Hudson Fasching scored 10:05 into overtime to give Cleveland a pivotal 4-3 road win over Syracuse in Game 3 of their North Division semifinal series.
The Monsters have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series with Game 4 set for Sunday afternoon in Syracuse.
Just after coming onto the ice to begin a shift, Fasching took a long pass from Jack Williams and broke in on Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson. His initial shot went wide, but Fasching beat his man to the rebound behind the net and wrapped it in for the game-winner. It was the first postseason goal of Fasching’s 10-year professional career.
Guillaume Richard scored twice and Riley Bezeau once for the Monsters, and Luca Del Bel Belluz and Dysin Mayo tallied two assists apiece. Zach Sawchenko (2-0) made 31 saves.
Spencer Kersten, Nick Abruzzese and Ethan Gauthier scored for the Crunch. Halverson (1-1) turned aside 28 shots.
(Cleveland leads series, 2-1)
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 24 – CLEVELAND 3, Syracuse 2
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 26 – Syracuse 4, CLEVELAND 1
Game 3 – Fri., May 1 – Cleveland 4, SYRACUSE 3 (OT)
Game 4 – Sun., May 3 – Cleveland at Syracuse, 3:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 9 – Cleveland at Syracuse, 5:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
