Revenge for Crunch is best served Froese(n)

By Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
May 5, 2017

Revenge can be a dish best served Froese(n)!

Byron Froese picked up two points, including the game-winning goal, against his former team as the Syracuse Crunch opened up second-round play in the American Hockey League playoffs with a 3-1 victory against the Toronto Marlies on Friday.

Captain Erik Condra also had a goal and an assist while Yanni Gourde picked up his first point of the playoffs with an empty-net insurance goal with 1:17 left in regulation. Mike McKenna stopped 24 shots as the Crunch matched their season long best with a fourth consecutive victory.

The Crunch grab a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series that resumes play on Saturday with Game 2 back in Syracuse.

For Froese, who also had the game-winning goal in Game 3 against St. John’s in the first round, it was a satisfying evening against his former team.

Acquired at the trade deadline by the Lightning in the deal that sent Brian Boyle to the Maple Leafs, Froese was leading the Marlies in goals with 24 in 48 games at the time of the trade. After three goals and seven points in six games for the Crunch during the regular season, Froese has been a big part of the early playoff success for Syracuse with two goals and four points.

There was just a tad more significance behind getting the winner against the Marlies.

”It’s not personal but you always want to play well against the team that traded you away. I don’t think we left on bad terms at all, but it’s an exciting series and a big series for us.’’

After falling behind 1:39 in to the game, the Crunch pulled even at 14:40 on Erik Condra’s team-leading third goal of the postseason, his second on the power play.

Then late in the second period, Froese put the Crunch in the lead for good as he took a pass from Adam Erne, who circled back near the right circle, and collected the puck quickly with his left skate to kick the puck to his forehand and quickly snapped off a shot past Toronto goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo at 16:15.

”He’s been pretty good for us since the start of the playoffs,’’ head coach Ben Groulx said of Froese. “He’s a competitor and he’s going to the net and that’s been the difference.

The Crunch played a strong defensive game in the third period, killing off an early Toronto power play attempt while McKenna finished with nine saves in the third to preserve the victory.

”We did a great job when you look at how many shots we blocked, especially on the penalty kill, which is something we emphasize,’’ McKenna said. “As a goalie, when you know everybody has your back in front of you, it makes your job easier. And we did a great job of it tonight.’’

It was a good early-series start for the Crunch to be able to limit the Marlies attack for most of the game, a trend that will have to continue for Syracuse to sustain that success.

”It’s one game at a time,’’ Groulx said. “I expect games to be like this all series long. It’s tight, there is not a lot of room, they are a good team and we know we need to be solid defensively. I thought we did that. So we are happy with tonight, now let’s focus on tomorrow.’’