Syracuse, NY (December 28, 2011) - The Crunch's top line of Patrick Maroon, Peter Holland and Brandon McMillan combined for 10 points as the Crunch defeated the Springfield Falcons 5-2 tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
Holland recorded a pair of goals and assists and McMillan and Maroon each contributed a goal and two assists in tonight's contest.
The Crunch applied heavy pressure early and were able to break through goalie Manny Legace with their 10th shot on goal at the 9:15 mark of the first period. Holland gave the Crunch a 1-0 when he shoved a rebound past Legace for his ninth goal of the season.
Maroon made it 2-0 while former Crunch defenseman Brent Regner was serving a slashing penalty. Maroon's goal was a power-play goal at the 10:56 mark of the first and was assisted by McMillan and Holland.
The Crunch began the second stanza down two men but were able to kill both of Springfield's man-advantages. Once back at even strength McMillan extended the Crunch lead to 3-0 when he put in a rebound from a Maroon shot at the 2:12 mark of the second.
The Falcons cut their deficit to two when Tomas Kubalik scored during a 5-on-3 opportunity. Kubalik potted his power-play goal while Crunch defenseman Mat Clark (tripping) and Sean Zimmerman (holding) were both serving two minute minors 9:42 into the second.
Falcons left wing Alexandre Giroux brought Springfield within one when he carried the puck through the slot and past Crunch netminder Iiro Tarkki with 12:19 to play in regulation. Tarkki finished the game with 34 saves.
The Crunch added empty net goals from Holland and Nicolas Deschamps for a final score of 5-2.
Crunchables: Defenseman Mark Fraser made his Syracuse Crunch debut tonight…Peter Holland recorded his first four-point night of his professional career…Patrick Maroon leads the team with 11 multi-point games…The Crunch recorded five goals for the first time since December 7, a 5-3 win in St. John's.
**Courtesy Syracuse Crunch**
