Game Notes: 12/05/07 v. Rockford IceHogs
Crunch Edged by Rockford in Shootout
Rockford, IL (December 5, 2007) – The Syracuse Crunch were edged by the Rockford Ice Hogs in a shootout tonight, 2-1 at the Rockford MetroCentre in front of 2,014 fans.
The Crunch came into this game with a season-high three-game winning streak looking to stretch it to four. Both teams looked to be skating hard early on and traded chances on alternating power plays. Rockford finished the period 0-for-3 with the man-advantage while the Crunch went 0-for-2. Both goaltenders looked sharp and stopped eight shots each.
After a scoreless first period, it took only four minutes and nineteen seconds for someone to finally break through offensively. Rockford’s Martin St. Pierre cleanly won an offensive zone face-off back to defenseman Ryan Stokes at the left point. Stokes ripped a slap shot that found its way through a screen and into the back of the cage to give the Ice Hogs a 1-0 lead. The Crunch fell into some penalty trouble late in the period and put themselves in a 5-on-3 hole. The penalty killing unit stood tall and killed off both infractions. The kill was highlighted by a great block and diving clear from defenseman Dan Smith.
The Crunch did not wait long to knot the score when Jeffrey Szwez found Adam Pineault who sent one past Rockford starter Cory Crawford just seven seconds into the third period. Both teams had power play opportunities late in the frame, but could not convert. The Crunch had a 5-on-3 advantage for about 1:15 with roughly 10 minutes left but did not register a shot. Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie.
Brett Motherwell took a penalty 1:50 into overtime and the penalty killers once again came up big for Syracuse. Munro was huge as well and ended up with 26 saves on the evening. Pineault had a great chance with about 10 seconds to go but was denied on the doorstep by Crawford. Overtime ended with the teams still knotted at 1-1.
In the shootout Derek MacKenzie put the Crunch ahead 1-0 after the first round. In the next two rounds, Clay Wilson and Philippe Dupuis missed their chances, but Rockford’s Jack Skille and Kris Versteeg both beat Munro to give the Ice Hogs a 2-1 advantage. In the fourth round of the shootout, Pineault scored and Munro denied Petri Kontiola. The fifth round saw Crawford deny Szwez. With the game on his stick, Rockford leading scorer Martin St. Pierre put it past Munro to give the Hogs the 2-1 victory.
CRUNCHABLES: Adam Munro made his fifth straight start in goal tonight…Left wing Alexandre Picard made his return to the lineup after missing the previous three games with the flu…The Crunch played their fifth game in six nights tonight…With an assist tonight, Jeffrey Szwez now has 3 points (2g, 1a), in his last three games…the Crunch have earned at least a point in their last four games.