Eastern Conference Quarterfinal - Syracuse leads series, 1-0
Game 2: (3) Syracuse Crunch vs. (6) Portland Pirates
7:30 p.m. at War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.
Despite having not played once during the regular season, the Syracuse Crunch and Portland Pirates developed a quick rivalry in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarter Final. The teams combined for 59 penalty minutes, resulting in 18 power plays. Syracuse was 3-for-11 on the man advantage, and won the series' opening match on a
Richard Panik 5-on-4 goal in overtime, following a major penalty and game misconduct to Boris Valabik for elbowing
Brett Connolly.
Tyler Johnson and
Mark Barberio scored power play goals in regulation to ignite a Syracuse comeback, and
Dan Sexton tied the game, 3-3, on a redirection in the third period. The Crunch trailed 2-0 and 3-1 before scoring the last three goals unanswered, ultimately outshooting the Pirates 39-31, including 10-4 in the third period.
Coverage
Time Warner Cable Sports Channel broadcasts tonight's game live at 7:30 p.m. with
Dan D'Uva calling the play-by-play and Crunch forward
Eric Neilson on color commentary (Ch. 19, HD 813). Pay-to-watch video is available on
AHL Live. Listen to live play-by-play on
The Score 1260 and
iHeartRadio with pregame coverage starting at 7:15 p.m. After the game, join
Dan D'Uva and a guest in the War Memorial basement for “The Shootout Show” airing on The Score 1260. For in-game updates on Twitter, follow
@SyracuseCrunch and broadcaster
@Dan_Duva. For post-game recap, visit
SyracuseCrunch.com and join the conversation on
Facebook.
Game 1 standouts
One of the most productive lines in the AHL over the last two seasons,
Tyler Johnson-
Ondrej Palat-
Richard Panik, was reunited for Game 1 for the first time in Crunch uniforms since Mar. 2 at Rochester. All three have made their NHL debut this season: Panik on Feb. 12, Palat on Mar. 4 and Johnson Mar. 14, and briefly skating together as a trio for Tampa Bay. On the season, Johnson, Palat and Panik have produced 158 of Syracuse's 648 points, or 24% of the team's league-leading offense. The three combined for seven of 12 points Saturday, including all three points on the game-winning goal--Panik from Palat and Johnson. Palat had three assists, adding to his team-best 39 in the regular season, while Johnson notched a goal and two assists, after leading the AHL with 37 through the regular season.
How they got here
The Pirates finished the 2012-13 slate at second at 41-30-3-2 (87 points), second in the Northeast Division, sixth in the Eastern Conference and 15th in the league. The Pirates won two of their final three regular season games and were 6-5 over their last 11. Portland was the fifth-best home team during the regular season at 24-11-2-1, while their road record was 23rd, 17-19-1-1, or 51 points to 36. Only Toronto, Providence and Binghamton had more home victories. Portland compiled the longest home winning streak in the AHL this season, eight games, Dec. 11-Jan. 8. Syracuse, meanwhile, strung together the league's best road winning streak, nine games, Oct. 19-Nov. 25.
Syracuse produced its third highest point total in team history, 97, with a 43-22-6-5 record. The Crunch reached 102 points in 2005-06 and 100 points in 2007-08, both during 80-game seasons. The 2012-13 East Division title is the club's second division championship, having captured the 2001-02 Central Division. The Crunch were the Western Conference's first seed in '01-02 and were a three seed in 2007-08. The Crunch have won four of their 14 postseason series, advancing past the second round only in 1995-96 when topping Binghamton and Baltimore before losing to Rochester.Last season, as a seven seed, the Crunch were bounced in the opening round by St. John's.
For series-by-series coverage of the Calder Cup playoffs visit
The AHL's Expanded Brackets page.
Scouting Report
In the regualr season, the Pirates were led by center Andy Miele (19g-34a-53pts), rookie right wing Chris Brown (29g-18a-47pts), and defenseman David Rundblad (9g-30a-39pts). Brown and Runblad had tallies Saturday, plus one from Darian Dziurzynski. Chad Johnson had the bulk of playing time for Portland in the regular season (16-15-1 with two shutouts and a 3.00 goals-against average), and suffered the overtime loss for Portland Friday, his first game back with the Pirates after a stint with the Phoenix Coyotes with whom he was 2-0-2 in four games with a 1.21 goals-against average.
Syracuse has two of the AHL's top ten scorers, league MVP
Tyler Johnson (37g-28a-65) and
Brett Connolly (31g-32a-65pts) and four of the top five plus-minus performers,
Radko Gudas (+32,
J.P. Cote (+27), Johnson (+26) and
Ondrej Palat (+26). Palat leads Syracuse with 39 assists and Connolly leads the AHL in game-winning goals, eight.
Cedrick Desjardins (15-18-3) has eight wins and a 2.12 goals-against average in 14 games since being acquired by Syracuse. Friday, the Tampa Bay Lightning assigned two players to the Crunch: defenseman
Radko Gudas, who leads the Crunch in penalty minutes (207), and forward
Richard Panik (22g-19a-41pts), Syracuse's fifth leading scorer.
