Connolly’s hat trick not enough to defeat Senators

6-3 Loss

Syracuse, NY – Despite a hat trick from Crunch forward Brett Connolly, the Syracuse Crunch fell to the Binghamton Senators 6-3 tonight at the War Memorial.

The loss brings the Crunch's season record to 17-15-2-4 and their record against the Senators to 1-5-2-0.

Crunch goaltender Cedrick Desjardins stopped 15 of 17 shots in relief of goalie Kristers Gudlevskis. Senators goalie Andrew Hammond stopped 35 of 38 shots in the Binghamton victory. The Crunch converted on two of five power-play opportunities and the penalty kill unit allowed two power-play goals.

Connolly opened the scoring, netting his first of three goals early in the first period on a Crunch power play assisted by center Cedric Paquette. The Senators answered quickly, scoring three consecutive goals in the first period.

Senators center Jim O'Brien scored a shorthanded goal followed by goals from forward Andre Petersson and forward Mat Puempel. Connolly closed out the first period with his second goal of the game, bringing the score 3-2, assisted by Vlad Namestnikov.

Desjardins relieved Gudlevskis at the start of the second period. Senators forward Shane Prince put the puck past Desjardins bringing the score to 4-3 with 4:32 left in the second.

Connolly's hat trick kicked off the final period, bringing his season total to 12 goals. Namestnikov picked up his second point of the game with the primary assist and Matt Taromina earned the second assist. The Senators increased their lead with a goal midway through the period from forward Corey Cowick, and an empty net goal scored by Petersson sealed the Senators victory.

The Crunch face off against the Hershey Bears on Friday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. at the War Memorial.

CRUNCHABLES: With three goals tonight Brett Connolly recorded his second career hat trick…Three Crunch players have scored a hat trick this season (Nikita Kucherov, Evan Rankin and Brett Connolly)…Tonight's loss snapped a season-high six game point streak…Eric Neilson played in his 22^nd consecutive game, a AHL career-long mark.

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