by Jeff Parzych
Pascal Leclaire made 38 saves and Syracuse received goals from three different players to down the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-2 in American Hockey League action Friday night.
The Crunch got off to quite an auspicious start in this one. Darrel Scoville was whistled for an interference call just 8 seconds into the game and the Penguins converted on the ensuing power play for an early 1-0 lead.
The Penguins capitalized on the power play thanks to a defensive miscue from Crunch defensemen Anders Eriksson. His lapse allowed a weak pass from Matt Murley to find Kris Beech all alone to the left of the Crunch net for the easy tally.
Just over seven minutes later the Crunch would answer with a goal of their own. Newly acquired defenseman Zenith Komarniski ignited the play by keeping the puck in the offensive zone at the blue line. He then flipped a rather harmless wrister on net that was deflected past Penguin netminder Andy Chiodo by Mike Pandolfo to even the score at 1-1. It was the third of the season for Pandolfo and his second in the last three contests.
In the second the Crunch took the lead for good thanks to a nifty play from Jeremy Reich. He corralled what looked to be a shot off the stick of rookie Joe Motzko and slipped it past Chiodo for his second of the season and a 2-1 Syracuse advantage. Brad Moran also received an assist on the play giving him his 13th point (5g,8a) in just 12 games played this season.
Late in the second, with the Crunch on a 5 on 3 power play, the Crunch would strike again. This time it would be Don MacLean, who unleashed a blistering shot from the half-boards, scoring what would prove to the game-winner for Syracuse.
Eric Meloche's goal at the 13:50 mark of the third made it interesting, but on this night Pascal Leclaire would not be denied. Just as he was all game long Leclaire came up big in "crunch time" to preserve the win for Syracuse.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date: November 7, 2004
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Willkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Attendance:5,789
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Wilkes-Barre Beech 2 ( Murley, Rouleau), 1:01, (pp). 2. Syracuse Pandolfo 3 (Komarniski, MacLean), 7:10. Penalties-Scoville, Syr (interference), :08; Lupaschuk, WBS (interference), 3:23; Komarniski, Syr (hooking), 10:12; Eriksson, Syr (cross-check), 11:42.
Second Period-Scoring-3. Syracuse Reich 2 (Motzko, Moran), 11:15. 4. Syracuse MacLean 2 (Eriksson, Scoville),18:07, (pp). Penalties-Knopp, Syr (tripping), 11:41; Meloche, WBS (slashing), 16:38; Lupaschuk, WBS (high-stick), 17:50.
Third Period-Scoring-5. Wilkes-Barre Meloche 3 (Beech), 13:50. Penalties-Lupaschuk, WBS (major-fighting), :17; Reich, Syr (major-fighting), :17; Sloan, Syr (elbowing), :43; Knopp, Syr (major-spearing, game-misconduct), 8:36.
Shots on Goal-Wilkes-Barre, 14-9-17--40 ; Syracuse,7-12-5--24 .
Power Play Opportunities-Wilkes-Barre, 1 of 6; Syracuse, 1 of 3.
Goalies-Wilkes-Barre, Chiodo (4-0-0), 24 shots-21 saves; Syracuse, Leclaire (4-1-0), 40 shots- 38 saves.
Referee-Scott Hoberg ;Linesmen-Brian Lemon, Mike Emanatian.
Three Stars:
1.Pascal Leclaire: What more can you say about Leclaire's play. 38 stops with some highlight reel saves along the way.
2. Jeremy Reich: JR finished the night with a goal and was a +1. He also took a decision in a third period bout with Ross Lupaschuk.
3. Don MacLean: MacLean also had a goal and was a +1. He may be starting to heat up with points in his last three games.
Quotes:
"That's my job as a goalie. I'm trying to become a number one in this league and the number one guy makes these saves and I have to keep making them every night." -Leclaire on stoning Tomas Surovy early in the first period.
"I saw that he had the wide open net and I just kind of stretched as much as I could and hope for the best and it hit my pads so I was pretty happy about that one." -Leclaire on robbing Beech in the second period.
"Lot of confidence right now. Everyone is having a great time. You can see it in practice and there is a lot of jump in the games and when we are in trouble there is always someone who steps up." -Leclaire on the early season success for Syracuse.
"I think my stance is way better than last year and the way I read the play. I learned a lot last year from those hard times, but again it is just six games and I have to keep going." -Leclaire on the difference from last year to this one.
