Syracuse Crunch
Syracuse Crunch put forth strong effort despite being undermanned
by Steven DiOssi | 
@StevenDiOssi | 
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January 7, 2017
Despite a shorthanded lineup due to injuries with the Lightning, the Syracuse Crunch found a way to muster out a point on Saturday in a 2-1 overtime loss to St. John’s.
Syracuse was without two regulars in the lineup forcing the Crunch to play short one skater, but outshot the Ice Caps 33-19 to earn a point for the second consecutive night.
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Before the game, Erik Condra – who scored the tying, shorthanded goal on Friday– and Michael Bournival were pulled from the lineup in anticipation of being called up to Tampa Bay, which lost J.T. Brown to an injury late in Saturday afternoon’s loss to Philadelphia. and may have another yet announced injury, as well.
But those who were in the lineup for Syracuse, put forth a strong effort despite not picking up the victory.
“That’s the story of our weekend,” Syracuse
Syracuse outshot St. John’s 33-19 and overcame a one-goal deficit to earn at least a point in their fifth consecutive game. With the loss, the Crunch are now 18-9-1-5 on the season, but maintain their lead in the North Division with 42 points.
Mike Halmo tallied his 11th goal of the season to extend his goal streak to three games and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond played in the 600th professional game of his career.
Kristers Gudlevskis started his second straight contest and stopped 17-of-19 shots, while St. John’s goaltender Yann Danis made 32 saves in the winning effort. The Crunch held the IceCaps scoreless in two power-play opportunities and converted on 1-of-4 chances of their own with the man advantage.
The Crunch received their first power play of the game when IceCaps forward David Broll, who was with the Crunch last season, was called for tripping at just past the eight-minute mark of the first period. In their best scoring chance with the man advantage, Cory Conacher fired a puck from just above the right circle and Danis made the initial save before Joel Vermin fired the rebound just wide of the net.
The teams played a tight game in the opening frame and remained scoreless until IceCaps forward Anthony Camara swatted at a loose puck on his backhand in the slot and it went over the left shoulder of Gudlevskis and into the top right corner of the net with just under two minutes left.
The Crunch trailed 1-0 at the end of twenty minutes, despite outshooting the IceCaps by a 5-4 margin.
After one period, the #SyrCrunch trail the @IceCapsAHL, 1-0. #STJvsSYR
Intermission report presented by @gannonpest. pic.twitter.com/VEO68WMuoR
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) January 8, 2017
The teams exchanged power plays early in the middle frame but their penalty-killing units kept it to a one-goal game as the team passed the midway point of the contest.
St. John’s defenseman Jonathan Racine was called for a cross-checking penalty at 13:46 of the period and the Crunch capitalized on their third power play chance after gaining control of the puck in the offensive zone. Joel Vermin controlled the puck at the left circle and fed it to Conacher, who was parked at the top of the right circle. Conacher possessed the puck for a moment before firing a low slap shot on net that was tipped by Halmo past Danis to tie the game with just over six minutes left in the second period.
.@mhalmz can’t stop, won’t stop pic.twitter.com/s6v2XdwnAN
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) January 8, 2017
Syracuse outshot the IceCaps 11-7 in the period but the game remained tied 1-1 as they entered the final period.
The Crunch had a flurry of shots in the third period, outshooting the IceCaps 17-6 in the final twenty minutes but were unable to break the tie and the game went into overtime.
The IceCaps won the game in the extra session with Stefan Matteau and Daniel Audette capitalizing on a 2-on-1 at just past the one-minute mark of the extra session. Matteau passed the puck to Audette who one-timed it past Gudlevskis, giving the IceCaps their 18th win of the season.
Syracuse will return to action when they faceoff against the Utica Comets on Wednesday.
The #SyrCrunch picked up one point in a 2-1 overtime loss to the @icecapsAHL. #STJvsSYR pic.twitter.com/N3v6YJlsNJ
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) January 8, 2017
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