Home Ice remains an advantage for Crunch as Syracuse gains series lead

By Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
May 24, 2017

Home is where the heart lies.

For the Syracuse Crunch, home is also where playoff victories are grown.

The Crunch once again used home ice as an advantage to gain an edge in the Eastern Conference finals against the Providence Bruins.

Mike McKenna stopped 37 shots while Cory Conacher finished with two goals and four point sto lead Syracuse to a 5-4 victory at War Memorial in Game 3 of the conference finals. Yanni Gourde and Matt Taormina each had a goal and assist to help give the Crunch a 2-1 series lead.

Game 4 will take place on Friday in Syracuse where the Crunch remain perfect in postseason play.

After splitting the opening two games of the series in Providence, the Crunch took home ice advantage away from the Bruins. And home ice has been a huge advantage for Syracuse to this point. Through two-plus rounds, the Crunch are 7-0 playing in front of their home fans.

Once again, that fueled Syracuse to a quick start to the game.

”It’s just the energy that is behind us, we have great fan support . . . we feed off that,’’ Taormina said after the game. “With the next couple of games coming up, we can really build off that.’’

Syracuse came out of the game strong, building up a 2-0 lead.

Conacher would open up the scoring with a power play goal at 8:19 of the opening period with his fifth goal of the postseason. Michael Bournival made it 2-0 with a rebound of Mathieu Brodeur’s point shot at 14:18 as the Crunch looked in control.

”I thought we had a great start,’’ Syracuse head coach Ben Groulx said. “We were skating and moving the puck.’’

Taromina would increase the lead to 3-0 at the 4:48 mark of the second period and Syracuse looked set to cruise to victory. Instead, the Crunch looked comfortable and that always makes the head coach uncomfortable.

With the three-goal lead, the Crunch appeared to sit back and let Providence start to dictate the play. McKenna, though, was up to the task ensuring the lead would remain intact, stopping 19 of the 20 shots he faced in the middle frame, beaten only by a Danton Heinen rebound chance with 2:25 left in the second period.

”We stopped playing in the second and they were all over us,’’ Groulx said. “Our goalie was phenomenal in the second period.’’

Syracuse would regain their first-period form in the third and increased the lead back to three goals as Gourde scored 3:59 in to the final period, set up by a strong forecheck by both Gourde and Conacher during 4-on-4 play.

But then late in the third, the Crunch reverted back to their second-period play and let the Bruins back in to the game as Providence scored a pair of goals just 22 seconds apart – Anton Blidh at 16:49 and Heinen at 17:11 – to cut the Syracuse lead to a goal with 2:49 left to play pushing forward with a relentless approach.

”That’s the way they play, it’s engrained in them from the top down,’’ McKenna said. “They play structured, they play hard and they really bring it on the forecheck and they are relentless.’’

But the Crunch never panicked and remained in control, getting an empty net goal from Conacher 41 seconds after Providence cut the lead to one.

”Our guys just know they can get the job done,’’ McKenna said. ‘But it helps when you can have a bit of a cushion, too. Sometimes games like that can take on a life of their own and it can be odd. But we know what we can do in this locker room, we know when we play our game what we are capable of.’’

After seeing Providence find a way to fight back, the Crunch know what the Bruins are capable of, as well, and know there can be no sustained lapses when the teams face off again on Friday.

”I don’t think we can afford to stop playing at this point in the year,’’ Groulx said. “I think too many guys became individuals at one point and that can’t happen. … They are a good team as well and that’s why we can’t stop playing. If we think it’s going to be easy, I think they sent us a message that they are not going to stop playing. Even though were down 4-1, they kept coming. Hopefully we are going to learn from tonight’s game.’’

Audio provided by Syracuse Crunch

Series schedule

Game 1 — Syracuse 6, Providence3 (Syracuse leads series 1-0)

Game 2 — Providence 2, Syracuse 1 (OT) (Series tied 1-1

Game 3 — Syracuse 5, Providence 4 (Syracuse leads series 2-1)

Game 4 — Friday, May 26, 7 p.m. at Syracuse

Game 5 — Saturday, May 27, 7 p.m. at Syracuse

Game 6* — Tuesday, May 30, 7:05 p.m. at Providence

Game 7* — Wednesday, May 31, 7:05 p.m.. at Providence

• – if necessary
• All times Eastern