Nolan Schaefer recorded 32 saves and Tomas Plihal tallied the game-winning goal to lead the Cleveland Barons to a 3-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch in a key North Division battle Saturday night at the War Memorial at Oncenter.
Syracuse opened the scoring in this one courtesy of a nice hustle play by center Brad Moran. With the Crunch holding a man-advantage Moran outraced a Baron defender to a loose puck in the slot and chipped a pass to Donald MacLean alone near the left wing face-off circle. MacLean one-timed the Moran offering over the shoulder of Baron netminder Nolan Schaefer for his 13th of the season and an early 1-0 Crunch lead.
Less than two minutes later the Barons answered the Syracuse tally with a power play goal of their own. With Brad Moran off for slashing, Brad Boyes unleashed a slap shot from close range that rang off the inside of the post and into the net to tie the game at one.
In the second the Cleveland power play struck again. This time it was Garrett Stafford who fired a shot from the point that found its way past a screened Karl Goehring to give the Barons their first lead of the contest.
Down 2-1 heading into the third period Syracuse wasted little time in remedying that situation. Just 31 seconds into the final frame, Don MacLean collected the rebound of an Aaron Johnson shot and beat Schaefer high to the short side for his second of the night.
Late in the third, with the game still tied at two, Tomas Plihal scored what turned out to be the game-winner for Cleveland. With Crunch defenseman Jamie Pushor draped all over him and his back to the Syracuse net, Plihal deflected a Greg Labenski shot past Karl Goehring for the score.
Goehring recorded 31 saves for the Crunch in a losing effort as he falls to 7-8-4 on the season. With the win the Barons now find themselves in fourth place in the North Division, one point ahead of Syracuse.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date: Sunday, January 17, 2004
Where:Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Cleveland Barons
Attendance:5, 819
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Syracuse, MacLean 13 (Moran, Johnson), 6:12, (pp). 2. Cleveland, Boyes 13 (Zalesak, Stafford), 8:04, (pp). Penalties-Fibiger, Cle (hooking), 5:34; Clowe, Cle (fighting), 6:16; McDonell, Syr (fighting), 6:16; Moran, Syr (slashing), 7:34; Labenski, Cle (interference), 10:34.
Second Period-Scoring-3. Cleveland, Stafford 8 (Clowe, Hansen), 7:53, (pp). Penalties-Jackman, Syr (highstick), :11; Walser, Syr (slashing), 6:02; Reich, Syr (elbowing), 10:35; Plihal, Cle (slashing), 13:48.
Third Period-Scoring-4. Syracuse, MacLean 14 (Johnson), :31. 5. Cleveland Plihal 4 (Labenski, DiSalvatore), 12:12. Penalties-Fibiger, Cle (elbowing), :42; Clowe, Cle (fighting), 19:59; McDonell, Syr (minor, major)(roughing, fighting), 19:59.
Shots on Goal-Cleveland, 13-14-7--34; Syracuse, 14-9-11--34.
Power Play Opps.-Cleveland, 2-5; Syracuse, 1-4.
Goalies-Cleveland, Schaefer (4-2-0), 34 shots- 32 saves. Syracuse, Goehring (7-8-4), 34 shots- 31 saves.
Referee-Harry Dumas (44); Linesman-Angelo D'Amico (83), Tim Kotyra (53).
Three Stars:
1. Don MacLean: His two goals on Saturday tie him with the departed Mark Hartigan for tops on the Crunch. He now has points in 11 of his last 12 games.
2. Tomas Plihal: Notched the game-winner in the third for the Barons.
3. Garrett Stafford: Finished the night with a goal and an assist.
Lineups: Barons:Goalies:Chris Houle, Nolan Schaffer Defense: Garrett Stafford, Doug Murray, Robert Mulick, Greg Labenski, David Cloutier, Jesse Fibiger. Forwards: John DiSalvatore, Craig Valette, Brad Boyes, Patrick Rissmiller, Miroslav Zalesak, Tomas Pihal, Ryane Clowe, Yuri Moscevsky, Grant Stevenson, Marcel Goc, Willie Levesque. Crunch:Goal: Pascal Leclaire, Karl Goehring. Defense: Darrel Scoville, Jamie Pushor, Paul Traynor, Derrick Walser, Pauli Levorkari, Aaron Johnson, Trent Cull, Zenith Komarniski. Forwards: Scott Cameron, Ben Knopp Jeremy Reich, Joe Motzko, Brad Moran, Tyler Sloan, Kent McDonell, Brandon Sugden, Shawn Limpright, Mike Pandolfo, Tim Jackman, Don MacLean.
Pre-Game Skate:
The Crunch scratched defenseman Zenith Komarniski (ribs), Pauli Levokari (healthy), and Shawn Limpright (hip). Cleveland scratched forward Craig Valette.
Crunch One-Timers:
The Crunch have surrendered two power play goals in three of their last four games…..Baron defenseman Greg Labenski played one game for the Crunch back in 2000-01 and scored once in that contest…. With his assist in the third period Saturday night, Ben Knopp now has points in each of his last three games.
On Deck:
Syracuse heads to Wilkes-Barre on Sunday for a late afternoon tilt with the baby Pens. On Saturday night the Penguins topped the Philadelphia Phantoms 4-3 at Wachovia Arena. Game time is set for 5:05 P.M.