Syracuse, NY- Richard Panik scored twice as the Syracuse Crunch defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2-1 tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Crunch become the first AHL team to reach 20 wins, they have an overall record of 20-7-2-3 and 12-3-0-2 road record. Syracuse remains at the top of the Eastern Conference with 45 points.
Panik scored the game's first goal 16:53 into the second period. A pass from Brett Connolly sent Panik on a breakaway where he buried the puck past Penguins netminder Brad Thiessen to give the Crunch a 1-0 lead.
Panik struck again 33 seconds into the final frame, sneaking the puck from below the goal line between the post and Thiessen after a flurry of Crunch chances in front of the Penguins net. The power-play tally was assisted by Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat. The Crunch went one for six on the man-advantage.
Crunch goaltender Dustin Tokarski stopped 19 of 20 shots faced en route to his 13th win of the season, the Penguins spoiled Tokarski's shutout bid by scoring a power-play goal with one second to play in regulation. The Penguins goal was scored by Trevor Smith, assisted by Brian Dumoulin.
Crunchables: Dustin Tokarski has started each of the six games against the Penguins this season…Tonight is the third time this season Richard Panik has recorded a game-winning goal…The Crunch have not allowed their opponent to score a power-play goal in three games.
