SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch built a two-goal lead then went down by one before climbing back to prevail over the Toronto Marlies, 5-4, tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
Matt Taormina led the way with two goals, while Jeremy Morin, Yanni Gourde and Tanner Richard chipped in one each to help snap a three-game winless streak and advance the team to 19-9-2-5 on the season. Syracuse also has a 2-0 lead in the eight-
game season series with Toronto.
Adam Wilcox stopped 17-of-20 shots between the pipes for the Crunch before being relieved by Kristers Gudlevskis to start the third period. Gudlevskis turned aside 6-of-7. Antoine Bibeau made 28 saves in net for the Marlies. Syracuse was able to convert on 2-of-7 power play opportunities while killing all six Toronto man-advantages, including two full minutes of 5-on-3 play.
The Crunch were first on the board with 1:45 to play in the opening period. Richard won the faceoff in the right circle and kicked the puck out for Mike Halmo. The left winger sent it up top for Taormina to ring off the crossbar and in from the right point.
Just 12 seconds into the middle frame, the Crunch doubled their score. Morin skated in the right wing side and beat Bibeau with a wrist shot from the circle. Joel Vermin and Ben Thomas earned points with the assists.
The Marlies cut the lead in half with a tic-tac-toe goal at the 4:03 mark. Tobias Lindberg started the play up top before sending it to Brendan Leipsic in the slot and then Byron Froese to score top shelf. Four minutes later, Tony Cameranesi evened the score with the help of Frank Corrado and Richard Clune.
Seconds after the Crunch successfully killed off two minutes of 5-on-3, the Marlies were able to get past Wilcox and take their only lead of the game. Andrew Nielsen passed down to the goal line for Leipsic to one-time from a sharp angle.
With 20 seconds remaining in the second stanza, Taormina tallied his second of the game while on the power play to send the teams into the intermission tied, 3-3. Richard sent a feed to the high slot where the defenseman redirected it into the cage. Cory Conacher recorded the secondary assist.
The Crunch got the go-ahead goal just 1:10 into the third period. Daniel Walcott’s breakaway shot on net was stopped, but Gourde was in front of the cage to get a stick on the loose puck and sneak it underneath the goaltender. Richard netted the eventual game-winner at the 6:33 mark. He was in front of the crease to score on a second-chance opportunity from Conacher’s slap shot. Taormina made it a three-point night with the secondary helper.
Toronto got one back halfway through the final twenty when Cameranesi netted his second of the game, but Syracuse was able to hold on to earn the win.
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