Crunch Comeback Falls Short in Overtime
Syracuse, NY, (Saturday, April 19, 2008)
Syracuse, N.Y. (April 19, 2008) - The run has ended, but the battle still rages. The Syracuse Crunch lost 3-2 in overtime to the Manitoba Moose, before a raucous crowd of 5,562 at the War Memorial at Oncenter.
The loss evens the North Division Semifinal at 1-1 as the best-of-seven series shifts to Manitoba for games three, four and five.
Mike Brown came around from the back of the net and stuffed home the game-winner at the 14:50 mark of the first overtime. Karl Goehring, in the net for Syracuse, had his pad against the post but Brown pushed the pad and the puck across the line.
Nobody expected that Syracuse would ever lose another game after stringing 16 wins together. The Crunch trailed 2-0 heading into the third, but came back to tie the game. Andrei Plekhanov and Duvie Westcott both blasted home goals to force overtime.
Syracuse, once again, had a hard time figuring out Manitoba goalie Cory Schneider but early in the third Schneider had to leave the game with a bad left-leg cramp he developed on a pad save of Gilbert Brule. He was replaced by Drew MacIntyre.
MacIntyre had a blast by Plekhanov go off his mask, land behind him and bounce into the net at the 6:43 mark while Syracuse was on the power play.
With six minutes remaining Westcott fired home the tying goal from the center blueline that glued every one of the fans to their seats to see if the Crunch could pull another win out of their magic hat.
Brown’s game-winner erased that possibility but it just means that the Crunch will attempt to start another string Tuesday at the MTS Center in Winnipeg.
3-Stars—No. 1, Brown, No. 2, Westcott, No. 3, Michael Grabner (Game’s first goal).