They say that the stats never lie. Good thing for the Crunch they didn't buy into that theory on Wednesday night.
Down 2-0 after a less than stellar opening twenty minutes, Syracuse found themselves in the less than enviable position of trying to win a game when trailing after one period of play. It is a mountain they have attempted to scale seven times already this season, each time falling short of the summit.
On this night, however, the Crunch would not be denied. Jeremy Reich and Alexander Svitov tallied via the special teams in regulation and after a scoreless extra session, Brad Moran sealed things in the shootout for a 3-2 Syracuse win.
Once again the Crunch failed to get out of the gates quickly as they allowed two goals in the games first twenty minutes. Teemu Kesa (no relation to Dan) put the Rats on the board 7:48 into period one. His one-timer from the point caught Karl Goehring moving right and the puck found the lower left corner to give Albany the early lead.
Albany's leading scorer Aaron Voros added another late in the first to give the Rats a two goal advantage. Voros'goal was made possible by some nice work in the Crunch zone by the Albany defense. Their ability to jump into the play enabled Voros to plant himself to the left of the Crunch net, setting himself up for a nice one-time goal.
Syracuse cut the Albany lead in half just prior to the midway point of period number two. With Brandon Sugden off for roughing, Brad Moran's desperation kick of the puck enabled Jeremy Reich to break in alone shorthanded on the Albany net. Reich faked the forehand and slipped a backhand past Clemmensen for his second of the season and new life for the Crunch.
Ten seconds into period three the Syracuse special teams struck again. This time it would be Alexander Svitov as he pounded home the rebound of a Greg Mauldin offering to tie the game at two.
That score remained and after a scoreless extra session the game headed in to the shootout. The first seven shooters all missed setting the stage for Moran's heroics. As he has done almost exclusively this season in the shootout, Moran chose to forgo any deke and attempt to pick a corner. The only difference here was this time it worked.
Up 1-0, all Karl Goehring needed to do was stone Tuomas Pihlman and that is exactly what he did. Goehring flashed the leather, giving the Crunch and himself a well deserved win.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:November 24, 2004
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Albany River Rats
Attendance:
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Albany, Kesa 1 (Johansson, McAmmond), 7:48, (pp). 2. Albany, Voros 9 (Redlihs, McAmmond), 19:00. Penalties-Clouthier, Alb (fighting), 2:51; Sugden, Syr (fighting), 2:51; Bench Minor, Syr (too many men, served by Hartigan), 6:19; Cole, Alb (roughing), 14:05.
Second Period-Scoring-3. Syracuse, Reich 2 (Moran), 9:10, (sh). Penalties-Voros, Alb (roughing), 2:51; Goertzen, Syr (roughing), 2:51; Voros, Alb (roughing), 5:14; Tollefson, Syr (interference), 5:14; Janssen, Alb (roughing), 8:25; Sugden, Syr (double minor, roughing), 8:25; Hartigan, Syr (slashing), 17:33; Kesa, Alb (boarding), 18:48.
Third Period-Scoring-4. Syracuse, Svitov 7 (Mauldin, Hartigan), :10, (pp). Penalties-Moran, Syr (high-stick), 3:39; Brooks, Alb (tripping), 7:25. Overtime-Scoring-No Scoring. Penalties-Johansson, Alb (hooking), 3:47.
Shootout:Albany: Parise, No; Suglobov, No; McAmmond, No; Johannson, No; Pihlman, No. Syracuse: Trattnig, No; Motzko, No; Hartigan, No; Moran, Yes.
Shots on Goal:Albany, 12-4-8-2-0---26; Syracuse, 7-16-19-5-1--48.
Power Play Opportunities:Albany, 1-4; Syracuse, 1-4.
Goalies-Albany, Clemmensen (3-7-1), 47 shots-45 saves; Syracuse, Goehring (1-4-0), 26 shots- 24 saves.
Referee-Harry Dumas (44); Linesman- Pete Feola (33), Derek Sylvester (76).
Three Stars:
1. Brad Moran: Tallied the game-winning goal via the shootout. Also added an assist on Reich's shortie in the second period.
