They say it is not how you start, but how you finish. That rang true for the Syracuse Crunch on Friday evening.
After a horrible opening twenty minutes the Crunch seemed to gather themselves for the middle twenty before hitting their stride in the third period. The result; four third period goals, a huge comeback for the Crunch and an even bigger two points in the standings for Syracuse.
Early on it was all Leafs as the Crunch appeared to have caught a nap between warm-ups and the drop of the first puck and was still searching for that snooze button throughout the opening twenty minutes. Their lethargic play, combined with an untimely major high-sticking call assessed to Syracuse's Matthais Trattnig just over two minutes in, set the stage for St. John's opening tally.
While holding the man-advantage Leaf forward Kyle Wellwood ignited the play by firing a shot on Crunch netminder Andrew Penner. The rookie tender made the initial save, but could not deny David Ling's rebound attempt from the doorstep, giving the Leafs an early lead.
Later in the first St. John's increased their lead to two courtesy of another Crunch defensive breakdown and a gorgeous play from the talented Wellwood. With his back to the Crunch cage, Wellwood re-directed a Regan Kelly feed thru his legs and past Penner for his 18th of the season.
Trailing by two the Crunch came out for the third looking to build on any momentum gained from a decent second period by playing desperate hockey. That paid dividends early has Mark Hartigan put the Crunch on the board just 43 seconds into the final twenty minutes.
Joe Motzko ignited the play a nice play along the half-boards in the Leafs zone. His hustle and the attention he drew from the Leafs defense enabled Bard Moran to win a race for a loose puck and find Hartigan all alone in the slot. Hartigan did the rest, easily depositing the puck into the open side for his 9th of the season and new life for Syracuse.
Less than five minutes later Hartigan struck again, this time thanks to some hustle from teammate Greg Mauldin. After leaving Hartigan a self-described terrible drop pass, Mauldin atoned by collecting a loose puck behind the net and finding Hartigan out front. From there Hartigan did the rest by slipping a shot short side between Leafs netminder Mikael Tellqvist and the post to tie things at two.
That score remained until late in the third when Head Coach Gary Agnew exercised his right for the last change on home ice and called back the Ferraro line and sent out Moran, Motzko and Hartigan. That turned out to be a game-changing decision as off the draw Joe Motzko beat Tellqvist to give the Crunch their first lead off the night with just under six minutes remaining in regulation.
From their Andrew Penner and company held their ground until Hartigan sealed things with the empty-netter to complete Syracuse's comeback and the hat-trick. Penner finished the evening with 23 saves as he moves to 2-2-0 on the year. Mikael Tellqvist turned aside 38 shots in a losing effort for St. John's.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:January 21, 2005
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:St. John's Maple Leafs
Attendance:5,429
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. St. John's, Ling 16 (Wellwood), 3:04, (pp). 2. St. John's, Wellwood 18 (Kelly, Ling), 11:47. Penalties-Trattnig Syr (major-high stick), 2:06; Moro, SJM (interference), 9:02.
Second Period-Scoring-Penalties-C. Ferraro, Syr (10 minute misconduct), :58; Colaiacovo, SJM (interference), 5:24; Engelhardt, SJM (cross-checking), 11:29; Mauldin, Syr (goaltender interference), 11:35; Moro, SJM (roughing), 15:58; Palahnuk, SJM (roughing, fighting), 15:58; P. Ferraro, Syr (roughing), 15:58; Pushor, Syr (fighting), 15:58; Engelhardt, SJM (unsportsmanlike), 18:11; Johnson, Syr (unsportsmanlike), 18:11.
Third Period-Scoring-3. Syracuse, Hartigan 9 (Moran, Komarniski), :43. 4. Syracuse, Hartigan 10 (Mauldin, Panzer), 5:02. 5. Syracuse, Motzko 12 (Moran), 14:03. 6. Syracuse, Hartigan 10 (Moran), 19:33, (en). Penalties-Mauldin, Syr (holding), 2:49; Sannitz, Syr (elbowing), 7:08; Komarniski, Syr (cross-checking), 11:54.
Shots on Goal: St. John's, 10-5-10--25; Syracuse, 12-14-16--42.
Power Play Opportunities: St. John's, 1-5; Syracuse, 0-4.
