Syracuse Crunch fall to Senators, 6-5

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch fell to the Belleville Senators, 6-5, tonight at CAA Arena.

The loss moves the team to 26-15-3-2 on the season and 0-2-1-1 in the eight-game season series against the Senators.

Matt Tomkins turned aside 18-of-24 shots in net for the Crunch. Mads Sogaard stopped 24-of-29 between the pipes for the Senators. Syracuse was held scoreless on their lone man-advantage, while the penalty kill unit went a perfect 2-for-2.

Nikolas Matinpalo opened scoring for the Senators with a wrister from between the circles 4:05 into the game.

The Crunch rattled off three goals early in the middle frame to take over the lead. It started just 48 seconds in when Gabriel Fortier got the puck in the high slot and backhanded it towards the net. Jack Finley was down low to intercept the pass and stuff it past Sogaard. At 6:29, Lucas Edmonds was in the slot to tip in Declan Carlile’s long shot from the blue line. Cole Koepke then redirected Jack Thompson’s wrister from the right point just 44 seconds later to make it a 3-1 game. Belleville halted the scoring onslaught with a late-period goal as Rourke Chartier came down the left wing on an odd-man rush and fired a shot past Tomkins.

Chartier evened the score with his second of the game 26 seconds into the third period. He was parked in front of the net to tip in Lassi Thomson’s long wrister from the right point. The Crunch were back on top by the 2:42 mark. Devante Stephens sped into the zone on a 2-on-1 rush and fired a shot from the left side. He was blocked, but Waltteri Merelä was there to chip in the rebound.

Back-and-forth scoring continued and the game was knotted yet again less than six minutes later. Zack MacEwen gained control of the puck while on his knees in the right circle and shoveled it in with a backhander. MacEwen then scored his second of the night at 15:08 when he deked around a Crunch defender in the right circle and put Belleville back on top. Two minutes later, Jiri Smejkal…