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Game Notes: 3/07/08 v. Toronto Marlies
Crunch Kill Off Marlies
Syracuse, NY (March 7, 2008) - The Syracuse Crunch should come with a Warning Label, "Caution Hot Team, You Will Get Burned". And why not?
Syracuse is 9-1-0-4 in its last 14 games, including a 3-2 win over the division-leading Toronto Marlies Friday at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
Syracuse is 9-1-0-4 in its last 14 games, including a 3-2 win over the division-leading Toronto Marlies Friday at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
The game began another three-game in three-night weekend and will finish with a trip to Toronto on Sunday.
There were as many sub-plots to this game as there were goals. The story of the little goalie who could as Karl Goehring turned in another outstanding performance between the pipes, stopping 28 shots. Goehring even spotted the Marlies a goal when he put the first one in his own net. Goehring tried to clear the puck only to have it bounce in the net off a defenseman's skate.
There was the continued great effort by the penalty killers including Adam Pineault, Mark Methot, Duvie Westcott, Dan Smith and with game for the ages, Trevor Frischmon. Frischmon and his mates not only killed off a full two-minute 5-on-3 power play with nearly five minutes left in the third but also limited Toronto to only two shots on goal during that time.
Syracuse killed off all nine Toronto power plays. The opposing teams might want to decline the penalty when they play the Crunch because the Syracuse penalty kill has not allowed a goal the last 27 times it's been down a man, that's red hot.
Oh, then there's the fact that Manitoba beat Hamilton 2-0 leaving Syracuse and the Bulldogs tied for third in the North Division with 69 points. Hamilton has played two less games than Syracuse.
Syracuse knotted the game two minutes after Goehring's miscue when Zenon Konopka batted home a rebound after a scramble in front of the Marlies' net.
Derick Brassard popped home a power-play goal in the second period that gave Syracuse a 2-1 lead.
In the third, Toronto's Max Taylor took advantage of a screened Goehring and tied the game at 2-2 nearly eight minutes into the frame but 25 seconds later Mark Rycroft set a screen for Konopka and the Crunch captain's shot from the point found the back of the Marlies' net and put the Crunch up 3-2.
The game was far from over when late in the third Alexandre Picard picked up a boarding penalty and his verbiage to referee David Banfield cost him an additional two minutes and then Methot was sent off for charging setting up the 5-on-3. Enter Frischmon and company. Toronto was kept off balance and never mounted a sustained power play.