2
0
Crunch grind out another critical win. Clip magic number to two.
LV-1
SYR-2
Ryan Fanti allowed one goal on 21 shots for the victory. In six appearances he’s now 2-1-0 with a 1.33 GAA and crazy .950 sv%. Listed at 6’3″ 199 lbs, he fits the standard size class the Lightning like in their netminders, and I wonder if he’s playing his way into their plans for the AHL roster next season. You can never have too many good goaltenders.
First Period
19:23 LV Richard (17), (McDonald, Wilson)
Second Period
8:56 SYR Allard (6), (Kurth, Groshev)
9:19 SYR Fortier (11), (Sheary)
Third Period
NO SCORING
Tristan Allard, Gabriel Fortier, and Conor Sheary were the game’s three stars.
Syracuse dominated the final 40 minutes of this contest, outshooting Lehigh Valley 29-8 in the final two frames after a somewhat flat start. Parker Gahagen, the Phantoms netminder, didn’t make it easy on the Crunch but they manufactured just enough goals and made them stick with a younger-than-usual lineup with Jack Finley hurt and Conor Geekie possibly on his way up to Tampa Bay to fill the spot of the injured Luke Glendening. One of those young Crunch players, Connor Kurth, registered his first pro point in the win.
Meanwhile, in this episode of As the Isaac Howard Turns, the Michigan State winger won the Hobey Baker Award tonight as college hockey’s best player. That’d be great were it not for his camp’s escalating rhetoric about returning for a senior season and not seeing eye-to-eye with the Lightning on contract negotiations. For their part, the organization played it cool in the media and is acting like things are status quo, so who knows where things really sit. Rumors have it nothing can happen until the final couple of days of the NHL regular season anyway due to cap constraints.
Belleville defeated Springfield tonight, so the Crunch haven’t quite punched their ticket to the postseason just yet. Their magic number is down to two and a win of any flavor tomorrow against Laval or a Belleville regulation loss to Providence will seal the deal (or losses after regulation by both). As far as more ambitious goals go, Syracuse moved three points clear of Cleveland for third in the division and five clear of Toronto with both of those teams getting a game in hand. Four games remain in the Crunch regular season.
Box score from TheAHL.com.
