It's funny how quickly things can change. Thru two periods on Friday it looked as if the Crunch were ready to mail in the rest of the schedule. Four third period goals and big come from behind win put that to rest.
On Saturday the Crunch would once again come form behind, but his time they didn't wait until the third period to turn the switch. Don't let the fact they headed into the third period down once again fool you. Syracuse played hard throughout on Saturday, they just happened to reap the benefits of that hard work late in the game. The result, another come from behind win, two big points in the standings and more importantly, hope.
After a scoreless first period the Amerks opened the scoring early in the second courtesy of one of the newer lines Rochester head man Randy Cunneyworth has utilized of late. Paul Gaustad, Geoff Peters and Sean McMorrow, a trio that combined for four points in Rochester's 2-1 win over Philadelphia on Friday, worked their magic once again to give the Amerks the lead.
On the play Rochester's newest checking line did a good job of applying pressure in the Syracuse zone. With McMorrow all alone in front of the Crunch cage, Gaustad wheeled around and hit McMorrow with a pass that he easily re-directed into the open side for his second goal of the season.
Early in the third Syracuse evened things up on a goal from Chris Ferraro. Greg Mauldin found his new line mate all alone in the slot in the cagey veteran squeezed a shot thru the pads of Ryan Miller for his 6th of the season and a 1-1 game.
Neither team could net the tie-breaker in regulation and after a scoreless overtime period the two clubs headed to the shootout.
Both clubs found success in their first attempts when Thomas Vanek and Mark Hartigan each found twine to kick things off. The next three shooters on both teams were not so lucky, setting the stage for Rochester's Jiri Novotny and Syracuse's Joe Motzko to try and close things out.
Novotny went first and his attempt was denied by Goehring, leaving Motzko with a golden opportunity to be the hero. Despite having the puck roll on him in his approach Motzko was still able to beat Miller high glove side for the game-winner.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:January 21, 2005
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Rochester Americans
Attendance:5,978
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-No Scoring. Penalties-Vanek, Roc (holding the stick), 6:06; C. Ferraro, Syr (hooking), 7:35; Thorburn, Roc (fighting, misconduct), 10:05; Ryan, Syr (roughing, fighting, misconduct), 10:05; Jorde, Roc (interference), 13:36; Roy, Roc (holding), 17:36; Janik, Roc (holding), 19:22.
Second Period-Scoring-1. Rochester, McMorrow 2 (Gaustad, Peters), 5:44. Penalties-Panzer, Syr (high-stick), 2:43; Jorde, Roc (interference), 6:43; Sannitz, Syr (hooking), 11:11; Novotny, Roc (roughing), 12:32; Ryan, Roc (roughing), 12:32; Hartigan, Syr (roughing), 12:32; Gaustad, Roc (slashing), 12:58.
Third Period-Scoring-2. Syracuse, C. Ferraro 6 (Mauldin, Johnson), 2:18. Penalties-Gaustad, Roc (interference), 4:51; Miller, Roc (10 minute misconduct, served by Thorburn), 5:52; Johnson, Syr (holding), 14:32; Milley, Roc (holding the stick), 17:59.
Overtime-Scoring-No Scoring. Penalties-Roy, Roc (obs. hooking), 3:21.
Shootout-Rochester, Vanek (Y), Roy (N), Pominville (N), Milley (N), Novotny (N); Syracuse, Hartigan (Y), Panzer (N), C. Ferraro (N), P. Ferraro (N), Motzko (Y).
Shots on Goal:Rochester, 11-4-8-0-0--23; Syracuse, 6-6-20-3-1--36.
Power Play Opportunities: Rochester, 0-5; Syracuse, 0-10.
Goalies-Rochester, Miller (22-11-2), 35 shots- 34 saves; Syracuse, Goehring (10-13-0), 23 shots-22 saves.
Referee-Francois St. Laurent (38); Linesman-Andy Petrus (26) Jeff Walker (17).
