Syracuse, NY (December 30, 2011) - John Mitchell scored two goals but it wasn't enough as the Crunch fell to the defending Calder Cup Champion Binghamton Senators, 4-3, in overtime, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
Maxime Macenauer opened the scoring with a shorthanded tally at the 3:08 mark of the first period. After taking a feed from Brandon McMillan, Macenauer faked right and then slipped the puck past Binghamton netminder Mike McKenna to give the Crunch a 1-0 lead.
The Senators answered back three minutes later with a goal from Stephane Da Costa. Da Costa's shot got past Crunch goalie Iiro Tarkki after Da Costa and Derek Grant had a two-on-one opportunity.
The Crunch took back the lead with 6:15 to play in the first period when Matt Kennedy passed from behind the net to a streaking Mitchell, who one-timed the puck past McKenna putting the Crunch up 2-1.
Despite heavy pressure and 17 shots on goal in the second period the Crunch were unable to break through McKenna. The Crunch failed to scored on two five-on-three power plays and the second stanza ended without either team scoring. Shots at the end of the second were 26-16 in favor of the Crunch.
Less than a minute into the third, the Senators struck with a goal from David Dziurzynski. Binghamton added a power-play goal from Mike Hoffman at the 4:39 mark to take the lead 3-2.
Mitchell scored his second goal of the game to make both teams even with three goals apiece at the 6:36 mark of the third period. The goal was assisted by Rick Schofield, his second of the night, and Mark Fraser.
Tied 3-3 at the end of regulation, it was the Senators' Mark Borowiecki who scored in the extra frame securing a 4-3 victory for Binghamton.
Crunchables: The Crunch have yet to win a game when they do not score a power-play goal…Mark Fraser's assist was his first point as a member of the Crunch…Maxime Macenauer's shorthanded goal was the Crunch's second of the season.
**Courtesy Syracuse Crunch**
