Crunch Downed by Marlies, 3-2 (original) (raw)

Syracuse Crunch

Toronto Marlies' Mikko Kokkonen and Syracuse Crunch's Gabriel Fortier in action
Toronto Marlies' Mikko Kokkonen and Syracuse Crunch's Gabriel Fortier in action
(Syracuse Crunch, Credit: Eric Payne)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse Crunch were downed by the Toronto Marlies, 3-2, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.

After going down by three, the Crunch rallied with two late goals, but fell just short in their comeback effort. The loss snaps an eight-game home points streak and moves the team to 15-11-5-3 on the season and 1-1-0-0 in the six-game season series against the Marlies.

Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson stopped 21-of-24 shots. Matt Murray earned the win turning aside 23-of-25 shots in net for the Marlies. The Syracuse power play went 1-for-4, while the penalty kill shut down Toronto's lone man-advantage.

The Marlies opened scoring with a goal late in the first period. Nikita Grebenkin fired in a wrister from between the circle as he cut across the slot.

Toronto added two more just 23 seconds apart in the third period. Nick Abruzzese forced a turnover and backhanded a feed down for Alex Steeves to chip in at the 12:12 mark. Grebenkin then potted his second of the game seconds later when he batted in Alex Nylander's feed from midair. Syracuse started a late comeback effort with just 2:09 remaining in the game. Max Crozier found the rebound from Conor Sheary's left-circle shot and fired it towards the net. The puck went off Jujhar Khaira and in while on the power play to put the team on the board. At 19:09, Jack Finley centered the puck for Gabriel Fortier to score and pull the Crunch back within one. The clock expired on the comeback effort and Syracuse fell to Toronto.

The Crunch host the Rochester Americans tomorrow night.

Single game tickets and ticket packages for the 2024-25 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), X (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch).

Crunchables: Derrick Pouliot played in his 600th professional game tonight...Jujhar Khaira scored his first Crunch goal in his Crunch debut tonight.

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