After scoring just four goals in their last four games, the Syracuse Crunch exploded for seven netters Saturday against the Rochester Amerks at the Onondaga County War Memorial. The lucky seven goals – a season high – were scored by seven different Crunch shooters.
Rehabbing NHL goalie Ray Emery allowed a lone Amerks shot to trickle through his legs and across the goal line. Rochester remains mired in last place of the American Hockey League’s North Division.
Saturday’s 7-1 victory pulled the Crunch out of the East Division cellar into seventh place, a sliver above the lowly Adirondack Phantoms.
Emery, 28, is recovering from a hip injury that lost him a spot on the Philadelphia Flyers a year ago. Signed by the Crunch parent Anaheim Ducks, Emery made his Syracuse debut here Friday, Feb. 18, losing to the San Antonia Rampage, 4-2, before winning against Rochester Saturday, Feb. 19, on the strength of his teammates’ uncharacteristic scoring surge. Emery made 27 saves Friday and 37 on Saturday, and will likely find himself back in the NHL sooner than later.
Crunch forwards Matt Kennedy and Maxime Macenauer both had career-highs with three points (one goal, two assists) each, while Nick Bonino, Patrick Maroon, David Laliberte, Kyle Palmieri and MacGregor Sharp all also lit the lamp for the home team.
Maroon now leads the Crunch with 16 goals on the season, and rookie Nicolas Deschamps tops the team with 19 assists plus 10 goals for a total of 29 points.
The Crunch have now won three of the last four meetings against Rochester, but with 25 games remaining in the season, the team has almost no chance to make the AHL playoffs. The Crunch record stands at 19 wins, 30 losses, two overtime losses and four shootout losses.
At a pre-game fan forum Friday at the Mar Memorial Crunch CEO Howard Dolgon said the 2010-11 season has been the team’s most unsatisfactory campaign over the 17 years he has helmed the franchise.
This season – Syracuse’s first year affiliated with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks – “has not gone anywhere near like we hoped or planned,” Dolgon said. “This has been my most un-enjoyable year and my most disappointing year.”
After a rare mid-week home game Tuesday, Feb. 22, against the Charlotte Checkers, the Crunch face off against the Binghamton Senators and the Hamilton Bulldogs, at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25 and 26 at the War Memorial at 7:30 p.m., respectively. Ticket prices range between $13 and $22; 473-4444; syracusecrunch.com.
