It was rivalry night in Syracuse as the Crunch hosted the Utica Comets at the Onondaga War Memorial Arena. When the two teams met just a few weeks ago in pre-season action the end result favored the hometown team. Tonight, though, not so much as Utica picked apart the Crunch's blueliners en route to a 5-4 victory
Utica got the offense going early in the opening period when Utica defenseman Chad Billins sent a knuckle-puck from the blueline through traffic and past Crunch net-minder Kristers Gudlevskis. That power-play tally came at the 1:58 mark of the first frame.