April 5, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Syracuse Crunch Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Crunch scored three goals in 46 seconds in the final two minutes of the third period then added an overtime tally to rally past the Utica Comets, 6-5, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.

Crunch goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 20 of 25 shots in victory, while Comets goaltender Joacim Eriksson stopped 25 of 31. Syracuse was able to convert on one of three power-play opportunities. The penalty kill unit shut down three of five Utica man advantages.

The victory moves the Crunch to 29-30-4-7 on the season and 2-1-1-0 in the season series with the Comets. Despite tonight's win, the Comets have taken the Galaxy Cup.

The Crunch led the Comets, 2-1, after the first period. Philippe Paradis put the Crunch on the board with a breakaway goal 7:16 into the period. Vladislav Namestnikov passed ahead to Paradis, who faked right and beat Eriksson on the glove side. Joey Mormina was credited with the secondary assist. The Comets evened the score five minutes later. Cal O'Reilly found the back of the net with a power-play goal at the 12:26 mark. O'Reilly put the puck top shelf with a slap shot from the left circle off an assist from Alex Biega. Syracuse went up 2-1 with a power-play goal by Yanni Gourde. With 3:16 remaining, Gourde netted a slap shot from the right point. Dmitry Korobov and Jon DiSalvatore each earned a point on the go-ahead goal.

The Comets took a 3-2 lead in the middle frame with two goals from Alex Friesen. Friesen netted a shot at the 11:39 mark with an assist from Kellan Lain to tie the Crunch at two. Utica took the lead with 1:33 left in the period. Biega fired from the left circle, but was stopped by Gudlevskis. Friesen picked up the rebound and scored the power-play goal. Jeremy Welsh picked up his first point of the game for the assist.

The Comets built up a three-goal lead with the first two goals of the third period. O'Reilly passed across the crease to Patrick Kennedy, who one-timed it for a 4-2 lead 9:44 into the period. Welsh extended the lead a minute later when he picked up the rebound of Friesen's shot from the left circle. Yann Sauve earned a point with the secondary assist.

The Crunch scored three times in 46 seconds at the end of the third to force an extra frame. Paradis passed across the slot to Namestnikov, who began the Crunch's late rally with 1:39 left in regulation. Cedric Paquette was credited with the secondary assist. Jonathan Marchessault cut the Comet's lead to one 31 seconds later with a shorthanded tally from the slot. Brett Connolly and Gourde earned points with the helper. Marchessault evened the score with another shorthanded goal 15 seconds later. Mike Angelidis won the faceoff in the right circle. The puck got pushed to Paquette's stick and out to Marchessault at the left point, where he blasted it past Eriksson.

Brett Connolly scored at the 2:36 mark of the overtime frame with the help of Korobov and Namestnikov to give the Crunch a 6-5 victory over the Comets.

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Crunch Rally Past Comets in OT, 6-5