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Syracuse Crunch

Crunch stumble late in morning matinee at Toronto, fall in overtime

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by Steven DiOssi | @StevenDiOssi | Like us on Facebook
February 22, 2017

The Syracuse Crunch carried a two-goal lead into the third period, but the Toronto Marlies scored three unanswered goals to skate away with a 3-2 overtime victory at Ricoh Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon.

Cory Conacher paced the Crunch with two goals in the first period and Syracuse held the Marlies to just one shot in the middle frame. Toronto, however, closed the gap in a dominant third period, before capping the comeback with Brett Findlay’s game-winner in the extra session. Conacher, who leads all Crunch players with 44 points, had some extra motivation in the matinee tilt — he was facing off against his younger brother, Shane, for the first time as a professional. Despite Cory’s individual performance, Shane took the first matchup between the brothers behind two goals from Findlay.

The Crunch earned at least a point for the second-straight game, but with the loss have fallen to 26-17-5-5 on the season. They continue to lead the North Division with 62 points, but have earned back-to-back wins just twice since a three-game winning streak from Dec. 7 to Dec. 10.

Adam Wilcox stopped 20-of-23 shots he faced, while Marlies goaltender Garrett Sparks made 28 saves in the winning effort. Syracuse was unable to convert on three power play opportunities and the Marlies found the back of the net once in five chances with the man advantage.

Syracuse opened the scoring at 10:19 of the first period. Sparks made the initial save on a shot from the right circle, but the puck landed in the crease. As Yanni Gourde poked at the puck, Conacher crashed the blue paint and was able to slide the puck past Sparks for his 11th goal of the season. Mike Halmo and Ben Thomas each added assists on the goal.

The Crunch built upon the lead when Conacher found the back of the net for the second time at 15:29 of the period. Adam Erne won a battle for the puck in the corner and pivoted before feeding a pass to Conacher at the top of the left circle. Conacher snapped a hard one-timer towards the Toronto net that beat Sparks. Gourde also added an assist — his 40th point of the season and good for third among all Crunch players.

Syracuse carried their momentum over in the second period, holding the Marlies to a loan shot on goal and posting 12 of their own, despite not adding to their two-goal lead. The Crunch were able to kill off two Toronto power play chances but were unable to convert on one of their own, as the teams entered the final session.

While the first 40 minutes belonged to the Crunch, the Marlies owned the third — scoring twice on 11 shots to force overtime.

Findlay made it a one-goal game when he received a pass from Kerby Rychel and got behind the Syracuse defense and came in on a short breakaway along the left boards. He cut towards the Crunch net and maneuvered around Wilcox before tucking it in on the backhand just 1:07 into the period.

Halmo was called for a slashing penalty at 8:27 of the period and the Marlies capitalized on the ensuing power play. Colin Smith fired a snap shot on net that ricocheted off the post and landed on the ice near the Syracuse goal. Dmytro Timashov potted the loose puck for his 11th goal of the season and tied the game with 11:18 to play.

The teams were unable to break the tie and the game went to the extra session.

Toronto completed their comeback just 1:13 into overtime by taking advantage of a turnover at the Syracuse blue line. Rychel gained control of the puck and entered the offensive zone, before feeding it to Justin Holl. While skating backwards across the left circle, Holl sent the puck into the slot where Findlay snapped off a low shot that beat Wilcox for the victory.

The Crunch fell to 4-10 outside of regulation this season and will look to bounce back when they face the Rochester Americans on Friday — the last contest on their six-game road trip.

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