by
Jeff Parzych
Kari Lehtonen recorded 36 saves and Tommi Santala chipped in with two goals to lead the Chicago Wolves to a 3-1 win over the Syracuse Crunch in American Hockey League action Saturday night.
The Wolves broke the seal on this one just prior to the midway point of the first period. Zdenek Blatny put a shot on net thru traffic that Karl Goehring was able to get a shoulder on, but could not control the rebound. Wolves forward Brian Maloney won the scramble to the loose puck and slid the puck past a prone Goehring to give the Wolves an early lead.
Not long after Maloney's marker, Tim Jackman put the Crunch on the scoreboard by flashing the skills that have made him such a highly regarded prospect for Columbus. Off a face-off in the Wolves zone, Brad Moran won the draw and pulled the puck back to Trent Cull at the blue line. Cull took one stride and fired a hard low shot on net that Kari Lehtonen put a pad on for the save, but could not corral the rebound giving Jackman, who was parked on top of the Chicago crease, a fighting chance to bury the rebound.
That is exactly what the second-year power forward did. Jackman out-muscled a Chicago defender and buried the puck into the open side to tie the game at one. It was the 8th of the year for Jackman who now has points in five of his last eight games.
Chicago regained their one-goal advantage early in the second period. With the Wolves holding a man-advantage, Tommi Santala threw a shot on net from a very sharp angle that found its way between the pads of Goehring and the post to make it a 2-1 game.
Syracuse, like they did in the first, tried to answer the Wolves goal with a tally of their own, but they could not solve Chicago's rookie netminder Kari Lehtonen. The Crunch fired a season-high 20 shots on goal in the period as they peppered the rookie from all angles, but to no avail. Lehtonen was particularly strong during a stretch late in the second when Jeremy Reich, Zenith Komarinski and Ben Knopp all had chances from point blank range, only to be sent back to the bench shaking their heads.
Tommi Santala's goal in the third iced it for the Wolves as they snap a season-long four game losing streak. With the victory Lehtonen ups his season mark to 9-7-0. Karl Goehring played well in defeat for Syracuse, registering 33 saves. .
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:December 13, 2003
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Chicago Wolves
Attendance:4,423
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Chicago, Maloney 4 (Blatny), 9:55. 2. Syracuse, Jackman 8 (Cull, Moran), 12:17. Penalties-Scoville, Syr (double minor)(tripping, unsportsmanlike), 10:15; Hawgood, Chi (holding), 11:23.
Second Period-Scoring-3. Chicago, Santala 2 (Campbell, Maltais), 5:56, (pp). Penalties-Johnson, Syr (high-stick), 4:44; Blatny, Chi (slashing), 7:36; Blatny, Chi (roughing), 10:48; Stewart, Chi (roughing), 14:31; Stewart, Chi (boarding), 19:30; Traynor, Syr (roughing), 19:30.
Third Period-Scoring 4. Chicago, Santala 3 (Heins), 6:12. Penalties-Yarema, Chi (roughing), 5:44; Reich, Syr (roughing), 5:44; Grand-Pierre, Syr (roughing), 11:02.
Shots on Goal-Chicago, 12-14-10--36 ; Syracuse, 9-20-8--37 .
Power Play Opportunities-Chicago, 1-4; Syracuse, 0-3.
Goalies-Chicago, Lehtonen (9-7-0), 37 shots- 36 saves; Syracuse, Goehring (4-6-2), 36 shots-33 saves.
Referee-Gordon Dwyer (39);Linesmen-Dave Brisebois (96), Jeff Walker (17).
Three Stars:
1. Kari Lehtonen: The difference in the game on Saturday. Lehtonen was just huge all night long.
2. Tommi Santala: Also a rookie, Santala triples his goal output for the season with his two tallies on the night.
3. Karl Goehring: Played well all night long as he recorded 33 saves. May have wanted another go at Chicago's second marker.
Lineups:
Wolves: Goal: Kari Lehtonen, Frederic Cassivi Defense: Libor Ustrnul, Kurtis Foster, Joe DiPenta, Evan Nielsen, Mike Weaver, Shawn Heins, Luke Sellars, Greg Hawgood. Forwards:Karl Stewart, Eric Healey, Steve Maltais, Brad Tapper, Zdenek Blatny, Jim Campbell, Kamil Piros, Brian Maloney, Brian Swanson, Derek MacKenzie, Stephen Baby, Brendan Yarema, Tommi Santala.
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, Tim Jackman, Brad Moran, Tyler Sloan, Brandon Sugden, Mike Pandolfo, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre
Pre-Game Skate:
Scratches for the Crunch were Pauli Levorkari (healthy) and Andrej Nedorost (broken nose). Chicago sat out Evan Nielsen, Brad Tapper, Kamil Piros, and Luke Sellars.
Shuttle Continues
Prior to the game the Crunch announced that the Columbus Blue Jackets have reassigned right wing Kent McDonell to Syracuse. McDonell appeared in 23 games with the Jackets this season, recording two points (1g,1a) and 34 penalty minutes. McDonell was in the lineup last night for Syracuse and his arrival enabled Head Coach Gary Agnew to move Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre back to the blue line, Grand-Pierre has looked much better with the Crunch on defense and last night was certainly no exception. Before fans get their hopes up on the prospects of seeing J.L.G.P grace the Crunch blueline, reports last evening had him returning to Columbus as early as Sunday. Grand-Pierre's departure opens the door for David Ling to return to Syracuse.
Crunching the Numbers:
The Crunch had gone to overtime in each of their last three games prior to Saturday night. They are 1-2 in those games having beat Toronto on 12/6 and losing to both Hershey (12/7) and Manitoba (12/12)……The Crunch have not lost a game this season in regulation when any one player has recorded a multiple-point night….Heading into Saturday night, the Crunch had been out shot in their last six contests and 18 of their 24 games this season….. Syracuse went 0-3 last night on the power play and heading into Saturday's tilt they were 4 of their last 44 yet they still were leading the league with an 18.8% success rate.
On Deck:
Syracuse continues to play host for the holidays as they entertain the Philadelphia Phantoms this Friday evening. Game time is set for 7:30 PM