"He was mad at Sloan for throwing the elbow and that is fine, but I need to come to the defense of my player. I don't like other coaches yelling at my players. I don't yell at theirs." -Head Coach Gary Agnew on his shouting match with Penguin head man Michel Therrien
"I think it is a combo platter. Some nights, like tonight, Leclaire or Karl bails us out and there are other nights our defense makes a great play to save a goal." -Agnew on what he thinks has been more important, strong goaltending or the solid blueline.
"I would say the save in the second period, where he kicked the pad out. There wasn't a guy on the bench who didn't just go you've got to kidding me. That's unbelievable." -Agnew on Leclaire's save on Kris Beech.
"The puck just squirted out to me and I just took a wrister on net because we had some guys going there and Pando happened to get his stick on it." -Zenith Komarniski on his first period assist.
Lineups:
Penguins:Goal:Martin Brochu, Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Andy Chiodo. Defense: Rob Scuderi, David Koci, Alexandre Rouleau, Darcy Robinson, Drew Fata, Ross Lupaschuk, Brendan Buckley, Patrick Boileau.Forwards:Michel Ouellet, Matt Hussey, Kris Beech, Shane Endicott, Toby Petersen, Matt Murley, Marquis Mathieu, Tomas Surovy, Tom Kostopoulous, Reid Simpson, Eric Meloche.
Crunch: Goal:Karl Goehring, Pascal Leclaire.Defense:Darrel Scoville, Zenith Komarniski, Todd Rohloff, Paul Traynor, Pauli Levokari, Aaron Johnson, Anders Eriksson, Trent Cull.Forwards:Mark Hartigan, Ben Knopp, Joe Motzko, Donald MacLean, Janne Jokila, Jeremy Reich, Tim Jackman, Brad Moran, Tyler Sloan, Brandon Sugden, Mike Pandolfo.
Pre-Game Skate:
Scratches for the Crunch were Paul Traynor (foot, day to day) and Trent Cull (foot, mid-December). The Penguins scratched Jean-Sebastien Aubin (healthy), Alexandre Rouleau (healthy), Darcy Robinson (healthy) and Toby Petersen (foot).
Momentum Changing Saves:
It is time to put last year to rest. No more boos please or waiting for the other shoe to drop. It is now official. Pascal Leclaire has arrived and his coming out party consisted of three huge saves at the most opportune times in last night's contest between the Crunch and the baby Pens.
His first jaw dropping save came early in the contest around the three minute mark of period number one. Wilkes-Barre had already slipped one past Leclaire, thru no fault of the second-year netminder, and were looking for an early two-goal advantage. That is when Tomas Surovy, left untouched in the slot, unleashed a blistering one-timer that Leclaire snared with his glove to keep the Crunch only down one.
His next save may very well have been the best ever in the old barn. Kris Beech found himself right on the doorstep with nothing but twine staring him in the face. He confidently flipped the puck on net to the open side and Leclaire, seemingly out of nowhere, stretched out his right leg, almost doing a split in the crease, to stone Beech and preserve the Crunch's one goal cushion.
His last show stopper occurred with 26 seconds left in the second period. The Crunch had just scored to take a 3-1 lead and were looking to head into the dressing room holding on to that always elusive momentum. Enter Leclaire once more. This time he would stone Guillaume Lefebvre, who after a Crunch give-away, broke in alone on Leclaire and fired a shot that would find its way into Leclaire's glove.
Crunch One-Timers:
Prior to the game the Crunch announced that the Blue Jackets have assigned left wing Andrej Nedorost to Syracuse. Nedorost has appeared in nine games with the Jackets this season, recording two goals and six penalty minutes. Nedorost was dispatched to Syracuse to make room on the Columbus roster for Trevor Letowski and Duvie Westcott who are both returning from injuries…..On Thursday Syracuse announced that they have reassigned defenseman Sean Connolly to Dayton of the ECHL. Connolly appeared in four games with the Crunch, recording four penalty minutes before injuring his shoulder against the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on 11/1…..With only three centers on the roster (Hartigan, MacLean, Moran) Head Coach Gary Agnew reverted to rotating those three centers around four sets of wingers for his forward lines in Friday's contest….Former Crunch center Blake Bellefeuille was signed to a P.T.O by the Norfolk Admirals earlier this week. Bellefeuille had been playing for the Providence Bruins, where he appeared in 7 games this season, recording 1 goal and 2 penalty minutes before being released.
On Deck:
The Crunch will head down I-81 for the second game of a home and home with the Penguins at Wachovia Arena Saturday night. Game time is set for 7:05 PM.