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Crunch Tie American Hockey League Record with Win Over Albany
Syracuse, NY, (Saturday, November 22, 2008)
Syracuse, NY (November 23, 2008) – Sixty-five minutes, 80 shots, nine shooters, and one one deadly accurate Derek MacKenzie wrist shot later, the Syracuse Crunch defeated the Albany River Rats in a shootout tonight, outlasting their I-90 rivals by a 1-0 count at the War Memorial at Oncenter in front of 5,416 fans.
After dropping their last two games on the road, the Crunch were eager to get back to the comforts of the War Memorial at Oncenter, where they remain unbeaten this season with a 7-0-0 mark and tied the AHL record with at least a point in 24 consecutive regular season home games dating back to last season. Syracuse tied the Springfield Falcons’ mark of 24, accomplished from February 8, 1997 – November 14, 1997
Dan LaCosta made 36 saves and recorded his first shutout of the season, while also denying all five Albany shooters to secure his tenth win of the campaign.
Each team had power play opportunities in the first frame, but could not convert as the goaltenders set the tone, with LaCosta recording 10 saves and Albany’s starter, Justin Peters, tallying 14 stops.
The second stanza was much of the same, as the goaltenders remained consistent in their efforts and kept the game in a scoreless tie.
After 60 minutes of play, the game was still in a 0-0 deadlock and advanced to overtime. Syracuse peppered Peters with seven shots in the extra session, but the Albany netminder, who made 44 regulation stops, stood on his head to force a shootout.
After LaCosta denied the first four Rats shooters and Peters stopped the Crunch’s first three, MacKenzie skated straight in on Peters, did a head fake, and blistered a shot to the top right corner. LaCosta stymied Dan LaCouture’s last ditch effort to keep it going for Albany, and the Crunch skated away with the 1-0 shootout win.
CRUNCHABLES: Dan LaCosta recorded his fifth career shutout with the Crunch, tying him for third place on the all-time list… The Crunch has not lost a regular season home game since February 18, 2008 against Lake Erie… The Crunch has taken a lead into the third period just three of 19 games this season… Syracuse won its first game this season when scoring one goal or less (1-5-0-1)… LaCosta moved into sole possession of eighth all-time in wins (24) with the Crunch…The Crunch will try to break the AHL record for undefeated/points streak tomorrow vs. Binghamton…The club will also try to tie the all-time consecutive home regular season win mark (19), held by Philadelphia.