Martin Prusek recorded 35 saves and Jamie Pushor added a goal and an assist to lead the Crunch to a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Barons in a key North Division battle Friday night in Syracuse.
Syracuse opened the scoring in this one early in the first period on a goal from Brian Gornick. Brandon Sugden fired the initial shot that Cleveland netminder Nolan Schaefer was able to deny, but Gornick cleaned up the rebound for his second of the season and a 1-0 Crunch lead.
Syracuse extended their lead later in the period after catching the Barons in a line change. That resulted in an odd-man break for the Crunch and Greg Mauldin capitalized on the opportunity by burying his own rebound for his 9th of the season and a two-goal Crunch cushion.
Cleveland cut Syracuse's lead in half with a power play goal at the 16:46 mark of the first period. Just 15 seconds into a five-on-three power play, Ryane Clowe hopped on a loose puck in the slot and fired a quick wrister over the shoulder of Martin Prusek for his 6th of the season and a 2-1 game heading into the middle twenty.
After a scoreless second period the Barons came out firing on all cylinders in the third, but they could not solve Prusek. The veteran netminder was at his best in the final twenty minutes, keeping the Crunch alive despite being out shot 18-7 in the period.
Prusek held the fort until Jamie Pushor's empty net tally sealed the deal the deal for Syracuse with 35 seconds to go in the third period. With the win Prusek moves above the .500 mark at 6-5-0. Nolan Schaefer took the loss for the Barons to fall to 11-10-0 on the season.
Crunch Ice Pack :
Date:Friday, January 20, 2006
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Cleveland Barons
Attendance:5,367
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Syracuse, Gornick 2 (Sugden, Murray), 4:29. 2. Syracuse, Mauldin 9 (Sarno, Pushor), 12:53. 3. Cleveland, Clowe 6 (Rissmiller, DiLauro), 16:46, (pp). Penalties-Plihal, Cle (hooking), 1:40; Platt, Syr (hooking), 15:50; Murray, Syr (tripping), 16:31.
Second Period-Scoring-No Scoring. Penalties-MacMillan, Syr (hooking), 6:34; Carkner, Cle (high-stick), 8:24; Mauldin, Syr (hooking), 12:46; Conboy, Cle (high-stick), 14:53; Conboy, Cle (roughing), 20:00.
Third Period-Scoring-4. Syracuse, Pushor 3 (unassisted), 19:25, (en)(pp). Penalties-Sarno, Syr (tripping), 5:16; Simon, Syr (tripping), 13:08; Clowe, Cle (hooking), 18:33.
Shots on Goal-Cleveland, 9-9-18---36; Syracuse, 10-11-7---28.
Power Play Opportunities-Cleveland, 1-6; Syracuse, 1-5.
Goalies-Cleveland, Schaefer, (11-10-0), 27 shots-25 saves; Syracuse, Prusek, (6-5-0), 36 shots-35 saves.
Referee-Chris Ciamaga (68); Linesmen-Dan Murphy (21), Jim Harper (59).
Three Stars:
1. Martin Prusek: Prusek turned aside 35 Baron shots and may have played his best game as a member of the Crunch.
2. Andrew Murray: Murray finished the night with an assist and was strong all night long.
3. Brian Gornick: The latest from the Dayton pipeline, Gornick put the Crunch on the board in the first period.
Lineups:
Barons: Goal: Nolan Schaefer, Dimitri Patzold. Defense: Matt Carkner, Brad Staubitz, Tim Conboy, Matt Deschamps, Garrett Stafford, Ray DiLauro, Aaron Power. Forwards:Riley Armstrong, Craig Vallete, Shane Joseph, Steve Bernier, Josh Prudden, Patrick Rissmiller, Tom Cavanagh, Ryan Clowe, Josh Hennesy, Tomas Plihal, Lukas Kasper, Mike Iggulden, Glenn Olsen.
Crunch: Goal: Andrew Penner, Martin Prusek Defense: Marc Methot, Jeff MacMillan, Jamie Pushor, Andy Canzanello, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Aaron Johnson, Andy Delmore. Forwards:Ben Simon, Tyler Kolarik, Darcy Verot, Andrew Murray, Peter Sarno, Brandon Sugden, Joakim Lindstrom, Greg Mauldin, Brett Nowak, Joe Motzko, Geoff Platt, Brian Gornick Alexandre Picard.
Pre-Game Skate:
Scratched for the Crunch was center Brett Nowak (groin), right wing Jeff Szwez (Dayton), left wing Darcy Verot (shoulder) and defenseman Marc Methot (shoulder). The Barons didn't dress defenseman Matt Deschamps and left wings Craig Vallette and Glenn Dilauro.
Crunch One-Timers:
Prior to Friday's game the Crunch announced that they have reassigned right wing Jeff Szwez to Dayton of the ECHL. Szwez has appeared in 10 games with Syracuse, registering 3 goals, 2 assists and 11 penalty minutes………..Early on in Friday's game the combination of Brian Gornick and Brandon Sugden were quite effective. Paired with a few different forwards, they teamed up to notch Syracuse's first goal of the evening and also created other chances as well………..Andy Delmore didn't return from the locker room to start the second period after injuring his groin and he didn't play the rest of the night………..Prusek's 35 saves matches his season-high set January 6 versus the Albany River Rats……………..Greg Mauldin returned to the Crunch lineup after missing the last three games with an injured knee……….Peter Sarno also returned after missing the last two contests serving a league issued suspension……….The Albany River Rats inked a couple of former Crunch blueliners on Friday when they signed Nate Kiser and Eric Lundberg to P.T.O's. Lundberg appeared two games for Syracuse earlier this season and Kiser spent some time with both the Crunch and Dayton a few years back. This season Kiser has appeared in 30 games with South Carolina (ECHL), recording 4 assists to go along with 86 penalty minutes.
On Deck:
These same two clubs go at it again on Saturday for game two of their weekend set. The puck drops at 7:30 P.M and you can listen to it on 620 WHEN and also via the internet on www.syracusecrunch.com. It also can be streamed live on the internet courtesy of the B2 Network.