SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch opened scoring less than two minutes into the contest and sustained pressure to top the Belleville Senators, 5-2, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
 
Mat Bodie recorded a three-point performance with three helpers on the night, while Mathieu Joseph added two assists. Anthony Cirelli and Jonne Tammela lit the lamp for the Crunch in the first period with Olivier Archambault tallying his first with Syracuse in the second. Ben Thomas and Mitchell Stephens helped secure victory with goals in the third period. The win advances the Crunch to 26-14-2-2 on the season. Syracuse is also 5-0-1-1 in the eight-game series against Belleville.
 
Crunch goaltender Connor Ingram turned aside 22-of-24 shots in victory. Marcus Hogberg stopped 31-of-35 in net for the Senators. Syracuse was unable to convert on six power play opportunities, while Belleville went 1-for-4.
 
It only took 1:56 for the Crunch to open scoring with the first shot of the game on a delayed penalty. Joseph skated to the bottom of the right circle, cut back and fired on net. Cirelli was positioned in front to direct the shot in. Bodie tallied the secondary helper.
 
Syracuse doubled their lead with 4:32 remaining in the first period. Tammela was in the slot to pick up a pass from Bodie and net a wrister. Alexander Volkov earned an assist.
 
The Crunch made it 3-0 with another early-period goal to start the second. Cirelli stole the puck at the goal line and threw a centering feed for Archambault to one-time from between the circles. Joseph assisted to made it a multi-point game.
 
The Senators finally got on the board during the man-advantage 52 seconds into the third period. Erik Burgdoerfer split the defense, got ahead for a breakaway and scored five-hole.
 
Syracuse added to their total at the 4:03 mark. Thomas tipped in Bodie's right point shot as he cut across the crease. Tammela earned his first professional multi-point game as he collected the secondary assist.
 
Two minutes later, Belleville climbed back within two off Burgdoerfer's second of the game. He ripped a slap shot from the right point with the help of Max McCormick and Jamie Doornbosch.
 
Mitchell Stephens added an empty-netter in the final minutes to secure a Crunch victory on home ice. Syracuse hosts the Toronto Marlies 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: Mat Bodie recorded his first three-point game since tallying back-to-back three-point games on Jan. 22 and Jan. 25, 2017... Mitchell Stephens has goals in nine of his last 12 games.