Syracuse, NY- Despite scoring three power-play goals the Syracuse Crunch fell 5-3 to the Springfield Falcons tonight at the MassMutual Center.
Six of the eight goals in tonight's contest came from special teams. The Crunch saw power-play goals from Brett Connolly, JT Wyman and Alex Killorn while Springfield scored twice on the man-advantage and once shorthanded.
With tonight's loss the Crunch fall to 25-11-2-4 overall and 16-5-0-2 on the road. The Crunch have 56 points placing them fourth in Eastern Conference.
Falcons All-Star goaltender Curtis McElhinney saved 34 of 37 shots while Crunch netminder Dustin Tokarski stopped 21 of 25 shots in defeat.
Springfield opened the scoring in the second second period with a power-play goal from Ryan Craig. Craig lifted a loose puck over Tokarski for a 1-0 lead just 42 seconds into the middle stanza.
The Syracuse Crunch evened the score with a power-play tally of their own courtesy of Connolly. Connolly pushed the rebound of a Killorn shot past McElhinney 8:37 into the second period.
The Falcons regained their lead with a shot from slot by Cody Goloubef at the 10:46 mark of the period. Springfield extended their lead with their second power-play goal of the night at the 12:51 mark of the second. Nick Drazenovic won a faceoff to Michael Chaput whose snap shot beat Tokarski for a 3-1 lead.
With Springfield left wing Scott Howes serving a two-minute hooking penalty, Craig scored his second goal of the night on a short-handed breakaway, giving the Falcons a 4-1 lead at the 12:01 mark of the third period.
Wyman added a power-play goal during a brief five-on-three opportunity late in the third period. Richard Panik fed Wyman with a cross-crease pass that he tucked past McElhinney with 3:07 to play in the third. Killorn scored the Crunch's third power-play goal of the night, bringing the Crunch within one with 1:56 to play in regulation.
Springfield secured the 5-3 victory thanks to an empty net goal from Chaput with 51.2 seconds remaining.
Crunchables: Ondrej Palat missing his second consecutive game…Vlad Namestinkov returned to the Crunch lineup after being out for the past two contests…Alex Killorn has five points in his last two games…Brett Connolly's second period goal is his first since Jan. 12 against Rochester…3-10-0-2 when trailing after the second period…Prior to tonight the last time the Crunch had three power-play goals in a game was Dec. 28 vs. Norfolk.
**Courtesy The Syracuse Crunch**
