Andrew Penner recorded 41 saves and Joe Motzko and Peter Sarno both had two-point nights to lead the Syracuse Crunch to a 4-3 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack in American Hockey League action Friday night.
Syracuse opened the scoring in this one early in the first period. With Jeff Taffe in the box for hooking, the Crunch quickly reset after a Hartford clearing attempt to catch the Wolf Pack in an odd man rush.
Joe Motzko skated down the right side and hit Peter Sarno streaking down the slot with a nice saucer pass. Sarno redirected the feed thru the pads of Hartford netminder Robert Gherson for his fifth of the season and a 1-0 Crunch advantage just 3:35 into period number one.
Syracuse added to their lead just under nine minutes later on a goal from recently signed right wing J.B. Bittner. Ben Simon ignited the play, beating Dale Purinton to the outside and firing a shot on the Hartford cage. Gherson was up to the task on Simon's bid, but could not deny Bittner, who corralled the rebound a flipped a shot past an outstretched Gherson for the goal.
Hartford was able to cut Syracuse's lead in half late in the first on a power play goal from rookie Colby Genoway. Parked to the left of the Syracuse net, Genoway deflected a Craig Weller drive past Andrew Penner to make it a 2-1 game heading into the middle twenty.
The Pack evened things up early in the second on the second goal of the night from Genoway. The former University of North Dakota standout skated around Jeff MacMillan and wrapped the puck around Penner for his 11th of the season.
The Crunch recaptured the lead just over three minutes later on a shorthanded marker from Andrew Murray. Murray took advantage of Craig Weller falling at the blueline and was off to the races, breaking in alone and beating Gherson to make it 3-2.
That would prove to be another short lived lead because the Pack answered just over a minute later to tie things yet again. With Andy Canzanello in the box for closing his hand on the puck, Thomas Pock fired a shot thru traffic that found its way past Penner and into the back of the net for the score.
Syracuse finally recaptured the lead for good at the 13:39 mark of the third period on their second power play goal of the night. Once again it was be the tandem of Joe Motzko and Peter Sarno teaming up, but this time it would be Motzko on the receiving end of a Sarno feed and he was able to put his own rebound behind Gherson for the game-winner.
Crunch Ice Pack :
Date:Friday, December 30, 2005
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Hartford Wolf Pack
Attendance:5,611
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Syracuse, Sarno 5 (Motzko, Canzanello), 3:35, (pp). 2. Syracuse, Bittner 1 (Simon, Methot), 12:05. 3. Hartford, Genoway 10 (Weller,Helminen), 18:19, (pp). Penalties- Taffe, Har (hooking), 2:48; Purinton, Har (hooking), 9:05; Grenier, Har (fighting), 11:41; Verot, Syr (fighting), 11:41; Wiseman, Har (holding), 13:24; MacMillan, Syr (tripping), 17:28; Tollefsen, Syr (holding), 19:27.
Second Period-Scoring-4. Hartford, Genoway 11 (Girardi, Gherson), 7:01, (pp). 5. Syracuse, Murray 7 (unassisted), 10:05, (sh). 6. Hartford, Pock 6 (Immonen, Girardi), 11:09, (pp). Penalties-Lundberg, Syr (holding), 5:09; Pock, Har (tripping), 7:37; Motzko, Syr (hooking), 7:48; Tollefsen, Syr (hooking), 9:04; Canzanello, Syr (closing hand on puck), 10:52; Pock, Har (interference), 15:13; Helminen, Har (tripping), 18:46; Grenier, Har (slashing), 19:21.
Third Period-Scoring-7. Syracuse, Motzko 8 (Sarno, Pushor), 13:39, (pp). Penalties-Motzko, Syr (hooking), 3:57; Wiseman, Har (high-stick), 6:40; Bench Minor, Syr (too many men, served by Szwez), 10:53; Bench Minor, Har (too many men, served by Taffe), 12:10; MacMillan, Syr (hooking), 19:14.
Shots on Goal-Hartford, 18-12-14---44; Syracuse, 10-6-7--23.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford, 3-9; Syracuse, 2-9.
Goalies-Hartford, Gherson (6-2-2), 23 shots-19 saves; Syracuse, Penner (9-6-1), 44 shots-41 saves.
Referee-Frederick L'Ecuyer (93); Linesmen-Dan Murphy (21), Tim Kotyra (53).
Three Stars:
1. Andrew Penner: Penner was huge all night long, turning aside 41 Hartford shots.
2. Joe Motzko: Motzko scored the game-winner in the third and added an assist on Sarno's goal to open the game.
3. Colby Genoway: Genoway was the hero early with his two goals, then turned out to be the goat when he was whistled for a too many men on the ice penalty late in the third.
Lineups:
Wolf Pack: Goal: Al Montoya, Robert Gherson. Defense: David Liffiton, Dale Purinton, Joe Rullier, Thomas Pock, Ivan Baranka, Jake Taylor, Bryce Lampman, Martin Grenier, Daniel Girardi.Forwards:Nigel Dawes, Alexandre Giroux, Jarkko Immonen, Daniel Sparre, Dwight Helminen, Chad Wiseman, Craig Weller, Jeff Taffe, Bruce Graham, Colby Genoway, Lee Falardeau, Fedor Fedorov.
Crunch Goal: Andrew Penner, Martin Prusek Defense: Marc Methot, Jeff MacMillan, Jamie Pushor, Andy Canzanello, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Eric Lundberg. Forwards:Steve Goertzen, Ben Simon, Tyler Kolarik, Darcy Verot, Andrew Murray, Peter Sarno, Brandon Sugden, Joakim Lindstrom, Greg Mauldin, Brett Nowak, Tim Konsorada, Jeff Szwez, Joe Motzko, J.B. Bittner.
Pre-Game Skate:
Scratched for the Crunch was center Brett Nowak (groin), left wing Joakim Lindstrom (shoulder) and right wing Brandon Sugden (suspension). The Wolf Pack didn't dress center Bruce Graham and defensemen Joe Rullier, Jake Taylor and Bryce Lampman.
Crunch One-Timers:
Prior to the game the Crunch announced that they have returned goaltender Mike Ayers to the Dayton Bombers. Ayers picked up his fifth win of the season in Syracuse's 4-3 win over Binghamton on Wednesday and was sent back to make room for Martin Prusek, who returns to the Crunch lineup after suffering a groin injury………..The Crunch also announced that they have signed right wing J.B. Bittner and defenseman Eric Lundberg to P.T.O's. Bittner has split this season between Portland (AHL-5 games, 1a) and Johnstown (ECHL-21 games, 6g, 9a). Lundberg has appeared in 29 games with Augusta (ECHL), recording 3 goals, 6 assists and 42 penalty minutes…………..The Blue Jackets announced on Friday that they have signed left wing Darcy Verot to an NHL contract. Verot had been playing in Syracuse and has recorded 1 assist and 39 penalty minutes in 12 games………..Brandon Sugden missed Friday's game serving a one game suspension for receiving his third instigator penalty of the season in Wednesday's win over Albany………….Both Andrew Murray and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen registered huge hits on Friday. Murray laid Alexandre Giroux late in the first and Tollefsen leveled Jarkko Immonen in the second.
On Deck:
The Crunch concludes their stretch of four games in five nights with a New Year's Eve tilt in Binghamton against the Senators. The game is slated to start at 6:00 P.M and can be heard locally on 620 WHEN and nationwide via the internet on www.syracusecrunch.com. It also can be streamed live on the internet courtesy of the B2 Network.