SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch toppled the Toronto Marlies, 4-1, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
Conor Geekie scored just 31 seconds into the game and the Crunch never took their foot off the gas. Geekie ended the night with two goals and an assist, while Conor Sheary tallied three assists. Anthony Angello and Jack Finley rounded out the scoring with a goal each.
Syracuse picked up two crucial points and moved up to third place in the North Division standings. The team advances to 32-21-8-4 on the season and 3-1-1-0 in the six-game season series against the Marlies.
Crunch goaltender Ryan Fanti earned his first Crunch win stopping 30-of-31 shots. Marlies netminder Dennis Hildeby allowed two goals on three shots before being relieved by Artur Akhtyamov early in the game. Akhtyamov went on to stop 15-of-17. The Syracuse power play went 1-for-2 with the penalty kill going a perfect 2-for-2.
Geekie opened scoring during the first minute of play when Sheary fed the rookie forward in the slot for a quick wrister. At the 3:55 mark, Angello got his stick on a loose puck out from and chipped it into the net to double the lead.
Geekie scored his second of the game eight minutes into the middle frame while on the power-play. He got a feed from Finley and buried a wrister from the left circle. Five minutes later, Finley put the Crunch up, 4-0, when he one-timed a shot from in between the circles. Sheary picked up his third point of the game with the helper.
The Marlies stole one back 7:29 into the final frame. Cade Webber fired a shot from the left point that went off the far post and in, but the Crunch halted any comeback effort and took the win.
The Crunch and Marlies travel to Toronto to finish the weekend’s home-and-home series tomorrow.
