by
Jeff Parzych
Mark Hartigan tallied twice and rookie Greg Mauldin added two assists to lead the Crunch to a 4-1 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs. Both players announced their return to the Syracuse lineup in a big way after missing a combined nine games over the last two weeks.
It was almost like a recording. Ask any member of the Crunch over this seven-game winless streak and to a man they would say something along the lines that they just need to get one lucky bounce, one break and the floodgates would open up.
Talk about predicting the future. The Crunch, it what has to be considered an offensive explosion, burst out of the gate with two goals in the game's first 4:08, three total in an opening period dominating by the home team.
Mike Pandolfo got the ball rolling with an ugly goal just over a minute into the opening period. With his back to the Hamilton net, Pandolfo chipped a Joe Motzko feed that sent the puck fluttering over the shoulder of Hamilton netminder Yann Danis for Pandolfo's fourth of the season and an early Crunch advantage.
Just under three minutes later Mark Hartigan made it 2-0 Crunch on a nice second effort play. Hartigan collected a loose puck off the draw and seemed to lose the puck briefly in a sea of legs in the Bulldog slot. The puck then found its way back onto the blade of Hartigan and the former St. Cloud Huskie roofed a quick wrister that beat Danis glove side for the score.
Late in the first Syracuse added to their lead on a goal from rookie Raffaele Sannitz. Zenith Komarniski made the goal possible with a nice keep-in at the blue line. Komarniski then fired a shot on the Bulldog net that Sannitz redirected past Danis for his first in the AHL and a 3-0 Crunch lead after one period of play.
After a scoreless second period Bulldog center Tomas Plekanec spoiled Pascal Leclaire's attempt for his third shutout of the season. Plekanec collected a gorgeous Dan Jancevski breakout pass at center red and broke in alone on Leclaire. Multiple moves later and the Crunch found themselves up two with just under twelve minutes left in regulation.
Mark Hartigan's second of the game, a direct result of some great hustle on the fore check by Tim Jackman, sealed the deal for the Crunch. The win snaps Syracuse's seven-game winless streak while the Bulldogs now find themselves losers of their last six.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:November 19, 2004
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Hamilton Bulldogs
Attendance:5,671
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Syracuse, Pandolfo 4 (Motzko, Moran), 1:10. 2. Syracuse, Hartigan 3 (Jackman), 4:08. 3. Syracuse, Sannitz 1 (Komarniski, Mauldin), 15:12. Penalties-Ott, Ham (fighting), 18:00; Ryan, Syr (fighting), 18:00.
Second Period-Scoring-No Scoring. Penalties-Moran, Syr (hooking), 8:27; Carpentier, Ham (roughing), 17:11.
Third Period-Scoring-4. Hamilton, Plekanec 7 (Jancevski), 8:29. 5. Syracuse, Hartigan 4 (Mauldin), 14:58. Penalties-Carpentier, Ham (fighting), 15:00; Sugden, Syr (fighting), 15:00; Ott, Ham (roughing), 19:01; Komarniski, Syr (roughing), 19:01.
Shots on Goal:Hamilton, 6-6-12--26; Syracuse, 18-13-3--35.
Power Play Opportunities:Hamilton, 0-1; Syracuse, 0-1.
Goalies-Hamilton, Danis (6-3-1), 35 shots- 31 saves; Syracuse, Leclaire (5-4-3), 26 shots- 25 saves.
Referee-Jeff Smith(49); Linesman- Derek Sylvester (76), Jim Harper (59)
Three Stars:
1. Mark Hartigan: Harty returns to the lineup after sitting out the last week with a bad back and scores twice to lead Crunch.
2. Greg Mauldin: Mauldin picked up two assists in his return after a six-game absence. The last time the Crunch won prior to Friday was the last time Mauldin dressed. Coincidence or not?
3. Raffaele Sannitz: Registered first AHL goal along with his first point with first period tally. Has really responded to increased ice time of late.
Lineups:
Hamilton:Goal: Dan Ellis, Yann Danis.Defense: Dan Jancevski, Andrew Archer, Trevor Daley, Philippe Plante, Matt Shasby, Jean-Phillippe Cote, Dan Focht, Ron Hainsey. Forwards: Gavin Morgan, Tomas Plekanec, Jason Ward, Andrei Kostitsyn, Benoit Dusablon, Jonathon Ferland, Duncan Milroy, Marc-Andre Thinel, Michael Lambert, Raitis Ivanans, Benjamin Carpentier, Steve Ott, Chris Higgins, Corey Locke.
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, Ben Knopp.
Pre-game Skate:
Scratched for Syracuse were defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefson, center Alexander Svitov (suspension) and center Jeff Panzer (knee). Hamilton scratched center Benoit Dusablon and defensemen Jean-Philippe Cote and Ron Hainsey.
Short Shifts:
Brandon Sugden's third period bout was his first in three games. Sugden's last bout prior to Friday was in Houston against his possible partner come Saturday night, Derek Boogard. For the record Sugden scored a decisive victory over Hamilton's Benjamin Carpentier on Friday night…….You have to give credit to rookie center Greg Mauldin. Five points in seven games and after Friday's +3 he is now a team high +5……With his first period goal Friday night, Mile Pandolfo is now riding a four-game point scoring streak…….Brad Moran also extending his point scoring streak to three games with his first period assist…..Defenseman Aaron Johnson left Friday's game with 12:29 left in the third period after suffering what appeared to be a shoulder injury
On Deck:
Syracuse again plays the role of host on Saturday night when the Houston Aeros come to town. On Friday night the Aeros downed the Rochester Americans 2-1 at Blue Cross Arena. Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Dan Cavanaugh tallied for Houston and Mike Smith recorded 25 saves in their winning effort.