SYRACUSE -- The Syracuse Crunch got the last laugh in a back-and-forth game, securing a 5-4 win and an undefeated preseason record (3-0-0-0) on Brian Lebler’s go-ahead power play goal with seven and a half minutes left in regulation.
Center Nick Bonino tallied another two goals to give him seven points (3g, 4a) in three exhibition contests while Josh Brittain and Brandon McMillan rounded out the scoring. Recently assigned defenseman Danny Syvret potted three helpers in the win.
Adirondack got off to a fast start, grabbing a 2-0 lead before the game was even five minutes old.
Giulio Scandella got things going when his tally past Crunch starter Timo Pielmeier put Adirondack up 1-0 just 2:56 into the game. The Phantoms doubled their lead just 1:39 later, as Tye McGinn’s shot found the back of the cage.
The Crunch didn’t panic, answering on the power play to make it 2-1 before the first frame was over. Bonino took a pass from Kyle Palmieri at the right point and ripped a shot past Brian Stewart to cut Syracuse’s deficit with 1:13 remaining in the first period.
The Crunch clawed back and knotted the score at 2-2 just 47 seconds into the second stanza when McMillan deflected a wrister by Syvret from the left point past Stewart.
Syracuse kept the momentum going and took its first lead of the game when Brittain notched his first of the preseason by punching in the rebound of a Mark Mitera shot to make it 3-2 just one minute later.
Adirondack tied the game again at 3-3 when Cullen Eddy beat J.P. Levasseur on the power play at the 12:04 mark of the second.
The resilient Crunch answered right back with a power play goal of their own just over a minute later when Bonino charged hard to the net and pushed in a rebound from the top of the crease off a MacGregor Sharp shot to make it 4-3 Syracuse.
Adirondack’s Luke Pither blasted a shot from the point with the man-advantage past Levasseur at the 7:13 mark of the third, but Lebler’s goal put the Crunch up for good.
CRUNCHABLES: The high-powered Crunch offense scored 16 regulation goals in three preseason contests…Rookies Bonino (3g, 4a) and Palmieri (3g, 4a) lead the Crunch in scoring during the preseason with seven points each...The Crunch open the regular season with a home-and-home series against Lake Erie on October 8 and 9.
Courtesy: Syracuse Crunch
