Syracuse, NY – Despite a two-goal effort from forward Alex Killorn, the Crunch were edged by the Adirondack Phantoms 4-3 in overtime tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
The Crunch captured a point but fall to 4-1-1-1 overall while the Phantoms advance to 3-4-0-0. Crunch netminder Riku Helenius stopped 25 of 29 shots in the losing effort.
Brett Connolly took advantage of a first period power play by giving the Crunch a 1-0 lead at the 8:21 mark of the period. Connolly knocked a Cory Conacher rebound past Phantoms netminder Cal Heeter. The Crunch carried their lead into the first intermission by outshooting the Phantoms 12-9 in the opening frame.
Phantoms forward Tye McGinn scored twice in the middle stanza to tie the game (at 1:07) and put Adirondack ahead 2-1 (8:45). Killorn responded with two goals of his own to take the Crunch into the second intermission with a one goal lead. Killorn’s first goal came from lifting the puck over a sprawling Heeter at the 13:31 mark. Less than a minute later Killorn scored a power-play goal to put the Crunch ahead 3-2.
Adirondack tied the game with just over a minute to play in regulation while the Crunch were on the wrong end of a five-on-three. Phantoms center Brayden Schenn, who finished the game with four points, scored the equalizer.
The Phantoms five-on-three advantage carried over into overtime and Brandon Manning capitalized with a goal just :14 seconds into the extra session.
Crunchables: Cory Conacher’s assist on Brett Connolly’s first period goal extended his point streak to seven games…Conacher is currently third in the AHl in goals with 11 points in seven games… Riku Helenius has appeared in three games this season with a 1-1 record.
Courtesy: Syracuse Crunch
