Crunch downed by Thunderbirds, 6-4; Crunch defeat Bruins, 3-2

The Syracuse Crunch were downed by the Springfield Thunderbirds, 6-4, tonight at the Massmutual Center.

The loss moves the Crunch to 35-20-4-2 on the season as the Thunderbirds sweep the twogame season series, 2-0-0-0.

Crunch goaltender Hugo Alnefelt stopped 19-of-24 shots. Vadim Zherenko turned aside 49-of-53 between the pipes for the Thunderbirds. The Syracuse power play convert on 1-of-4 opportunities, while Springfield went 1-for-2.

The Thunderbirds opened scoring 3:37 into the game when Will Bitten beat Alnefelt on a breakaway. The Crunch responded and tied the game with a power-play goal at 16:33. Devante Stephens sent a pass over to Felix Robert as he cut down the left wing. Robert’s centering feed intended for a teammate went off a defender’s skate and into the net. Springfield was quick to go back on top and Ryan Suzuki fired in a shot from

the left circle with 59 seconds remaining in the period.

Just 30 seconds into the middle frame, Springfield made it 3-1. Jakub Vrana fired a wrister from the left circle on a short breakaway. Stephens got the Crunch back within one at the 2:44 mark. Tyson Feist’s shot got tipped up and over the net, but Gage Goncalves found the puck when it bounced off the glass and centered it for Stephens to score. The Thunderbirds regained their two-goal lead with a power-play goal halfway through the frame. Hugh Mcging fired the puck into the zone to rim around the boards, but it bounced off a stanchion and into the slot for Bitten to score his second of the game. Springfield then capitalized on another odd-man rush late in the period when Mikhail Abramov fired in a wrister from the left circle off a cross-zone feed from Vrana.

Syracuse stole one back early in the third period. Zherenko made the initial save, but Ilya Usau found the rebound and chipped it in. They got another one back at the 14:55 mark when Cole Koepke tipped in Alex Barré-boulet’s shot from the right circle, but Bitten completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal to halt a comeback effort and secure a Thunderbirds win.

The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Providence Bruins, 3-2, in a shootout today at Amica Mutual Pavilion.

The win advances the Crunch to 36-20-4-2 as they take sole possession of first in the North Division with 78 points. The team is now 3-0-0-0 in the four-game season series against the Bruins.

Crunch goaltender Matt Tomkins recorded the victory stopping 41-of-43 shots and all three shootout attempts. Michael Dipietro turned aside 23-of-25 shots and 2-of-3 shootout attempts in net for the Bruins. Both the Syracuse and Providence power plays converted on 1-of-4 opportunities.

After a scoreless first period, the Crunch broke the stalemate 3:27 into the middle frame. Dipietro made the save on Max Groshev’s redirection, but Tristan Allard was able to get a stick on the rebound and send it in. Just over a minute later, the Bruins evened the score when Patrick Brown scored during a scramble in front of the net. Syracuse regained their lead with a power-play goal late in the period. Gage Goncalves fired a shot from the left circle that went off the post and back out into the crease behind the netminder for Jack Finley to poke in.

The Bruins knotted the score, 2-2, with a power-play goal halfway through the third period to eventually send the game into overtime. Anthony Richard centered a feed from along the goal line that banked off a Crunch defender and into the net.

Neither team scored in the overtime frame and the game went to a shootout where Goncalves scored the only goal and game-winner in the second round.

The Crunch return home to host the Rochester Americans on Wednesday.