Crunch over Comets

Kristers Gudlevskis can’t make the stop as the Utica Comets light the lamp. (Mark McGauley Photography)

Syracuse, NY — Last night the Syracuse Crunch hosted their Central New York Rivals, the Utica Comets. Coming into Friday night’s game, the Crunch were searching for their first win in over a week, while the Comets came in on a 3-game winning streak. The start of the 1^st period did not look promising for the Utica Comets. Within the opening minutes, Matt Taormina and Tye McGinn both scored power play for the Crunch. The early 2-0 deficit was answered with a goal scored by Carter Bancks, his 8^th of the season, to cut the lead to 2-1. Before the Comets were able to find the back of the net again in the 1^st period, the Crunch extended their lead to 3-1 with a goal by Jeff Tambellini. Shortly before the end of the opening period is when Comets player Ashton Sautner scored his 4^th goal of the season, to end the 1^st down 3-2.

Darren Archibald & Luke Witkowski (Mark McGauley Photography)

It was quite clear after the 1^st period that neither team had defense going for them and that they would have to rely on their offense. The 2^nd period was highlighted by another goal by Tambellini for the Crunch, which brought the score to 4-2 Syracuse. Despite the Crunch bringing their lead back up to 2 goals, the Comets wouldn’t give up. On the power play at the 7-minute mark, Comets player Andrey Pedan found the back of the net to once again bring the Utica Comets within 1.

Mike Angelis (10) & Luke Witkowski working on keeping the puck out of the slot. (Mark McGauley Photography)

Going into the 3^rd period, it was still anyone’s game. Despite the high scoring game, the Comets decided to leave goalie Richard Bachman in to finish the game. Early into the 3^rd, the Syracuse Crunch capitalized on the power play with a goal by Mike Blunden. Now down 5-3 the Comets were hoping for that offensive spark to come. At the 10:26 mark, Brandon Prust gave Utica that spark with a short-handed goal to cut the score to 5-4 in favor of the Crunch. After the short-handed goal, the Crunch defense lead behind goalie Kristers Gudlevskis shut the Comets down and skated away with a thrilling 5-4 victory. The Syracuse Crunch were 3/6 on power plays while the Utica Comets were only 1/7. Shots on goal: Utica 29, Syracuse 31.

(photo Mark McGauley Photography)

