Axel Jonsson-Fjallby Notches Two Goals In Bears 5-3 Loss To The Crunch

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Jon Sorensen
Photo: Syracuse Crunch

The Hershey Bears fell to the Syracuse Crunch 5-3 Friday night at the Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse. The loss drops the Bears’ record to 16-10-2-1 (35 points) on the season.

SUMMARY

The Crunch struck first early in the initial frame but the Bears would answer with a power play goal from Axel Jonsson-Fjallby midway through the opening stanza. The Crunch would strike late in the first frame for a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.

The Crunch extended their lead to 3-1 early in the second period before Axel Jonsson-Fjallby netted his second power play tally of the game, late in the middle frame, for a 3-2 Crunch lead at the second intermission.

The Crunch would extend their lead to 4-2 early in the final frame, but the Bears would answer once again. This time Garrett Pilon would find the back of the net for his 10th of the season to make it 4-3, early in the third. The Crunch would add an empty net goal for the 5-3 win.

STARTERS

The Bears started goaltender Pheonix Copley (8-5-1-1, 2.75 GAA, .897 sv%) in net while the Crunch countered with Max Legace (4-3-0-0, 3.40 GAA, .869 sv%) between the pipes. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Bears:

Scratches: Brian Pinho (upper-body injury), Matt Moulson (upper-body injury) and Eddie Whittchow (lower-body injury).

Christopher Brown, Marcus Vela, Colby McAuley, Jake Massie and Macoy Erkamps were also scratched.

Re-called: Mike Sgarbossa was recalled to the Capitals taxi squad on Wednesday. He was recalled to the Capitals roster on Friday.

Re-assigned: The Bears re-assigned goaltender Ryan Bednard to ECHL South Carolina on Wednesday. Jordan Subban was also returned to the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL this week. Will Graber was returned to the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL earlier this week.

Released: The Bears released forward Vladislav Mikhalchuk from his professional tryout on Wednesday.

Note: It was announced this week that Matt Moulson had back surgery and will be out for an extended period of time.

FIRST PERIOD

The Crunch drew first blood early in the opening stanza with a tally from Cole Koepke (6) at 2:45 of the first frame. Gabriel Dumont (9) and Alex Barré-Boulet (5) had the helpers.

The Bears answered with a power play marker from Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (8) at 8:36 of the first period. Lucas Johansen (5) and Alex Alexeyev (4) had the assists.

But the Crunch would quicly re-take the lead with a goal from Alex Green (1) at 12:51 of the first period. Cole Koepke (10) and Jimmy Huntington (6) had the assists.

The period would end with the Crunch leading 2-1. The Crunch led in shots 10-6 in the first 20 minutes. Hershey was 1 for 2 and Syracuse 0 for 1 on the power play in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD

The Crunch would extend their lead to 3-1 with a tally from P.C. Labrie (3) at 1:15 of the second period. Ryan Jones (5) and Charles Hudon (11) had the assists.

The Bears would cut the Crunch lead to a single goal with a power play goal from Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (9), his second power play goal of the game, at 16:33 of the second period.

The second period expired with the Crunch leading 3-2. Hershey led in shots 10-6 in the middle frame. Hershey was 2 for 4 and Syracuse 0 for 2 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The Crunch made it 4-2 less than two minutes into the final frame with a tally from Gabriel Fortier (5). Alex Green (7) and Otto Somppi (4) had the assists.

The Bears would strike back. This time Joe Snively would feed Garrett Pilon (10) at 3:16 of the third period. Snively (18) and Alex Alexeyev (5) had the helpers.

The Crunch would add an empty net goal for the 5-3 win.

The Bears are back in action on Saturday when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Giant Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

SHAVINGS

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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