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Crunch Fall Short in Overtime
Syracuse, NY, (Saturday, November 24, 2007)
Toronto, ON (November 24, 2007) –The Syracuse Crunch fell to the Toronto Marlies 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night at the Ricoh Coliseum in front of 3,927 fans.
The first period started out slowly for Syracuse as Toronto took control of the action early on. The Marlies opened the games scoring when Jeremy Williams notched the game’s first goal when he beat Tomas Popperle at 10:48. Popperle came out to play the puck in the corner, but a good Toronto fore-check forced him back into the net quickly where he made an excellent diving save but could not recover in time to stop Williams’ rebound shot. The goal seemed to kick-start the physical play, when on the ensuing face-off Jeffrey Szwez squared off with Nathan Perrot in a heavyweight bout. Only one second later, feisty Crunch rookie Derek Dorsett fought Toronto’s Darryl Boyce, getting the best of him in the battle. The Crunch picked up their play after that, despite getting out-shot 12-4 in the period
Syracuse came out looking for better results in the second stanza. The momentum seemed to swing back and forth between the two teams. The Crunch’s best scoring chance came on a 5-on-3 power play when Derek MacKenzie was denied at the doorstep on a rebound by Toronto starter Justin Pogge, who made some key saves in the period. Popperle was also strong in the cage for the Crunch, as they out-shot Toronto 8-6 in the frame.
The Crunch came out in the third period on a mission determined to tie the game. They did just that when at the 5:35 mark, Joakim Lindstrom lead a rush up the ice that was topped off when he sent a gorgeous cross-ice feed on to the blade of Derek MacKenzie who beat Pogge to knot the score, 1-1. That lead did not last long as Toronto’s Chris Harrington scored a power play goal on a slapper from the top of the left circle that got past Popperle. Syracuse kept up their fighting spirit by coming back to tie the score once again, this time on a 4-on-3 power play of their own. Joakim Lindstrom fed the biscuit to Clay Wilson in the slot who took the pass from his skate blade up to his stick and sent a wicked backhand shot past Pogge to make it 2-2. Syracuse kept the momentum rolling in their favor when Trevor Frischmon went from one end of the ice to the other, skated around the net and found an open Lindstrom in the slot who wristed a shot past Pogge to give the Crunch their first lead of the game, 3-2. The Crunch could not hold the lead as Toronto had an answer for them less than two minutes later. Robbie Earl won a battle in the corner and centered a pass for Alex Foster who beat Popperle to tie the game 3-3.
Overtime was fast and furious as both teams traded chances. Andrew Murray was denied just about one minute in. Syracuse was taking some chances in overtime, playing for the two points. The winning tally came off a face-off when the puck found its way on to the stick of Derrick Walser, who wound up at the top of the right circle and sent a bullet past Popperle. That gave the Marlies the 4-3 overtime victory.
CRUNCHABLES: The Crunch power play was 25-for-110 (22.7%), good for second in the league coming into tonight…Joakim Lindstrom is on fire, tallying 7 points, (3g, 4a) in his last two games…Clay Wilson’s goal in the third period tonight was his fourth of the season and first as a member of the Crunch…The Crunch took three out of a possible four points against the division’s first and second place teams this weekend…Former Crunch players playing for different teams continue to torment them as Derrick Walser had the game-winner tonight.