SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch set the tone early with a fight and two quick goals as they pummeled the Rochester Americans, 5-2, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
 
Mike Halmo set the team off strong with a fight just 12 seconds into the game followed by Yanni Gourde and Cameron Darcy netting markers before the four-minute mark. Adam Erne contributed to the scoring with two goals, while Cory Conacher added one. The victory advances the Crunch to 24-15-4-5 on the season and 6-1-1-0 in the 10-game season series.
 
Kristers Gudlevskis earned the win with a 25-save performance. His counterpart, Linus Ullmark, turned aside 25-of-29 between the pipes for the Amerks. Syracuse went 3-for-7 on the power play and a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
 
The Crunch jumped out to a quick two-goal lead early in the first period. Just 2:28 into the game, Matt Taormina sent a feed down low for Gourde to one-time all alone on the backdoor while on the power play. Conacher extended his points streak to eight games with the secondary assist. One minute later, Darcy shoveled one in from the left goal post during a battle in front of the cage. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Jeremy Morin assisted on the goal.
 
The Amerks stole one back at the 4:48 mark of the opening frame. Cole Schneider tipped the puck around a Crunch defender for Nick Baptiste to net from the slot.
 
Erne put the Crunch back up by two 3:43 into the second period. Slater Koekkoek backhanded one on net that was stopped. Erne tried to score on the rebound, but the puck kick up. He knocked it down with his hand and pushed it across the goal line in his first game back since Dec. 31. Gourde made it a multi-point night on the play.
 
With 5:06 remaining in the middle stanza, the Amerks pulled back within one during 4-on-4 play when Brady Austin scored from the slot off assists from Schneider and Cal O'Reilly.
 
The Crunch added two more in the final stanza to secure a 5-2 victory over the Amerks. While on the power play 4:09 into the stanza, Conacher picked up the puck at the blue line before firing from the right circle. Matthew Peca and Erne helped on the goal. With 24 seconds remaining in the game, Erne netted an empty-net power-play goal off a pass from Taormina to make it a three-point night.
 
The Crunch round out their three-in-three in Utica tomorrow at 5 p.m.
 
Syracuse Crunch single game and ticket packages for the 2016-17 season are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch office located in the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. 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 (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch, #WeAreOne and #BLUnited.
 
Crunchables: Cory Conacher has 25 points (6g, 19a) in the last 18 games…Adam Erne has two multi-goal games in his last six with the Crunch…Kristers Gudlevskis earned his first win against Rochester since Nov. 4…Cameron Darcy netted his first goal since Oct. 29.