Game Story: Syracuse - 6 at W-B/Scranton - 3 (11/11/23)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Coming off a 4-0 win in Syracuse the night before, it was a bit of a role-reversal for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Saturday night's rematch against the Syracuse Crunch.

The Crunch jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the middle of the second period, and never really looked back on their way to a 6-3 win.

Mitchell Chaffee led the way offensively for Syracuse with two goals and assist, while the Crunch also got two goals from Maxim Groshev and a tally from Joe Carroll and Gage Goncalves.

Jack Rathbone tallied two goals for the Penguins in the loss, while Austin Rueschhoff also added a goal in a losing effort.

The Penguins seemed to have the early jump Saturday night, as Jonathan Gruden set up Marc Johnstone on a breaking backdoor play that Johnstone just missed on before the rugged Penguins forward drew a tripping penalty and gave his team the game's first power play less than five minutes into the contest.

Instead, the Crunch killed off the Penguins' power play and later scored to take a 1-0 lead after a failed Penguins breakout attempt from Jack St. Ivany was picked off by Devante Stephens at center ice.

Stephens quickly sent a puck ahead for Sean Day, whose initial shot was stopped by Gauthier but Carroll was in perfect position atop the crease for the rebound - slamming it home for his second of the season to put Syracuse ahead 1-0.

Joona Koppanen probably got away with a questionable hit on Jack Thompson as he caught the Syracuse defenseman in the numbers a few feet from the boards - sending him head-first into the boards. Felix Robert came to the defense of Thompson, engaging Koppanen and the two wrestled each other to the ice.

Crunch head coach Joel Bouchard was visibly irate with the lack of a call on Koppanen's hit on Thompson, and as play ensued the Penguins took a minor penalty - giving Syracuse a 4-on-3 power play shortly thereafter.

Syracuse converted on the power play to extend their lead to 2-0, using every second of their 1:07 of 4-on-3 time to net a power play goal as Max Crozier fired a hard pass from below the right-wing face-off circle to the left-wing circle for Chaffee who wound a fired a shot past Gauthier for his second goal of the year.

After failing to score on a power play early in the middle frame, the Penguins surrendered a pair of goals 2:15 apart - turning a 2-0 deficit into a 4-0 hole.

First, Groshev put his speed and sharpshooting on full display - chipping a puck up in the air in the neutral zone and flying past the Penguins' defense to get to the loose puck in the offensive zone before sniping Gauthier to the top corner, glove side, with 11:12 left in the middle frame.

Then, Gonclaves finished off a play in front of the Penguins' net after Thompson and Chafee battled to keep the play alive in the Crunch's offensive zone with 8:57 left before the second intermission.

The Penguins got one back on a power play with 6:20 left in the period courtesy of Rueschhoff's of the season, after a bit of confusion and a quick goal review, but the Crunch quickly responded to make it a 5-1 Syracuse lead with 5:15 left in the period - spelling the end of the night for Gauthier after surrendering five goals on 24 shots.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had a five-on-three power play early in the third period, but were unable to convert. They later cashed in on the man advantage during a four-minute power play thanks to a quick snipe from Rathbone with 7:34 left to play, but it was too little too late.

The Pens pulled for Sparks for the extra attacker trailing by three, but the Crunch hit the empty net on Groshev's second of the game with 5:42 left to restore Syracuse's four-goal lead.

Rathbone tallied his second goal of the third period to bring the Penguins back within three at a 6-3 deficit with 2:36 left, but that's as close as the Penguins would get.

Post-Game EXTRA!

Penguins head coach JD Forrest

On what went wrong tonight:

"Just a bad, terrible game. The first 40 minutes we just were not into it. I'm not really sure why. We showed up really, really late. I know, you beat Syracuse in their home barn you can expect them to come back with an answer. And I just think we weren't ready for that - the energy they brought tonight."

Syracuse Crunch Lineup Notes

Brandon Halverson got the start in net for Syracuse Saturday night. Hugo Alnefelt, who got the start in Friday night's matchup between these two teams, served as the Crunch's backup goaltender.

