Syracuse Crunch

By Jeremy Houghtaling

After a tough overtime loss on Friday, Syracuse Crunch coach Rob Zettler decided to shake up his lines.

The newly formed trio of Richard Panik, Vlad Namestnikov and Dana Tyrell found instant chemistry. The trio combined for four points Saturday, and added nine points in a 5-2 win over the Hershey Bears in the AHL Showcase at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Sunday.

Syracuse, which finished the weekend with five points in three games to break a recent slump, has won back-to-back games for the first time since mid-January. For Zettler, the effort has been there, but the team hasn't seen the rewards.

"Tonight I thought, from start to finish, it might have been our best hockey game," Zettler said. "The work ethic, the smarts, how to play it. It was just really good overall."

When Panik Attacks...

HER-2
SYR-5

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 2 goals on 26 shots for the victory.

First Period
SYR Namestnikov, (15) (Panik, Tyrell), 19:22

Second Period
HER Taffe, (15) (Stoa, Brouillette), 1:57 (PP)
SYR Panik, (2) (Tyrell, Namestnikov), 6:16
SYR Angelidis, (9) (Labrie, Landry), 10:32
HER Deschamps, (12) (Kolomatis, Wellman), 17:30

Third Period
SYR Tyrell, (7) (Panik), 9:01
SYR DiSalvatore, (8) (Connolly, Panik), 16:38 (PP)

Richard Panik and Dana Tyrell were the game's first and second stars. The Lightning organization has been waiting 4 and a half months for Richard Panik to wake up. With 1 goal and 3 assists tonight, the young Slovakian winger may very well have finally answered the bell. Beyond that, the Crunch got contributions from all their key prospects including Namestnikov and Connolly, leading to back-to-back pastings of Hershey.

Unfortunately, it's likely too little too late for Syracuse this season. Even with the wins over the past couple of games, the team is still a full 15 points out of 8th in the Eastern Conference. With that said, though, getting back to .500 for the season and playing the role of the conference's most feared spoiler heading into the playoffs is definitely a reasonable objective for this group to achieve, and it would set them up well for a comeback next season.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Syracuse breaks out.

SYR-5
HER-0

Allen York stopped all 39 shots he faced for the shutout victory. With Kristers Gudlevskis coming back from the Olympics, tonight may have been York's last stand in Syracuse. He made the most of it.

First Period
SYR Witkowski, (1) (Korobov, DiSalvatore), 3:53
SYR DiSalvatore, (7) (Angelidis, Tyrell), 9:26

Second Period
SYR Panik, (1) (Namestnikov, Sergeev), 11:39 (PP)

Third Period
SYR Namestnikov, (14) (Landry, Mormina), 7:07
SYR Langelier-Parent, (1) (Richard, Rankin), 12:54

York, Jon DiSalvatore, and Vladislav Namestnikov were the game's three stars. It was a game where almost all of the Crunch's struggling offensive stars, namely Namestnikov and Richard Panik, broke out. More than that, they even got contributions from the likes of Luke Witkowski and Maxim Langelier-Parent, in the form of both young men's first AHL goals. It's they kind of performance this team desperately needed to get their confidence back.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

By Jeremy Houghtaling

Mike Angelidis remained adamant after the game: It was in.

The Syracuse Crunch captain appeared to have scored the go-ahead goal on a wraparound early in the third period, but referee Graham Skilliter, who did not see the goal, ruled the video review to be inconclusive.

"It was a goal, I saw it clear as day," Angelidis said. "I saw it go over by a foot. Clear as day. There's nothing you can do. The ref's on the other side, he doesn't see it. It's frustrating, because everybody on the ice on our side and even their guys knew it went in."

The Crunch had three potential goals disallowed, including two by video review in the third period, and the Utica Comets rallied in overtime for a 2-1 win at the Onondaga County War Memorial Friday. Syracuse has dropped 12 of its last 13 games.

"Our line had probably eight scoring chances tonight, we just couldn't get the one (goal)," Angelidis said. "When we did, it didn't count."

Power outage continues in Syracuse.

UTI-2
SYR-1 (OT)

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 2 goals on 36 shots for the OT loss. It's another quality start wasted due to lack of goal support.

First Period
SYR Labrie, (2) (Paradis, Angelidis), 18:28

Second Period
UTI Jensen, (13) (O'Reilly, Pelletier), 12:30 (PP)

Third Period
NO SCORING

Overtime
UTI DeFazio, (9) (O'Reilly, Mullen), 4:02

Desjardins was the game's third star.

It's been a roller coaster season for Syracuse. When they've had dynamic offense, they couldn't keep the puck out of their own net. Now that they're getting better goaltending and defensive play, they can't score to save their own lives. It's hard to figure, really.

Box score from TheAHL.com.