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Game Notes: 3/09/08 v. Toronto Marlies
Crunch Win OT Thriller in Toronto
Toronto, ON (March 9, 2008) – Nate DiCasmirro’s first goal as a member of the Crunch could not have come at a better time as Syracuse defeated the Toronto Marlies in overtime tonight, 2-1 at the Ricoh Coliseum in front of 2,514 fans.
Toronto, ON (March 9, 2008) – Nate DiCasmirro’s first goal as a member of the Crunch could not have come at a better time as Syracuse defeated the Toronto Marlies in overtime tonight, 2-1 at the Ricoh Coliseum in front of 2,514 fans.
With both teams playing their third game in three nights, the first period had a good pace to it. The Crunch scored the game’s first goal on the power play with just under four minutes to play.
Adam Pineault took a Clay Wilson pass along the right half-wall and found a wide open Alexandre Picard right above the hash marks in the middle of the ice. Picard fired a shot that eluded Toronto starter Scott Clemmensen to give the Crunch a 1-0 advantage.
Toronto outshot the Cruch 11-4 in the period.
The Marlies continued to press the action in the second period, finally breaking through at the 14:13 mark. Former Crunch right wing David Ling found the rebound of an Andy Wozniewski shot from the top of the left circle and smacked a backhand past Crunch starter Dan LaCosta to tie the game at 1-1.
Despite the one goal, LaCosta made some big stops in the second as the Crunch were outshot 24-11 through two.
The third frame was full of hard-fought back and forth hockey, with both teams looking to take the lead. Toronto almost did just that when they broke in on a 2-on-0 situation with under five minutes to play in the third frame. LaCosta’s big body was there to deny a one-time, cross-ice pass and keep the score knotted at 1-1.
LaCosta turned aside 32 of 33 shots in regulation and overtime and was named the game’s first star.
With Hamilton losing their game earlier, the Crunch looked to take a three-point lead over the Bulldogs for third place in the North Division.
Just 1:14 into the extra session, Duvie Westcott skated in down the right side and threw the puck on goal. His former St. Cloud State teammate DiCasmirro found the rebound and whacked it through the pads of Clemmensen on his second try to give the Crunch a 2-1 overtime victory.
CRUNCHABLES: The Crunch extended their season-high point streak to nine games…Syracuse is 10-1-0-4 in their last 15 games…The Crunch improved their record on Sundays to 5-1-0-0…The Crunch penalty killing unit has now killed off 37 consecutive penalties…Alex Picard has two goals in his last two games.