SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch scored three third-period goals to rally past the Providence Bruins, 4-2, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
The win advances the Crunch to 21-12-2-2 on the season and 2-0-0-0 in the four-game season series against the Bruins.
Crunch goaltender Hugo Alnefelt turned aside 24-of-26 shots in the victory. Michael DiPietro stopped 29-of-32 in net for the Bruins. The Syracuse power play was held scoreless on three opportunities, while Providence went 1-for-5.
The Crunch opened scoring just 2:25 into the game. Gage Goncalves skated the puck down the right wing and dropped a pass back for Gabriel Fortier. His shot was stopped, but the rebound came out into the left circle for Jack Finley to chip in. Providence knotted the score with a power-play goal at the 16:43 mark. Frederic Brunet centered the puck from along the end boards for Reilly Walsh to fire in with a wrister.
The Bruins capitalized on a similar play halfway through the middle frame to take the lead. Georgii Merkulov was at the bottom of the left circle to send in a feed from Justin Brazeau.
Syracuse potted three goals in the final frame to rally for the win. It started just 31 seconds into the stanza. Cole Koepke sped down the left side and beat DiPietro with a wrister from the face-off dot. Declan Carlile potted the game-winner from the top of the left circle with just 1:30 remaining in the game. Jack Thompson then sent the puck nearly 200 feet down the ice into the empty net to lock in a Crunch victory in the final seconds.
The Crunch hosts the Utica Comets tomorrow.
Single-game tickets and ticket packages for the 2023-24 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster.
Crunchables: Gabriel Fortier played in his 200th AHL game tonight.