SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Crunch scored four times in the third period to rally past Adirondack, 7-4, Friday at the War Memorial Arena; seven goals marks a season high for Syracuse. The Crunch entered the third trailing, 4-3, but goals from Ryan Martindale, Luke Witkowski, Tanner Richard, and Jake Dotchin led Syracuse to its first win over the Flames in three meetings. With 76 points, the Crunch lead the Springfield Falcons by five points for first place in the Northeast Division.
 
The Crunch jumped out on the Flames with two goals early in the opening period, the first from Yanni Gourde 4:28 into the first. Gourde snuck the puck past goalie Brad Thiessen on a wrist shot from the right wing. The lefty shooter leads the Crunch with 23 goals this season and has tallies in seven of his last nine contests. Carter Ashton and J.P. Cote earned assists. Gourde and Ashton each had a goal and two assists while Martindale had two markers and one helper for the first multi-goal and three-point game of his AHL career.
 
Martindale scored his first goal with the Crunch 1:11 after Gourde's tally to move Syracuse ahead, 2-0. Martindale slapped the puck from the left wing circle on the rush at the 5:39 mark of the first period with an assist from Jonathan Marchessault. Reassigned to the Crunch by the Florida Panthers March 2, Martindale has 10 goals this season.
 
After Adirondack scored consecutive goals to tie the score, 2-2, early in the second, the Crunch needed 50 seconds to regain control, 3-2, when Carter Ashton shoveled a loose puck in the net mouth by Thiessen. In 13 games with Syracuse since he was traded from Toronto, Ashton has two goals, ten points, and three multi-point games.
 
Adirondack defenseman Sena Acolatse knotted the score, 3-3, on the power play three minutes after Ashton's goal with a rip to the top left corner of the net. Ken Agostino's second goal of the contest past Kristers Gudlevskis put Adirondack in front, 4-3, at the 11:16 mark of the middle frame. Gudlevskis, the game's first star, stopped the next 18 shots for a game total of 34. The win ups his record to 19-11-2.
 
Syracuse started to rumble in the third period when Martindale deflected a Slater Koekkoek shot to even the score, 4-4, 2:52 into the frame. Koekkoek and David Broll had the assists.
 
Nine minutes after the Martindale tying tally, Luke Witkowski scored the game-winning goal, his second this season, on a shot from the right point that glanced of a Flames defender and past Thiessen. Assists went to Tanner Richard and Yanni Gourde.
 
Richard cashed in with six minutes left in the third to make the score 6-4. Carter Ashton and Yanni Gourde earned helpers; Gourde shoved it in front, Ashton put it on goal, Thiessen made a stunning save, but Richard finished for his 11th goal of the campaign. Thiessen had 21 saves in the loss.
 
Jake Dotchin finished the high-scoring night with an empty-net goal with 1:31 remaining to push the lead to 7-4. Dotchin has five goals this season, most for Crunch defensemen.
 
Syracuse continues its three-in-three weekend Saturday against the Albany Devils at Times Union Center with faceoff set for 5 p.m.  The Crunch have won five of the six games against the Devils this season.