BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Crunch scored two goals 11 seconds apart in the first period, goalie
Kristers Gudlevskis made 24 saves, and Syracuse raced past Bridgeport, 6-2, Saturday in the first of consecutive games against the Sound Tigers. Syracuse rebounded after a 5-0 defeat in Binghamton Friday. The Crunch are 24-10-5-0 for 53 points, second in the Northeast Division.
Nine minutes into the first,
Joey Mormina rifled his second goal of the season, a one-timer past goalie David Leggio, at the 8:47 mark of first.
Jonathan Marchessault and
Mike Angelidis earned assists on the power-play tally. Angelidis won the faceoff back to the left point to Marchessault, who set up the Mormina slap shot.
The Crunch struck 11 seconds later to take a 2-0 advantage.
Slater Koekkoek capitalized off a Bridgeport turnover, ripping the puck from the high slot to beat Leggio. Marchessault had the lone assist, his second of the game after the steal. Marchessault, Syracuse's leading scorer at 36 points, finished with a season-high three helpers and has eight multi-point games this season.
Mike Blunden scored 5:29 into the second period to increase the Crunch edge to 3-0, redirecting a
Dylan Blujus right point shot from the right circle. The 10th-year forward has seven points (5g, 2a) his last five games, including a hat trick against Binghamton Jan. 3.
After Sound Tigers forward Justin Courtnall put Bridgeport on the board,
Tanner Richard ended the Bridgeport momentum, slipping a rebound of a
Dylan Blujus shot under David Leggio to give the Crunch a 4-1 advantage with 4:04 to play in the second. The goal, Richards's sixth of the season, ended a ten-game scoring drought. Blunden earned the secondary assist.
With
Henri Ikonen in the penalty box after a two-minute slashing minor, AHL All-Star
Vladislav Namestnikov netted the second Syracuse shorthanded goal of the season, unassisted at 17:24 of the second, to give the Crunch a 5-1 advantage. Namestnikov, playing his first game since being returned from Tampa Bay yesterday, slowed down on the breakaway and put a forehand shot high past Leggio.
Mike Angelidis burned Bridgeport 6:56 into the third, scoring his 13th of the season in front of the net with help from Marchessault and Blunden. The Crunch captain has more goals in 39 games played this season than he had in 75 and 71 games the last two seasons, respectively, with Syracuse.
Four Crunch players had multi-point games:
Dylan Blujus (2a),
Mike Angelidis (1g,1a),
Jonathan Marchessault (3a) and
Mike Blunden (1g, 2a).
Kristers Gudlevskis improved to 13-6-0, stopping 24 of 26 Bridgeport shots. David Leggio made 29 saves.
Syracuse completes its three-in-three weekend tomorrow against Bridgeport at Webster Bank Arena at 3 p.m.
