Crunch Win in Overtime to Take 3-2 Series Lead
Winnipeg, MB, (Sunday, April 27, 2008)
Winnipeg, MB (April 26, 2008) – The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Manitoba Moose in overtime tonight, 3-2 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
The Crunch came out with a torrid first period for the second straight night, sending a 14-shot barrage in the direction of Manitoba starter Cory Schneider. Schneider was there to deny every Crunch scoring opportunity as Syracuse went 0-for-2 on the power play in the first frame.
Zenon Konopka tallied three shots on goal and also got into a scrap with Nathan McIver with four minutes to play in the period. Karl Goehring turned aside all four shots he faced as the teams were knotted in a scoreless tie after one.
Manitoba scored the first goal of the game for the third time in the series just two and a half minutes into the second stanza. Jason Jaffray took a shot that sailed wide off the back boards and skidded on to the stick of Brad Moran. Moran slid the puck to Jannik Hansen in the slot who slung a backhand that went through the right arm and body of Goehring and into the back of the net for a 1-0 Moose lead
The Crunch answered back just over two minutes later on their third power play opportunity of the night. Derick Brassard took the puck along the left wall, made a nice move and slid a pass back to Duvie Westcott at the point.
Westcott fired a slapper that was tipped in front by Nate DiCasmirro past Schneider to tie the game at 1-1.
The Crunch went on to take four penalties in the period, including a tripping call on Westcott and a cross-checking infraction on DiCasmirro at the 19:03 mark and 20:00 mark of the period, respectively.
Starting the period on the wrong side of a 5-on-3, the Crunch were able to kill off the first penalty to make it a 5-on-4. 1:26 into the frame, Greg Classen tipped in a Danny Groulx shot past Goehring to give the Moose a 2-1 lead.
The Crunch countered again to tie the game at the 10:28 mark. Marc Methot skated in down the left wing boards and centered the puck for Derick Brassard. The puck was deflected by the stick of a Manitoba defender and sent fluttering, but found its way to Brassard nevertheless. Brassard corralled the biscuit and sniped it to the top corner to tie the game at 2-2.
With less than one minute to go in the third period, Gilbert Brule came down the left side and made a strong move to the net. Brule was held, resulting in a penalty. The Crunch couldn’t convert with the man-advantage in the final 52 seconds, and the game went to overtime deadlocked at 2-2.
The Crunch came out in attack mode in the overtime session, peppering Schneider with shot after shot. They finally broke through at the 10:54 mark, when Brassard slid a beautiful pass through the Manitoba defense to Derek MacKenzie, who snuck in behind the defense.
MacKenzie made a move to his backhand and slid the puck underneath the arm of Schneider to send the series back to Syracuse with his team up three games to two.
The Crunch will have a chance to close out the series on Monday at the War Memorial at Oncenter at 7 p.m.
Three Stars
- Derek MacKenzie (Game-winning goal)
- Derick Brassard (1g, 2a)
- Cory Schneider (30 saves)