Marc-Antoine Pouliot‘s goal with 8.8 seconds remaining capped a wild night at the Onondaga County War Memorial and gave the visiting Hamilton Bulldogs a 7-6 victory over the Syracuse Crunch.
Hamilton came back from three separate deficits to post the win, their third of the season (3-4-0-0). Syracuse dropped to 4-3-0-0.
The game, which featured a remarkable 10 power-play goals, started with Crunch rookies Geoff Platt and Alexandre Picard giving Syracuse a 2-0 lead. For Picard, the eighth overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, it was the first goal of his pro career.
The Bulldogs responded with three consecutive goals from rookie Jean-Francois Jacques in a span of 3 minutes and 50 seconds to take a 3-2 lead.
Platt tied the score with his second goal of the night and eighth of the season, tops among AHL rookies, and Andrew Murray put Syracuse back on top 2:33 later.
The ‘Dogs bit back again, with Andrei Kostitsyn tying it at 4-4 in the final minute of the second period.
The Crunch went back to work on the power play and scored two quick goals on consecutive 5-on-3 advantages, with defensemen Andy Delmore and Aaron Johnson making it 6-4.
But Kostitsyn and Andre Benoit scored 56 seconds apart to tie the score again, and Pouliot won it at the 19:51 mark.
Hamilton finished 5-for-11 on the power play; Syracuse, 6-for-57 entering the game, was 5-for-10.
Ron Hainsey recorded four assists for the Bulldogs, one of six Hamilton players with multiple points. Platt led the Crunch with two goals and two assists.
Elsewhere on Friday:
Derek Roy registered a goal and four assists for his third five-point night already this season, and Rochester went 5-for-10 on the power play in a 6-4 win at Toronto… Jiri Hudler scored two goals — his league-leading 11th and 12th of the season — and Jimmy Howard made 39 saves in his professional debut as Grand Rapids defeated Iowa, 6-2… Tomas Surovy scored twice as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton improved to 8-0-0-0 with a 5-2 win over Hershey… Carsen Germyn recorded a hat trick and Mark Giordano dished out four assists in Omaha’s 7-6 shootout win over Chicago… Kris Beech and Timofei Shishkanov each scored twice as Milwaukee rolled to its first win of the year, 6-1 over Houston… Martin St. Pierre recorded a goal and two assists for Norfolk in a 3-1 win over Albany… Ryan Shannon scored twice to lead Portland past Philadelphia, 5-2… Andrew Ladd, Chad Larose and Vince Bellissimo each scored twice as Lowell beat Springfield, 7-3… Chad Wiseman‘s goal early in the third period lifted Hartford to a 3-2 win in Providence… Led by two goals and an assist from Lee Stempniak, Peoria posted a 5-1 win at San Antonio.
