St. John's, Newfoundland (December 7, 2011) --- Kyle Palmieri's second hat trick of the season lifted the Syracuse Crunch over the St. John's IceCaps 5-3 tonight at the Mile One Centre.

Palmieri's three goals brings his season total to 17, he now leads the AHL in goals scored.

The Crunch struck with a goal by Palmieri 8:08 into the first period. Peter Holland fed the puck from behind the net to Palmieri whose wrist shot beat IceCaps goaltender Edward Pasquale.

Palmieri struck again with 3:49 remaining in the first frame with a power-play goal to extend the Crunch's lead to 2-0.

St. John's got on the scoreboard 5:16 into the second period with a goal by Kevin Clark, assisted by Aaron Gagnon. Clark's shot beat Crunch goaltender Jeff Deslauriers who was returned from Anaheim on December 6.

Immediately following St. John's goal the Crunch got their third power play opportunity with IceCaps center Marco Rosa serving an elbowing penalty. Peter Holland capitalized on the man-advantage knocking home a pass at the top of the crease from Kyle Palmieri to put the Crunch up 3-1 with 12:41 remaining in the second stanza.

The IceCaps cut the Crunch's lead in half with a goal from Paul Postma with 5:41 to play in the second. Postma's goal was assisted by Kenndal McArdle and Zach Redmond.

Palmieri scored his third goal of the game on a breakaway 4:52 into the final frame.

The IceCaps fought back, coming within one goal of the Crunch with just 2:19 remaining in regulation. St. John's center Gagnon recorded the tally, assisted by left wing McArdle and defenseman Jason DeSantis.

Brandon McMillan secured the Crunch win with an empty net goal with 57 seconds to play in regulation.

The Crunch return home on December 10 to face the Hamilton Bulldogs at the War Memorial Arena at 7:30 p.m. Satuday is the Stanley Steemer Tired Teddy Toss, fans are encouraged to bring a new or gently used stuffed animal to toss on the ice following the Crunch's first goal. Stuffed animals will be collected and refurbished by Stanley Steemer before being donated to the Salvation Army. For every stuffed animal fans bring they will be entered for a chance to win a $500 gift card to Carousel Center.

Crunchables:  Palmieri's hat trick is his second of the season…he recorded his first on October 15 against the Adirondack Phantoms…Patrick Maroon and Kyle Palmieri lead the team with eight multiple point game…Tonight's win is Jeff Deslauriers first since October 21 against Lake Erie