Three Stars:
1. Karl Goehring: Rebounds with strong outing on Saturday. Continues to excel in shootout.
2. Ryan Miller: As always he keeps Amerks in the game with some gorgeous saves.
3. Joe Motzko: Just maybe the Crunch's MVP for the first half; he pots the game-winner in the shootout.
I Hear Voices:
"These are the types of wins that we need to get back in this playoff race. We kind of threw away some points last weekend, but to come back and work hard all week and get a real good team effort both nights really builds team chemistry." --Captain Jamie Pushor on Syracuse's weekend.
"On the first disallowed goal he just blew the whistle before the puck was dead. I guess the second never did go in the net, at least that is what they were saying. I asked him why he pointed and he said he did because he saw the light go on." --Pushor on the two disallowed goals Saturday night.
"It is turning a page for us right now. We are finding ways to win close games and that is what we need to do to make a run here." --Joe Motzko on the weekend for the Crunch.
"It was just a great team effort. Butchie made great saves, guys were taking hits to make plays and it was just a gutsy effort all around." --Motzko on Saturday's win.
"Gary just told us one order and wrote a different one on the card. That's all that was." --Motzko on being pulled from going second in the shootout after initially lining up to take the attempt."
"I was kind of thinking just shoot because the ice was so bad. I was looking low blocker or high glove." --Motzko on his game-winner in the shootout.
"I love being out there with the game on the line. I think I cracked a smile skating out there. It is just fun." --Motzko on the pressure of the shootout.
"I think for our team it definitely is a boost to get four points and I think it is a positive step for us to build off of." --Karl Goehring deflecting individual praise to focus on team accomplishments.
Lineups:
Rochester:Goal:Ryan Miller, Tom Askey. Defense: Doug Janik, Nathan Paetsch, Sylvain Dufresne, Ryan Jorde, Steve Lingren, Brandon Smith, Jeff Jillson, David Cullen. Forwards: Milan Bartovic, Geoff Peters, Chris Taylor, Paul Gaustad, Jason Pominville, Chris Thorburn, Michael Ryan, Norm Milley, Derek Roy, Sean McMorrow, Jiri Novotny, Thomas Vanek, Daniel Paille.
Syracuse:Goal:Karl Goehring, Pascal Leclaire, Andrew Penner.Defense: Zenith Komarniski, Andre Lakos, Jamie Pushor, Aaron Johnson, Prestin Ryan, Francois Beauchemin, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen Forwards: Joe Motzko, Jeremy Reich, Tim Jackman, Mark Hartigan, Matthias Trattnig, Raffaele Sannitz, Alexander Svitov, Brandon Sugden, Greg Mauldin, Mike Pandolfo, Jeff Panzer, Brad Moran, Chris Ferraro, Peter Ferraro, Tyler Kolarik.
Pre-game Skate:
Scratched for the Crunch were goaltender Pascal Leclaire (groin), center Alexander Svitov (suspension), right wing Brandon Sugden (thumb), left wing Jeremy Reich (veteran rule) and right wing Tim Jackman (knee). The Amerks didn't dress defensemen Brandon Smith and David Cullen and left wing Milan Bartovic.
Short Shifts:
To show their appreciation for their fans that braved Saturday's weather conditions, the Crunch announced that everyone in attendance on Saturday evening will receive one free ticket, per ticket stub, to any of the remaining weekday games on their schedule. They also announced that any fan holding a ticket from Saturday's game and could not attend can redeem their unused ticket for a voucher to any remaining home game………..The Crunch had two goals disallowed on Saturday night. The first, a quick whistle by referee Francois St. Laurent, was semi understandable. The second clearly found the back of the net and St. Laurent even pointed to signal a goal, before a conference with goal judge Rob Wells led him to change his call…….Jeff Panzer had his six-game point scoring streak snapped Saturday night. Unfortunately for Panzer it was his goal that was mistakenly waved off by St. Laurent in the third period……..Crunch forward Matthais Trattnig may have had his best game in a Syracuse uniform Saturday night. Despite still searching for that first elusive goal, Trattnig contributed with multiple bone jarring hits and was a physical presence all night long.
On Deck:
The Crunch are off until Wednesday when they pay a visit to Wachovia Arena to battle the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. They make one more stop in Hamilton on Friday before returning home Saturday night to play host to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.