Rochester, NY- The Crunch suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Rochester Americans tonight at the Blue Cross Arena.
After falling to the Americans 4-1 on January 12 this marks the first time the Crunch have lost back-to-back games in regulation this season. The loss drops the Crunch to 24-9-2-3 overall and brings their road record to 16-4-0-2.
Jared Nightingale scored the lone Crunch goal, his first of the season, and netminder Dustin Tokarski made 23 saves in defeat.
The first Amerks score came with 5:43 to play in the first period. A centering pass from Kevin Porter found the stick of Mark Mancari who put the puck past Tokarski for a 1-0 lead.
Rochester right wing Brian Flynn doubled the Amerks lead 4:41 into the second stanza. Flynn scored on an open net after Luke Adam created the space by splitting two Crunch defenders.
Rochester’s third goal came at the end of a two-on-one rush. A save was made on the initial shot, but the Crunch couldn’t clear a loose rebound before Evan Rankin’s scored, putting the Amerks up 3-0.
Nightingale put the Crunch on the scoreboard 16:31 into the second period. Nightingale jammed the puck past Amerks goaltender David Leggio during a scrum in front of the net. Assists went to Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson.
With 5:46 remaining the Amerks added their fourth goal of the game. Phil Varone redirected a point shot past Tokarski to put Rochester on top 4-1.
Crunchables: Kyle Wilson made his Syracuse Crunch debut tonight…Alex Killorn had his five-game point streak snapped…Tonight’s loss was the first time Tokarski has lost in regulation since Dec. 22, 2012… Head Coach Jon Cooper had not lost back to back games in regulation since January 28 and February 3, 2012…The Crunch were assessed four penalty minutes, matching a season-low set in Binghamton on Dec. 26
Courtesy: Syracuse Crunch
