Syracuse, NY (December 3, 2010) - The Syracuse Crunch came back from three goals down, but could not overcome the Rochester Americans, falling by a 6-5 final tonight at the Blue Cross Arena.
The Crunch started off on the wrong foot, as Rochester spent almost the entire first portion of the first period in the Crunch defensive zone before Evgeny Dadonov finally beat Timo Pielmeier with a shot that squeezed through the German-born netminder's legs to make it a 1-0 game just 1:12 into regulation.
The score stayed that way until a flurry of action that included a combined four goals in the final 2:17 of the first period.
Rochester's Eric Selleck scored his first goal of the season and gave his club a 2-0 lead on a fluke play, poking a puck on goal that hit off Pielmeier, then off his own defenseman and over the goal line to increase the Crunch's deficit.
Trevor Smith got the Crunch on the board just 49 seconds later when he re-directed a point shot from Mat Clark past Jacob Markstrom to make it a 2-1 game.
Rochester had a quick answer, as Scott Timmins scored on a wraparound just 20 seconds after Smith's marker and then again on a turnaround shot from the slot just 32 seconds after that to put the Americans up 4-1. Timmins' second goal was on J.P. Levasseur, who replaced Pielmeier after Rochester's third score.
Whatever Crunch head coach Mark Holick said to his team during the first intermission, it worked. Syracuse cut it to 4-2 just 4:09 into the second period when Jake Newton's wrister beat Markstrom high to the glove side for the rookie defenseman's first professional tally.
Not to be outdone, Leigh Salters registered his first professional goal just over one minute later, deflecting a point shot from Clark past Markstrom to make it a 4-3 game.
The Crunch continued to dominate, tallying the equalizer at the 12:55 mark. Joffrey Lupul gained the offensive zone down the left wing, pulled up and hit Nicolas Deschamps with a perfect pass in the slot that Deschamps whipped toward the cage. Markstrom made the initial save, but Smith calmly corralled the rebound and slipped a backhand by the 20-year old Swedish-born goaltender for his second of the game to knot the contest at 4-4.
Rochester re-gained the lead when David Marshall tallied his first of the season at the 3:53 mark of the third period, beating Levasseur with a shot through the five-hole.
The Crunch had a few solid scoring chances, but Markstrom was strong down the stretch for Rochester. The Americans went back up by two goals on a late tally from A.J. Jenks with 3:15 left in the third when his shot slipped through the arm and body of Levasseur.
Josh Green made it interesting by shuffling home a rebound with Levasseur pulled, making it 6-5 with 2:05 to play. Levasseur was pulled again for the extra attacker in the final minute, but the Crunch could not convert.
The Crunch continue their four-game road trip by heading to Charlotte on Sunday, December 5 for a 3 p.m. game against the Checkers. All the action can be heard starting at 2:45 p.m. on 105.9 FM 'The Big Talker.' The game will switch to the Crunch's flagship station, The Score 1260, at approximately 5:30 p.m. Syracuse returns home to The Oncenter War Memorial Arena on Friday, December 10 vs. Adirondack at 7:30 p.m.
CRUNCHABLES: The first of Mat Clark's two assists was his first professional point…Smith's first goal of the game was his first in 10 contests (November 6 @ WBS)…Pielmeier was pulled for the third time in his last seven starts.
