Syracuse Crunch
Dumont plays OT hero to send Syracuse Crunch to the second round of AHL playoffs
By Erik Erlendsson | 
@Erik_Erlendsson | 
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April 28, 2017
Gabriel Dumont spent half this season trying to re-establish an NHL career in a energy line role.
But in the American Hockey League, Dumont plays more of a scoring line role.
On Friday, he notched the series-clinching overtime goal to send the Syracuse Crunch in to the second found of the AHL playoffs.
Dumont, who appeared in 39 games with the Lightning this season, scored his first goal of the playoffs 2:18 in to overtime to give Syracuse a 2-1 victory and win the series 3-1 against St. John’s, the team Dumont served as captain a season ago.
The Crunch advance to face the Toronto Marlies (Maple Leafs), which won their series against Albany with a triple-overtime victory on Friday. The series will open on Friday (May 5) in Syracuse.
Dumont came from around the back of the net to find an open spot near the left circle and took a perfect feed from Byron Froese from the bottom of the right circle to score in to the vacated half of the net to not just end the series, but ended the existence of the St. John’s, which will relocate to Laval, Quebec, starting next season.
“I played the one season in St. John’s, and I have some friends on the other team but it’s the nature of hockey, they play on the other team and you want to win,” Dumont said.
Dumont was only thinking about what the goal meant for the Crunch after he scored, not about how it affected St. John’s.
“There were two guys in front of me so I didn’t really see the puck go in, I just know it didn’t hit the post and then I saw the goal light go on, so I was pretty excited,” said Dumont, who last scored for the Crunch on Dec. 30, 2016. “I didn’t really know what to do.”
While Dumont provided the heroics in the series clinching game, goaltender Mike McKenna was the difference in the series overall. With all four games decided by a goal and two of the games requiring overtime, McKenna was there time and time again for the Crunch, including on Friday when he stopped three breakaways among his 26 saves.
“Overall Mike McKenna was our best player, no doubt about it,” head coach Ben Groulx said. “He was the difference in the series and he was one of our few guys who played with a lot of poise. We need more of those in the next round. When you finish first you put a lot of pressure on yourself to win the first round. Now that’s behind us.”
The Crunch were certainly pushed and tested by the IceCaps throughout the first round series. After dropping the first game of the series in St. John’s, Syracuse fell behind by two goals in the third period before rallying in the final five minutes and going on to win in double overtime. In Game 3, the Crunch blew the two-goal lead in the second period before going on to win the game. Then on Friday, Syracuse held a 1-0 lead late in to the game before St. John’s scored with 5:33 remaining and send the game to overtime.
Through it all, McKenna – acquired from the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline for Adam Wilcox to solidify the Syracuse goaltending situation – kept the game calm around him.
“That’s a compliment (from Groulx), but you look at what the guys were doing around me, blocking shots, how many lanes they were taking away, it’s a group effort,” McKenna said.
McKenna’s teammates, however, were quick to praise their netminder for bailing them out when there were breakdowns, such as on the three breakaways on Friday.
“Especially in the two games here (in Syracuse), he was our best player,” Dumont said. “He gave us a chance to win and I’m just glad we could pull that one out.”
Entering the postseason, the Crunch were a relatively young team with a roster lacking in overall playoff experience. Having McKenna behind them allows mistakes to get covered up and allows the skaters in front of him understand more and more what it takes to win games, while actually winning games.
“I think we have a skilled team in here but we need to work hard at the same time,” said captain Erik Condra, who scored his second goal in as many games to give Syracuse a 1-0 lead early. “We tried early in the series to make too many plays where you have to be a little bit more simple in playoff hockey.”
Now, the Crunch have a better understanding of how to do that as they move on to the second round of the first time since 2013, the first year of the affiliation between Syracuse and the Lightning.
Second round schedule
Game 1 — Friday, May 5, 7 p.m. at Syracuse
Game 2 — Saturday, May 6, 7 p.m. at Syracuse
Game 3 — Tuesday, May 9, 7 p.m. at Toronto
Game 4 — Wednesday, May 10, 7 p.m. at Toronto
Game 5 — Saturday, May 13, 7 p.m. at Syracuse (if necessary)
Game 6 — Monday, May 15, 7 p.m. at Toronto (if necessary)
Game 7 — Wednesday, May 17, 7 p.m. at Syracuse (if necessary)