondary helper.
The Penguins finally responded halfway through the middle frame while on the man-advantage. Colin Smith netted a shot from the right circle while Domingue was screened. Kevin Czuczman and Thomas DiPauli tallied the assists.
Thirteen minutes into the final frame, the Penguins pulled within one. Smith sent a last-minute feed across the crease for Dominik Simon on the backdoor.
With 1:06 remaining in the contest, Carter Verhaeghe potted an empty-netter with the aid of Mathieu Joseph and Reid McNeill. Bournival then added a shorthanded empty-netter with 29 ticks left on the clock to solidify the win.
The teams travel to the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza to complete the home-and-home series tomorrow at 7:05 p.m.
Single game tickets and packages 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. 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: Matthew Peca has five points (2g, 3a) in two games…Tonight was the third time the Crunch scored three goals in one period this season…The Crunch have 11 goals in their last two games…Syracuse has shorthanded goals in three consecutive games.