Defenseman Phil Myers was called up to Tampa Bay after the Lightning traded Zach Bogosian to the Minnesota Wild.

Crunch Scratches: Daniel Walker, Tristan Allard, Cole Koepke, Jack Finley

Lines/Pairings

Daniel Walcott - Gabriel Dumont - Maxim Groshev Gage Gonclaves - Felix Robert - Mitchell Chaffee Shawn Element - Gabriel Fortier - Lucas Edmonds Joe Carroll - Ilya Usau - Devante Stephens

Declan Carlile - Haydn Fleury Sean Day - Jack Thompson Emil Lillebrg - Max Crozier

Brandon Halverson (Backup: Hugo Alnefelt)

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Fresh off his 34-save shutout, Taylor Gauthier was back in the net for the Penguins Saturday. Garret Sparks served as the team's backup goaltender.

Forward Vinnie Hinostroza was called up to Pittsburgh prior to Saturday night's game, while Joel Blomqvist was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Avery Hayes has been added to the team's injured list after sustaining an upper body injury in Friday night's game in Syracuse. He was unable to return to the game after taking a big hit from Syracuse defenseman Haydn Fleury.

Penguins Scratches: Joel Blomqvist, Taylor Fedun, Sam Poulin, Justin Lee, Matt Filipe, Libor Hajek and Avery Hayes

Lines/Pairings:

Sam Houde - Jansen Harkins - Alex Nylander Rem Pitlick - Colin White - Valtteri Puustinen Marc Johnstone - Jonathan Gruden - Austin Rueschoff Jagger Joshua - Joona Koppanen - Corey Andonovski

Dmitri Samorukov - Mark Pysyk Ty Smith - Jack St. Ivany Jack Rathbone - Xavier Ouellet

Taylor Gauthier (Backup: Garret Sparks)

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

4:42: SYR - (PP) Thompson, minor (tripping) 7:31: SYR - Carroll (2) - Day, Stephens 10:13: WBS - Koppanen, minor (roughing) 10:13: SYR - Robert, minor (roughing) 11:06: WBS - (PP) Rathbone, minor (hooking) 12:13: SYR - PPG Chaffee (2) - Crozier, Gonclaves 15:03: WBS - Johnstone, major (fighting) 15:03: SYR - Carlile, major (fighting) 17:33: WBS - (PP) Rathbone, minor (tripping)

2nd Period

2:49: SYR - (PP) Stephens, minor (hooking) 8:48: SYR - Groshev (3) - unassisted 11:03: SYR - Gonclaves (3) - Thompson, Chaffee 13:10: SYR - (PP) Stephens, minor (holding) 13:40: WBS - PPG Rueschhoff (3) - Nylander, Harkins 14:45: SYR - Chaffee (3) - Goncalves 15:03: SYR - Element, minor (roughing) 15:03: WBS - St. Ivany, minor (roughing) 17:30: WBS - (PP) Ouellet, minor (tripping)

3rd Period

4:58: SYR - (PP) Lilleberg, minor (tripping) 5:09: SYR - (PP) Dumont, minor (delay of game) 9:58: SYR - (PP) Fleury, minor (cross-checking) 9:58: SYR - (PP) Fleury, minor (unsportsmanlike) 12:26: WBS - PPG Rathbone (2) - Ouellet, Andonovski 14:18: SYR - ENG Groshev (4) - Crozier, Lilleberg 17:24: WBS - Rathbone (3) - Koppanen, Joshua 17:52: WBS - (PP) Gruden, minor (holding)

BOXSCORE

Syracuse     2 - 3 - 1 = 6 W-B/Scranton  0 - 1 - 2 = 3

Shots

Syracuse     13 - 15 - 4 = 32 W-B/Scranton  7 - 6 - 16 = 29

Goalies

SYR: Brandon Halverson (26 saves - 29 shots) WBS: Taylor Gauthier (19 saves - 24 shots in 34:45) and Garret Sparks (7 saves - 7 shots in 15:15)

Power Play

SYR: 1-for-4 WBS: 2-for-7

Penalty Kill

SYR: 5-for-7 WBS: 3-for-4