SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Dennis Yan scored his first two professional goals to lead the Syracuse Crunch to their first victory of the season, topping the Belleville Senators, 4-2, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
 
Anthony Cirelli also notched his first professional goal, while Tye McGinn contributed a tally to help move the Crunch to 1-1-1-0 on the season. Cory Conacher and Jason Akeson put up multi-point games with two assists as the Crunch peppered off 43 shots on goal.
 
Crunch netminder Michael Leighton picked up his first win of the season, stopping 24-of-26 shots. Andrew Hammond stopped an onslaught with 39 saves between the pipes. Syracuse converted once on 12 power play opportunities and went a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
 
The Crunch took an early lead on their first power play of the night, 2:04 into the game. Jamie McBain's shot from the blue line rebounded off the pads of Hammond for McGinn to sweep in from the crease. Conacher contributed the secondary assist on the opening goal.
 
Syracuse doubled their lead at the halfway mark of the second stanza. Cirelli sent a cross-ice feed for Yan to one-time from the right circle. Akeson earned a point for the helper.
 
Belleville answered back quickly, making it a one-goal game two minutes later. Jordan Murray threw a centering pass for Chris DiDomenico to tap past Leighton. With 1:02 remaining in the period, Max McCormick tied it up with a shorthanded breakaway.  
 
The Crunch broke the deadlock 3:53 into the third. Akeson skated the puck in deep before finding Yan in the blue paint for the tip in. Mitchell Stephens extended his point streak on the go-ahead goal.
 
Circelli added an empty-net insurance marker, off assists from Conacher and Michael Bournival, with less than a minute left in the game to secure the win.
 
The Crunch continue their three-in-three at home against the Utica Comets tomorrow at 7 p.m.
 
Single game tickets and packages are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, 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 (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch.
 
Crunchables: Mitchell Stephens is on a three-point game point streak to start the season…The Crunch recorded the most shots on goal tonight since putting up 44 on Oct. 15, 2016.