It was just a matter of time before the Syracuse Crunch found their chemistry and clicked as one cohesive unit. Saturday night at the Onondaga County War Memorial Arena, in front of 5,588 ravenous fans, Syracuse put on an absolute show.
14 different Crunch players registered a point in the contest and it was all started by two guys that are on an absolute tear, Cory Conacher and Byron Froese.
Just over three minutes into the contest, Conacher fielded a lead pass from Froese, raced into the attacking zone, found some space, and fired a wrist-shot over the left shoulder of Marlies goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo.
Syracuse extended their lead to two goals just a little over a minute later when Conacher circled behind the Marlies net and back-handed a pass through traffic and into the waiting arms of Michael Bournival who knew what to do with it next. The tally was Bournival’s first of the playoffs.
Toronto was able to get one back momentarily but goals from Matthew Peca and Tye McGinn dampened the Marlies short-lived rally. The Crunch went into the lockeroom with a commanding 4-to-1 lead after playing perhaps their best period of hockey all season.
“We were skating, guys were moving, and it was hard for them to keep up,” Crunch captain Erik Condra said of their four-goal first period. “When we roll four lines that can skate and move the puck, I think it’s hard for any defensive core and any opposition.”
The Crunch were able to carry the momentum and their scoring touch into the early stages of the second period. Joel Vermin turned in an AHL goal of the year candidate when he went coast-to-coast, dangled Marlies defender Steve Oleksy into next week, and beat Kaskisuo to give the Crunch a 5-to-1 lead. The marker chased Kaskisuo from the game.
Matthew Peca greeted new Marlies goalie Antoine Bibeau with his second goal of the game on a breakaway.
With a 6-to-1 lead, it looked as if the Crunch was going to skate effortlessly to a win but Toronto wasn’t going to lie down that easily. The Marlies scored the next three goals to make it a 6-4 contest and quiet the hometown crowd.
“We played really well in the first, we got up 6-to-1 and we were happy with our game,” Condra said. “After that, it’s a tough game. They can kind of play free and loose. We took a couple of penalties and they scored a few power play goals, but we kept going and we kept coming back.”
Conacher and Vermin both potted their second goals of the game to put the contest out of reach once and for all by a score of 8-5. Syracuse has been able to feed off of the energy of the crowd, but now they head to enemy territory with a chance to wrap the series up in four games.
“In the playoffs, you have to take care of your home advantage,” Conacher said. “Then you have to do whatever it takes to steal one on the road. Obviously, they tried to do that and we did a good job of using our atmosphere.”
Game three is set for Tuesday at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto at 7pm.