VISITORS: UTICA PLAYERS Position  G  A +/- SH PIM 2  Ehrhardt, Travis D 0 1 0 0 0 6  Sautner, Ashton D 1 0 0 4 0 9  Shinkaruk, Hunter LW 0 0 +1 3 0 10  Gaunce, Brendan LW 0 2 +2 2 0 11  Negrin, John D 0 0 0 0 2 14  Zalewski, Mike C 0 0 -1 3 2 15  Kenins, Ronalds LW 0 2 +2 0 2 16  LaBate, Joseph LW 0 0 -1 1 0 20  Landry, Jon D 0 1 0 2 0 21  Higgins, Chris LW 0 0 -1 1 0 24  Cassels, Cole RW 0 0 -1 0 0 25  Archibald, Darren LW 0 0 -1 0 2 26  Prust, Brandon LW 1 0 +1 1 0 A 27  Fedun, Taylor D 0 0 +1 1 0 28  Grenier, Alexandre RW 0 1 +1 4 0 A 34  Bancks, Carter LW 1 0 +1 3 2 A 36  Hamilton, Wacey C 0 0 0 0 4 37  Pedan, Andrey D 1 0 +1 4 0 TEAM 0 0 TOTAL 4 29 14  Goalies GA Mins SH SVS PIM 32  Bachman, Richard (L) 5 57:46 31 26 0 35  Cannata, Joe – – – – – Head Coach: Travis Green Assistant Coach: Nolan Baumgartner Assistant Coach: Paul Jerrard	HOME: SYRACUSE PLAYERS Position  G  A +/- SH PIM A 3  Mormina, Joey D 0 0 0 0 0 4  Dotchin, Jake D 0 0 0 2 4 6  Blujus, Dylan D 0 1 0 1 0 7  Tambellini, Jeff C 2 0 +1 4 0 8  Martindale, Ryan C 0 1 +1 0 0 C 10  Angelidis, Mike C 0 0 +1 1 2 15  Broll, David LW 0 0 0 1 0 16  McGinn, Tye LW 1 1 +1 6 0 19  Walcott, Daniel D 0 0 0 0 2 20  Taormina, Matt D 1 0 -1 2 2 A 21  Blunden, Mike RW 1 1 -1 5 0 23  Darcy, Cameron C 0 0 -1 0 0 37  Gourde, Yanni LW 0 1 0 3 0 57  Ikonen, Henri LW 0 0 -2 1 2 71  Richard, Tanner C 0 2 -1 1 0 73  Erne, Adam LW 0 1 -2 2 0 79  DeAngelo, Anthony D 0 0 -1 0 0 82  Witkowski, Luke D 0 1 0 2 4 TEAM 0 0 TOTAL 5 31 16  Goalies GA Mins SH SVS PIM 32  Wilcox, Adam – – – – – 50  Gudlevskis, Kristers (W) 4 60:00 29 25 0 Head Coach: Rob Zettler Assistant Coach: Stacy Roest Assistant Coach: Trent Cull
NOTE: Players listed in Italics are the starting lineup.
Scoring 1. SYR Taormina, (11) (Blunden, Richard), 1:14 (PP) 1. SYR McGinn, (16) (Blujus, Gourde), 2:52 (PP) 1. UTI Bancks, (8) (Landry, Ehrhardt), 15:08 1. SYR Tambellini, (17) (McGinn, Witkowski), 17:26 1. UTI Sautner, (4) (Kenins, Gaunce), 19:36 2. SYR Tambellini, (18) (Martindale), 2:34 2. UTI Pedan, (4) (Kenins, Grenier), 6:54 (PP) 3. SYR Blunden, (14) (Erne, Richard), 2:33 (PP) 3. UTI Prust, (1) (Gaunce), 10:26 (SH)	Penalties 1 – UTI Negrin, 0:38 – Holding, 2 min (PP) 1 – UTI Kenins, 1:30 – Boarding, 2 min (PP) 1 – SYR Taormina, 10:27 – Interference, 2 min (PP) 2 – SYR Dotchin, 5:09 – High-sticking, 2 min (PP) 2 – SYR Ikonen, 5:09 – High-sticking, 2 min (PP) 2 – SYR Angelidis, 9:15 – Cross-checking, 2 min (PP) 2 – SYR Walcott, 11:50 – Tripping, 2 min (PP) 2 – SYR Dotchin, 13:12 – Cross-checking, 2 min (PP) 2 – UTI Archibald, 13:57 – Roughing, 2 min 2 – SYR Witkowski, 13:57 – Roughing, 2 min (PP) 2 – SYR Witkowski, 13:57 – Roughing, 2 min 2 – UTI Bancks, 19:15 – Hooking, 2 min (PP) 3 – UTI Hamilton, 1:20 – Hooking, 2 min (PP) 3 – UTI Hamilton, 4:10 – Slashing, 2 min (PP) 3 – UTI Zalewski, 9:55 – Slashing, 2 min (PP)
PP PIM PTS Utica Comets 1 / 7 14 min / 7 inf 4 G + 7 A = 11 Pts Syracuse Crunch 3 / 6 16 min / 8 inf 5 G + 9 A = 14 Pts
Arena Stars of the Game Officials Onondaga County War Memorial Arena Attendance: 5898 Start: 7:06 PM End: 9:34 PM Length: 2:28 1. SYR – 7 Jeff Tambellini 2. SYR – 21 Mike Blunden 3. UTI – 10 Brendan Gaunce Andrew Thackaberry (4), Referee Tim Mayer (19), Referee Tim Kotyra (53), Linesman Todd Plouffe (19), Linesman