CRUNCH KEEP ROLLING
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Derick Brassard (1-2—3) and Zenon Konopka (0-3—3) had three points each and Duvie Westcott scored two goals to lead the Syracuse Crunch to a 5-2 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins Saturday at the Onondoga County War Memorial.
With the win, Syracuse (36-26-2-6) runs its record in the past 13 games to 10-0-0-3. Grand Rapids (27-36-2-5) kicks off a three-game home stand with a tilt against the Lake Erie Monsters at Van Andel Arena Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Syracuse scored the only goal of the opening period, taking advantage of a power play situation at 13:44. Brassard walked the puck toward the net just below the right circle and sent a crossing pass to Westcott, who was able to fill the net before Jimmy Howard could recover.
In the middle frame, Ryan Oulahen put Grand Rapids on the board at 6:49. When Karl Goehring could not cover the rebound of a long shot by Tom Galvin, Oulahen fought off a check and snapped the puck inside the left goal post to tie the score at one goal apiece.
The Crunch needed just 32 seconds to retake the lead as Westcott scored his second goal of the game, this time as the trailer on a break after Brassard left him a drop pass in the slot. Later in the period, Syracuse capitalized on a 5-on-3 situation to extend its lead to 3-1 when Brassard netted a goal at 15:36 after Brett Motherwell and Konopka played the puck in front of the net.
Syracuse built its advantage to 4-1 when Motherwell’s slap shot from about 40 feet that lit the lamp at 6:12 of the third period. Grand Rapids hung around, drawing within two as Jamie Tardif gathered the rebound of Garrett Stafford’s shot and scored a power play goal at 9:19. The Crunch, however, put the game out of reach at 14:24 as Kirill Starkov gave them a 5-2 lead, scoring off Mark Rycroft’s centering pass.
Howard recorded 21 saves for the Griffins, while Goehring stopped 35 shots in the Syracuse net. The Grand Rapids power play went 1-for-8, while the Crunch posted a 2-for-7 mark on the advantage.
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