2. Jeremy Reich: Put the Crunch on the board with his second period goal. Maybe just what the vet needs to snap out of his doldrums.
3. Scott Clemmensen: Kept the Rats in the game, finished the night with 45 saves.
Lineups:
Albany:Goal: Ari Ahohen, Scott Clemensen.Defense: Bobby Allen, Matt DeMarchi, Ray Schultz, Phil Cole, Alex Brooks, Adrian Foster, David Hale, Teemu Kesa, Krisjanis Redlihs, Steven Spencer. Forwards: Adrian Foster, Dean McAmmond, Zach Parise, Ilkka Pikkarainen, Tuomas Pihlman, Ivan Khomutov, Ahren Nittel, Cam Janssen, Brett Clouthier, Aaron Voros, Ryan Murphy, Pascal Rheaume, Aleksander Suglobov, Eric Johansson, Rob Skrlac.
Syracuse:Goal:Karl Goehring, Pascal Leclaire.Defense: Zenith Komarniski, Andre Lakos, Jamie Pushor, Aaron Johnson, Prestin Ryan, Ole-Kristian Tollefson, Francois Beauchemin. Forwards: Joe Motzko, Jeremy Reich, Tim Jackman, Mark Hartigan, Matthias Trattnig, Raffaele Sannitz, Alexander Svitov, Brandon Sugden, Greg Mauldin, Mike Pandolfo, Jeff Panzer, Steve Goertzen, Brad Moran.
Pre-game Skate:
Scratched for the Crunch were Zenith Komarniski (head) and Jeff Panzer (knee). Albany didn't dress defensemen Bobby Allen, Matt DeMarchi and David Hale along with center Adrian Foster and left wings Ahren Nittel and Rob Skrlac. The only healthy scratch for the Rats was Rob Skrlac. All others sat for undisclosed reasons.
I Hear Voices:
"I was trying to go down and make it look like I was going glove and shoot it stick side. I didn't really look so I didn't see where it went." --Brad Moran on his game-winning goal in the shootout.
"I have tried some other things in the shootout and they haven't worked and I know I am confident that (picking a corner) usually works for me so hopefully they don't read this and figure that out." --Moran on the fact that he almost always attempts to pick a corner in the shootout.
"The guys before me said the ice is bad so just try to shoot. I also noticed that in overtime so I just tried to get it away without making any moves." --Moran on the condition of the ice in the shootout.
"It was just a desperation play trying to get the puck to him. I was fortunate enough it went to him and they kind of got mixed up so it worked out." --Moran on his kick-pass setting up Reich on the shorthanded break.
"You really have to give it to our team for displaying a lot of character the last two periods. We really fought back and battled hard the last two periods and fortunately we came out with two points." --Karl Goehring on his first win of the season.
"I just have a few things that I try to do on breakaways. I just try to keep it simple and focus on that and fortunately we had some success tonight." --Goehring on the shootout.
"About ten seconds before I did it I noticed it was wide open so I was just waiting for the right time. I was just three inches too high on the punch. I was aiming for the chin and hit him in the eye." --Brandon Sugden on switching hands to knock-down Albany's Brett Clouthier with a quick left.
"It is like in boxing, you notice that the left hook is open and that is called "say hello". So if your trainer yells "say hello", then boom you land the left hook." --Sugden describing the art of switching up in a bout.
Short Shifts:
With an assist on Wednesday night, the Crunch are now 5-0 when Greg Mauldin records a point…….Dating back to Saturday's game versus Houston the Crunch scored five straight goals via their special teams (three shorthanded and two on the power play)…….With his first period bout with Brett Clouthier, Brandon Sugden is now tied for the league lead with 13 majors. Ironically the person he is tied with, Cam Janssen, turtled against Sugden in the second period Friday night.
On Deck:
The Crunch is off until Friday when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins come to town. The baby Pens downed Hartford 3-1 on Wednesday behind two goals from Colby Armstrong and 22 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury. Game time is set for 7:30 P.M.