SYRACUSE, N.Y. —
Andrei Vasilevskiy played a flawless game for all but 24 seconds, stopping 30 shots, as the Syracuse Crunch (25-11-5-0) defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (19-16-4-1), 4-2, Friday at the War Memorial Arena.
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The Phantoms turned a one-goal deficit into a 2-1 lead late in the first on back-to-back possessions. Kevin Goumas sniped a slot shot past Vasilevskiy and assisted on Petr Straka's after the next faceoff.
"We lost track of a guy on the offensive zone faceoff and then after that there was a bit of loose coverage," head coach
Rob Zettler said about giving up two goals in 24 seconds. "From there on out we didn't give them much until late in the third but Vasilevskiy shut the door on them."
The Crunch relied on a two-goal second period to down the Phantoms. Syracuse outshot Lehigh Valley, 13-5, in the period.
Yanni Gourde evened the score, 2-2, 3:23 into the second when
Dalton Smith landed an open ice check on a Phantoms defenseman and knocked the puck loose for Gourde to scoop up and score his 14th goal of the season.
Henri Ikonen scored the game-winner late in the second when he deflected a
Matt Corrente slap shot from the right point past Anthony Stolarz. Corrente and
Mike Angelidis contributed the assists. The captain recorded his 10th assist of the season and Corrente registered his third.
Gourde added his second goal of the game on a rebound in the crease four minutes into the third and increased the lead to 4-2.
Tanner Richard registered the primary assist, taking his season total to 15.
Joel Vermin contributed the secondary assist, his ninth this season.
"I jumped on the ice and it was a 3-on-2," Gourde said. "Tanner [Richard] slowed the pace, and gave it to me because I was open. I tried to go blocker but it was saved, so I whacked at my own rebound and it went in."
Cody Kunyk opened the scoring 7:21 into the first period. He parked in front of the net and blazed a one-timer past Anthony Stolarz.
Kevin Lynch fed the puck from the left-wing corner after Charlie Dodero dumped it around the boards. Lynch and Dodero recorded their first professional assists on the play.
The Phantoms are the most penalized team in the AHL, averaging 25.8 minutes per game, and gave up eight chances that the Crunch failed to convert. Syracuse is second in the league in penalty minutes and stopped 5-of-5 chances for Lehigh Valley.
The Crunch host the Hartford Wolf Pack in the sixth of eight contests between the teams. Syracuse is 3-0-2-0 against the New York Rangers' affiliate, losing in overtime in the most recent matchup, 3-2, two weeks ago.
