TORONTO, ON -- Tomas Kana scored twice in regulation and tallied the game-winning goal in the shootout, as the Crunch broke a four-game losing streak by defeating the Toronto Marlies by a 4-3 score Sunday at Ricoh Coliseum.
Kevin Lalande made 31 saves, Bates Battaglia had two assists and captain Derek MacKenzie added one goal and one assist to extend his season-high point streak to six games. MacKenzie has now scored a goal in five straight games, also a personal and Crunch season-high.
The Crunch returned to the road looking to capitalize on some recent success away from the War Memorial and got on the board first at the 7:39 mark of the second period.
MacKenzie got the puck behind the net and shuffled a backhand pass to Battaglia on the left side of the cage. Battaglia quickly sent a feed to a wide open Kana in the slot, who deposited the disk past Joey MacDonald to make it 1-0. The line of Battaglia-MacKenzie-Kana combined for six points on the afternoon.
Toronto knotted the game at 1-1 just five and a half minutes later when Stefano Giliati snuck the puck through Kevin Lalande while camped out on the left side of the net off a pass from Andy Rogers.
The Crunch took back the lead before the second period was over when Battaglia set up Kana again, this time on a drop pass in the high slot. Kana quickly released the puck, snapping a shot to the top right corner that beat MacDonald for the 3-1 Crunch lead at the 14:03 mark.
The Crunch seemed to be in control at that point, but Toronto roared back less than a minute later to make it 3-2 when Brendan Mikkelson came in down the right side and threw a backhand shot on goal that eluded Lalande.
Just 22 seconds later, the Marlies stunned the Crunch when Andre Deveaux cashed in from the top of the crease to tie the game at 3-3.
The wheels almost fell completely off for the Crunch when MacKenzie took a boarding penalty at the 16:16 mark and Mike Blunden was called for goaltender interference at the 17:36 mark, giving Toronto a 40-second 5-on-3 advantage, but Syracuse kept its composure and killed off both infractions, sending the game to overtime.
Both teams traded chances in the 4-on-4 five-minute sudden death session, but could not capitalize, forcing a shootout.
Brendan Bell scored in the first round for the Crunch and Tim Brent in the second round for Toronto, tying the shootout at 1-1 after two rounds. MacKenzie and Toronto’s Justin Hodgman were both denied in the third round, before Kana opened the fourth with a laser to the top right corner over MacDonald’s shoulder.
Lalande was able to get his left pad on a bid that Christian Hanson fumbled, sealing the win for the Crunch.
CRUNCHABLES: The Crunch are 5-1-0-1 over their last seven road games…Bates Battlaglia extended his assist streak to four games and has seven helpers over that span…The Crunch have scored a power play goal in each of the last four games…Syracuse is now 11-2-1-0 when scoring four or more goals…Derek MacKenzie now has 10 points (5g, 5a) over his last seven games…This marked the first win in 10 tries for the Crunch against a North Division team this year.
Courtesy: Syracuse Crunch
