SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch stumbled to the Albany Devils, 4-3, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
 
Despite fighting back to tie the game on two separate occasions, the Crunch were unable to overcome a late third period goal and fell to the Devils. The loss moves Syracuse to 4-4-0-1 on the season and Albany advances to 5-3-2-0.
 
Crunch goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis made 21 saves on 25 shots in his first outing since being reassigned to Syracuse on Nov. 1. His opponent, Yann Danis, turned aside 27 of 30.  In a penalty-riddled contest, Syracuse went one for eight on the power play and three for five on the penalty kill.
 
The Devils were first on the board with 3:20 remaining in the opening period. Ben Thomson sniped a shot from the right wing side off an assist from Reece Scarlett. Just 1:41 into the second frame, Albany struck again to take a two-goal lead. Joseph Blandisi converted on the power play with the help of Matt Lorito and Mike Sislo.
 
The Crunch posted two of their own late in the second period to knot the score, 2-2. At the 11:41 mark, Yanni Gourde received a pass from Jonathan Marchessault and got around the Devils defense. He skated in and backhanded a shot that went five-hole for his second goal of the season. Tanner Richard grabbed a point for the secondary assist. Six minutes later with the man-advantage, Nikita Nesterov ripped a one-timer from the point to even the score. Anthony DeAngelo and Joel Vermin assisted on the play.
 
Albany was quick to steal back the lead with a power-play tally to open the third. The Blandisi-Lorito-Sislo line struck for the second time at the 4:03 mark.
 
Syracuse responded at 8:21 and tied the game again. Marchessault threw the puck on net from a sharp angle that snuck under the crossbar. Gourde and Richard earned multi-point games with the helpers.
 
With 5:22 remaining in the contest, Ryan Kujawinski lit the lamp for the final time. The Crunch ran out of time to tally another equalizer and were edged by the Devils, 4-3.
 
Syracuse will continue their season-long six-game home stand when they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tomorrow at 7 p.m.
 
Single game and season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch Box Office located in the War Memorial on 800 South State Street in Syracuse or by calling the office at 315-473-4444. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@officialsyracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch and #BelieveInBlue.
 
Crunchables: Anthony DeAngelo is on a four-game point streak with three goals and two assists…Tonight is Yanni Gourde's first multi-point game of the season. He had 15 last year…With a goal tonight, Nikita Nesterov registered his first point with the Crunch since Dec. 20, 2014 against Albany.