Simply put, the Syracuse Crunch were overpowered 5-3 by the Toronto Marlies on Tuesday night at the Ricoh Coliseum. Syracuse entered the contest with seemingly all of the momentum on their side after beating the Marlies soundly in the first two games of the series. The good guys got off to another strong start in game three but in the end, Toronto would have the last laugh.
At the 11:44 mark of the opening frame, snake-bitten Crunch forward Adam Erne found the back of the net for the first time this postseason. Byron Froese, who has been on fire to start the series, connected with Erne on a lead-pass that he snapped past the blocker of Marlies goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo to give the Crunch a 1-0 lead.
That does it for the first period. The #SyrCrunch lead the @TorontoMarlies, 1-0. Syracuse also leads SOG, 10-6. #SYRvsTOR #FIN15H pic.twitter.com/DVVtKGDdNb
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) May 9, 2017
Syracuse wouldn’t waste much time extending their lead to two goals early in the second period. Marlies center Sergey Kalinin handed Syracuse their one and only man-advantage of the game at 1:46 into the period, and the former Marlie Byron Froese was able to cash in. The marker came just eight seconds into the powerplay with the assists coming from Matt Taormina and Matthew Peca.
Right in @ByFroese‘s wheelhouse. #SYRvsTOR #FIN15H pic.twitter.com/TPQtIP72eq
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) May 10, 2017
Right when it seemed as if Syracuse was set to coast to another decisive victory, Toronto turned up the heat on Crunch starting goalie Mike McKenna. Within just three minutes, Toronto sniper Andreas Johnsson tallied twice to knot the game at two goals apiece. The Marlies dominated the period, peppering McKenna with 17 shots in comparison to the Crunch’s seven bids on Kaskisuo.
Johnsson’s first of the night extended his scoring streak to three games.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/KzcqdmLKJ8
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 10, 2017
AFTER 40: Andreas Johnsson’s second of the night has this one tied 2-2 at the intermission.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/jPLKOGHcV8
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 10, 2017
Syracuse broke the tie-game just over nine minutes into the regulation period, with the goal coming off of the stick of the Crunch’s most consistent producer this postseason, captain Erik Condra. In a play very similar to a goal Condra scored in game one of the series back in Syracuse, Crunch defenseman Slater Koekkoek raced down the left-wing side into the Toronto zone and sent a pass to the front of the net that Condra was able to tip past Kaskisuo. Tye McGinn picked up the secondary assist on the play.
The Captain regains the lead. #SYRvsTOR #FIN15H pic.twitter.com/rggIwE0Zyi
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) May 10, 2017
What followed is perhaps one of the ugliest collapses we have seen from any team since the Crunch knocked off the Utica Comets in spectacular fashion in 2014. The Marlies couldn’t do wrong in the final two minutes of the contest, putting up three goals in just 33 seconds. Yes, you read that correctly. No, Syracuse did not have an empty net.
Brendan Leipsic notched his third goal of the playoffs, Carl Grundstrom netted the game-winner, and Kasperi Kapanen added a breakaway goal of his own just for good measure.
Take another look as Brendan Leipsic tied the game with less than two minutes on the clock.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/ULxQXGnawE
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 10, 2017
Carl Grundstrom buried the rebound to put the #Marlies ahead just 18 seconds after Leipsic tied it.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/S2HojB6ILJ
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 10, 2017
Kasperi Kapanen made a quick move to the backhand to seal the deal 15 seconds after Grundstrom put the #Marlies ahead.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/vyQ3KhhnRv
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 10, 2017
Mike McKenna picked up just his second loss of the postseason and has now allowed 10 goals in his last two outings. The Crunch still lead the series 2-to-1 and will get a chance at redemption tonight at 7pm.
