PROVIDENCE, R.I. (SYRACUSE CRUNCH) –
The Syracuse Crunch were defeated by the Providence Bruins, 4-2, tonight at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.
The loss moves the Crunch to 28-21-5-3 on the season and 1-2-1-0 in the four-game season series against the Bruins.
Crunch goaltender Max Lagace stopped 8-of-11 shots before being relieved by Hugo Alnefelt to start the second period. Alnefelt went on to turn aside 13-of-14. Michael DiPietro recorded the win stopping 33-of-35 shots between the pipes for the Bruins.
Syracuse was scoreless on three power play opportunities, while Providence converted on 2-of-4 opportunities.
The Bruins were first on the board 3:24 into the game. Chris Wagner grabbed the puck behind the net and threw a centering pass for Joona Koppanen to score from between the circles. The Crunch were quick to respond and tied the game just 1:02 later when Rudy Balcers redirected a backdoor pass from Alex Barre-Boulet. Georgii Merkulov put Providence back on top at the 7:57 mark with a one-timer from the right circle while on the power play. Merkulov potted his second power-play goal of the game five minutes later when he netted a wrister from the same spot.
After a scoreless second period, the Crunch came back within one just 53 seconds into the final frame. Simon Ryfors won the face off in the left circle and sent the puck back to Balcers. He quickly passed up for Trevor Carrick to fire in a long shot from the blue line. Providence went back up by two to secure their victory with 3:24 remaining in the game as Fabian Lysell got behind the Crunch defense and beat Alnefelt on a short breakaway.
The Crunch travel to face the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday.