Goalies-St. John's, Tellqvist (12-9-1), 41 shots-38 saves; Syracuse, Penner (2-2-0), 25 shots-23 saves.
Referee-Terry Kohariski(89); Linesman-Mike Emanatian (69), B.J. Ringrose (10).
Three Stars:
1. Mark Hartigan: Snaps a five game goalless streak with 3 third period tallies for the hat trick.
2. Joe Motzko: Always one of the hardest workers for the Crunch; his hard work set up Hartigan's first before notching the game-winner late in the third.
3. Kyle Wellwood: Can this talented forward dangle or what? Finished with a two-point night.
Lineups:
St. John's:Goal:Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Mikael Tellqvist. Defense: Regan Kelly, Brett Engelhardt, Dominic D'Amour, Ian White, Carlo Colaiacovo, Brendan Bell, Marc Moro, Jay Harrison, Andy Wozniewski Forwards: Matt Hubbauer, Matt Stajan, Robb Palahnuk, David Ling, Nathan Barrett, Jeremy Williams, Jay Harrison, Harold Druken, Clarke Wilm, Jason MacDonald, Ben Ondrus, Nathan Perrott, Tyson Marsh, Kris Newbury, Brad Leeb, Kyle Wellwood.
Syracuse:Goal:Karl Goehring, Pascal Leclaire, Andrew Penner.Defense: Zenith Komarniski, Andre Lakos, Jamie Pushor, Aaron Johnson, Prestin Ryan, Francois Beauchemin, Ole-Kristian Tollefson 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.
I Hear Voices:
"In the third we just kept working, stayed patient and kept taking the puck to the net just trying to wait for our opportunity and finally it came to us in the third." --Mark Hartigan on the third period comeback.
"Motzko made a nice play going down the boards and he had two guys go to him. The puck got chipped behind him, Moran picked up the puck and I was left all alone in the front of the net." --Hartigan on his first goal of the night.
"Mauldin was just determined to get the puck back and from behind the net he threw it off the goalie's skates, it came right to my stick and I managed to get it in before the net came off." --Hartigan on goal number two.
"I think he wanted me to get the hat-trick and he helped me out. It was a real nice gesture. I told him he almost missed me with the pass though." --Hartigan on the empty-netter for the hat.
"It was kind of parting of the Red Sea there. The puck just kind of hopped on my stick and I was right in the slot so it was nice to bury that one." --Joe Motzko on the game-winner.
"We were kind of matching up against the Wellwood, Ling line from the second period on so he just wanted us out there against them." --Motzko on Agnew's late change prior to his goal.
"We can definitely build on this, especially with the big comeback to win 4-2. It is something we can feed off the next time we are down a couple goals." --Motzko on Friday's win.
"Off to a bit of a slow start I guess. First period allowing two goals is obviously not ideal but we kept plugging and the guys made it real easy for me in the second period and that confidence just built in the third." --Andrew Penner on Friday's win.
"It was nice to get in tonight and I was just really focused on giving the guys a chance to win tonight. If I get the start tomorrow night that would be great." --Penner on the possibility of back-to-back starts.
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 (healthy, veteran rule) and defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (healthy). The Leafs sat defensemen Dominic D'Amour, Tyson Marsh and Andy Wozniewski, right wings Jason MacDonald and Brad Leeb and left wing Kris Newbury.
Short Shifts:
Prior to Friday's game the Crunch announced that they have recalled center Tyler Kolarik from Dayton of the ECHL. Kolarik has appeared in 35 games with the Bombers, recording 12 goals, 13 assists and 43 penalty minutes. Kolarik skated for the most of the night on a line with rookies Raffaele Sannitz and Matthais Trattnig………… Friday night was game two of center Alexander Svitov's league imposed five game suspension for physically abusing an official in last Friday's contest versus the Cleveland Barons………. Friday night was the first time the Crunch has won at the War Memorial since back on December 4 when they beat these same St. John's Maple Leafs 6-2.
On Deck:
Saturday evening the Rochester Americans come to town for what is always an entertaining game between two bitter rivals. On Friday the Amerks downed Philadelphia 2-1 at Blue Cross Arena behind two goals from Paul Gaustad. Game time is set for 7:30 P.M.