Friday night, the second-seeded Syracuse Crunch kicked off their North Division Semifinal round against the Rochester Americans with a 3-2 overtime win. After a scoreless opening period, the two teams would combine for four goals in the second with Declan Carlile scoring the first playoff goal of his career as he popped one past Malcolm Subban on the power play.
Linus Weissbach tied things up four minutes later. Felix Robert found the back of the net (also on the power play) to give the Crunch a lead that lasted less than two minutes. Josh Passolt tied it for Rochester and it would remain that way until overtime.
For the Crunch, that meant it was Philippe Myers time. After a brief emergency recall to the Lightning on Thursday, the defenseman did what he’s done a couple of times this year – scoring game-winning goals.
WE TAKE GAME 1!!!! pic.twitter.com/FsXriU3b8y
— x – Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) April 22, 2023
Cole Koepke and Shawn Element finished with two assists on the night while Max Lagace stopped 21 of 23 shots. Subban faced 40 shots, including 8 (!) from Max Crozier, stopping 37 of them.
The Crunch take the 1-0 series lead in the best of five. Game Two is tonight at 7:00 P.M. at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
Lightning News
M.A.T. – Burn the tape [Raw Charge]
Geo shared his thoughts on the Game Two Lightning loss. Not much to say really. It just wasn’t a great night.
After a split in Toronto, do Lightning have the home-ice advantage? [Tampa Bay Times]
Does anyone in this year’s playoffs have home-ice advantage? Yes, the Bolts have had a strong home record this season, but like a lot of other things, you can toss that out the window. If they play like they did on Thursday they won’t win anywhere.
Perry ups the intensity ahead of Game 3 [NHL.com]
I’m not sure anyone had The Worm as the Lightning’s points leader (2 goals, 2 assists) after two games, but that’s where we’re at. He’s also gotten under the skin of the Maple Leafs and their fans, having drawn 4 penalties and a near constant booing every time he’s on the ice.
The unstoppable fandom of Steven Hammer [Tampa Bay Lightning]
The story behind the man with the blue face on the side of Amalie Arena.
NHL and Hockey News
Boston Bruins 4-2 over the Florida Panthers – Boston leads 2-1
Despite not having Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci in the line-up, the Bruins went on the road and beat the Panthers. Taylor Hall, Charlie Croyle, David Pastrnak, and Nick Foligno scored for Boston.
New York Islanders 5-1 over Carolina Hurricanes – Carolina leads 2-1
It was a tied game with just under 4 minutes to go in the game. Kyle Palmieri scored on the power play and the Islanders added three more before the game ended. Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin, Scott Mayfield, and Anders Lee were the other goal scorers for New York.
Minnesota Wild 5-1 over Dallas Stars – Minnesota leads 2-1
Filip Gustavsson returned to the Minnesota net and stopped 23 of 24 shots while Mats Zuccarello scored twice in the win.
Edmonton Oilers 3-2 (OT) over Los Angeles Kings – L.A. leads 2-1
Trevor Moore’s overtime power play goal (after a lengthy review to see if a high-stick stoppage was missed) proved to be the difference. Alex Iafello and Adrian Kempe had the other two goals while Connor McDavid scored his first two goals of the series.
Is Women’s Hockey coming to DC? [Japers’ Rink]
Word is leaking that the new PWHL is finalizing the cities that will host the clubs that will form the league featuring players from the PWHPA. It’s rumored that there will be teams in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Montreal, Toronto, London (Ontario), and Washington, D.C.
It appears Connor Bedard’s season is over. After getting bounced early from the WHL playoffs, it is being reported that the presumptive number one pick in the 2023 NHL draft will not play at the upcoming World Hockey Championships.
Connor Bedard will not be playing in the upcoming World Hockey Championships.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) April 21, 2023
