SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Matthew Peca lit the lamp just 1:04 into the first period in his first game back since Jan. 23 and added an assist on Slater Koekkoek's tally to lead the Syracuse Crunch to an eventual 3-2 victory over the Binghamton Senators tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
 
Mike Angelidis wrapped up scoring for the Crunch late in the first. Despite allowing a second period marker by Buddy Robinson, Syracuse was able to hold on to their lead for the remaining thirty minutes to down Binghamton for the sixth time in the 10-game series. The win moves the Crunch to 21-22-9-2 on the season.
 
Andrei Vasilevskiy backstopped the Crunch and picked up his seventh win this season, turning aside 29 of 31 shots. Senators goaltender Matt O'Connor stopped 21 of 24 in defeat. Syracuse was unable to convert on their one power play opportunity, while the penalty kill unit was perfect in shutting down all four Binghamton man-advantages.
 
Just over a minute into the contest, Peca made his presence known. Tye McGinn skated the puck down the right wing side before backhanding it into the slot for Peca to redirect past O'Connor. Jeff Tambellini picked up a point on the secondary assist. Four minutes later, the Senators evened the score when Danny Hobbs notched his second of the season with the help of Max McCormick and Robinson.
 
Syracuse struck two more times before the end of the first period to regain the lead. At 9:58, Peca tapped it back for Koekkoek to rip home from the high slot. Angelidis closed out the frame with a wrister from the top of the left circle off assist from Anthony DeAngelo and McGinn.
 
Robinson got one back for the Senators halfway through the middle stanza, but the Crunch were able to hold on to their one-goal lead through the third period to start the weekend's three-in-three with a victory.
 
The Crunch return to the War Memorial to host the St. John's IceCaps tomorrow at 7 p.m.
 
Syracuse Crunch 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 at 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: Tonight was David Broll's team-leading seventh fight of the season…With a goal and an assist, Matthew Peca has five multi-point games on the year…Joel Vermin returned for the first time since Dec. 12…Tonight was the first time since Jan. 20 that the Crunch have not allowed a power-play goal.