by
Jeff Parzych
Must win games in December are definitely not the norm in the AHL. That being said, Saturday night was possibly just that for the Syracuse Crunch. In the midst of an extended home stand and on the brink of a five-day holiday break, there is no doubt Syracuse needed these two points.
Not just so they can enjoy the holidays, that will surely happen regardless, but just to prove to no one but themselves that they do have what it takes to win in this league. After a slight setback early, that is exactly what the Crunch did. They played desperate hockey for sixty minutes and walked away with those two points after downing the baby Leafs 2-1.
Early on it didn't look like it was going to be the Crunch's night. Just 2:05 into the game, with St. John's holding a 4 on 3 advantage, Jonathon Gagnon deflected a Carlo Colaiacovo shot past Crunch goaltender Karl Goehring for an early 1-0 lead.
Bolstered by back-to-back bouts from Jeremy Reich and Brandon Sugden, Syracuse gave notice that their was no quit in this team tonight. Unfortunately, no one informed St. John's of that fact.
The Leafs seemed to control play early on, especially to open the second period. Protecting a one goal lead, St. John's held the Crunch to only one shot in the first nine minutes of the second as the ice seemed tilted in the Leafs favor.
The last thing St. John's wanted to do was to give the Crunch any momentum. As it turns out a holding penalty against Pierre Hedin did exactly that. On the ensuing power play, Syracuse scored one of the biggest goals of the season to date.
Aaron Johnson, off a feed from Zenith Komarniski, skated in from the left point and unleashed a shot that found its way past Mikael Tellqvist to even the score at one.
That score remained until the 6:49 mark of the third period. With Leaf blue liner Marc Moro off for interference, Brad Moran won a face-off just outside the St. John's blue line. A quick pass sent Donald MacLean into the offensive zone and he fired a shot on net that Tellqvist kicked right to Kent McDonell streaking down the slot. McDonell easily buried Tellqvist's gift for his third of the season and Syracuse's first lead of the night.
Two late Leaf power plays tested the Crunch, but Karl Goehring and company held on for the win. Goehring finished the night with 26 saves as he ups his season mark to 5-6-2.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:December 20, 2003
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:St. John's Maple Leafs
Attendance:4,537
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. St. John's, Gagnon 3 (Colaiacovo, Leeb), 2:05, (pp). Penalties-Harrison, Stj (roughing), :56; Reich, Syr (roughing), :56; Komarniski, Syr (holding), 1:40; Harrison, Stj (fighting), 3:01; Reich, Syr (fighting), 3:01; Lakovic, Stj (fighting), 3:03; Sugden, Syr (fighting), 3:03; Pandolfo, Syr (goaltender interference), 4:45; Bell, Stj (obs. interference), 13:39;
Second Period-Scoring-2. Syracuse, Johnson 4 (Komarniski, Reich), 10:25, (pp). Penalties-Hedin, Stj (holding), 9:17; Hedin, Stj (holding the stick), 12:26.
Third Period-Scoring-3. Syracuse, McDonell 3 (MacLean, Moran), 6:49, (pp). Penalties-Moro, Stj (interference), 5:37; Johnson, Syr (interference), 14:48; McDonell, Syr (charging), 18:36.
Shots on Goal-St. John's, 5-11-11--27; Syracuse, 11-12-8--31.
Power Play Opportunities-St. John's, 1-4; Syracuse, 2-4.
Goalies-St. John's, Tellqvist (5-3-0), 31 shots- 29 saves; Syracuse, Goehring (5-6-2), 27 shots-26 saves.
Referee-Dan O'Rourke (42);Linesmen-Dave Brisebois (96), Tim Kotyra (53).
Three Stars:
1. Kent McDonell: K-Mac is starting to find his grove. He follows up Friday's solid effort by recording the game-winner on Saturday.
2. Aaron Johnson: Check back in April. If the Crunch are to have a successful season, Johnson's goal just may turn out to be the springboard.
3. Karl Goehring: No controversy here. Syracuse is lucky to have two solid netminders and Goehring proved that once again on Saturday.
Lineups:
Leafs: Goal:Sebastien Centomo, Mikael TellqvistDefense: Pierre Hedin, Regan Kelly, Chris Chartier, Marc Moro, Carlo Colaiacovo, Brendan Bell, Jay Harrison. Forwards:Aaron Gavey, Jeff Daw, Jonathon Gagnon, Greg Lakovic, Robb Palahnuk, Luca Cereda, Kris Newberry, Nathan Barrett, Harold Druken, Clarke Wilm, Ben Ondrus, Josh Holden, Brad Leeb, Kyle Wellwood.
Crunch: Goal:Karl Goehring, Pascal Leclaire.Defense:Darrel Scoville, Zenith Komarniski, Paul Traynor, Pauli Levokari, Aaron Johnson, Trent Cull. Forwards:Mark Hartigan, Ben Knopp, Joe Motzko, Donald MacLean, Kent McDonell, Jeremy Reich, Brad Moran, Tyler Sloan, Brandon Sugden, Mike Pandolfo, Jason Deskins.
Pre-Game Skate:
For the second straight night Syracuse scratched no one. The Leafs sat out Regan Kelly, Luca Cereda, Nathan Barrett, and Josh Holden.
Crunch One-Timers:
Prior to the game the Crunch announced that Columbus recalled right wing Tim Jackman. The second-year forward has appeared in 26 games with the Crunch, recording 16 points (8g,8a) and 13 penalty minutes. He played last night against the Wild as he received 10:39 of ice time on 15 shifts and was even for the game. To replace Jackman on the roster the Crunch recalled Jason Deskins from Dayton of the ECHL. Deskins appeared in 24 games with the Bombers, registering 14 goals, nine assists and 38 penalty minutes. After Saturday's game Deskins was returned to Dayton.
On Deck:
The Crunch are off for the holidays until Friday. The will have a game day skate on Friday prior to taking on the Hamilton Bulldogs that evening. As of Sunday, Hamilton leads the North Division with 41 points. Game time is set for 7:30 PM.