Scouting report
After giving up the third fewest number of goals during the regular season, the Falcons allowed five goals in both Game 1 and Game 2. Goaltender Curtis McElhinney allowed ten goals on just 34 shots in the two games. He was pulled in game one after allowing five goals on nine shots. So far this series, former Crunch player Nick Holden leads Springfield with three assists in the two games. Ryan Craig (1g-1a) and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (2a) are the only other players with multiple points through two games.
Tyler Johnson has seven points (4g, 3a) in the first two games of this series to lead the Crunch, and 20 points in eight games since returning from his first stint in the NHL with Tampa Bay.
Ondrej Palat has five assists in the Semifinals (nine in the playoffs), while
Richard Panik has chipped in with two goals and two assists (six points in the postseason). In goal,
Cedrick Desjardins has allowed five goals on 55 shots and has both wins. He's a perfect 5-0 this postseason.
The Crunch have won the special teams battle so far as well. Syracuse went 4-for-14 (28.6%) on the power play in the two games in Springfield. Meanwhile the Falcons are 2-for-13 (15.4%) with the man advantage, also allowing a shorthanded goal.
ECSF Game 2 Recap: Crunch offense continues to roll over Falcons in 5-3 win
The Crunch scored twice in the first 1:15 and got a hat trick from
Tyler Johnson to beat the Falcons 5-3 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals Saturday at MassMutual Center. The Falcons had lost only five of their previous 25 home games, dating back to Dec. 30, before dropping two in a row at home to Syracuse.
After Boone Jenner took a roughing penalty just 36 seconds into the game for Springfield, the Crunch power play connected for a 1-0 lead.
Richard Panik redirected an
Ondrej Palat shot past Falcons goaltender Curtis McElhinney just 1:02 into the game. On the ensuing shift,
J.T. Brown raced down the left wing then threw the puck toward the front of the net, where it hit off
Mike Angelidis and went past McElhinney for a 2-0 lead, on goals just 13 seconds apart. The Falcons got one back later in the first period. On a delayed penalty Dalton Prout sent the puck toward the net from the blue line, and after a mini scramble in front, Ryan Russell slid the puck past
Cedrick Desjardins to make it 2-1 Crunch with 5:20 left in the period.
From there it became the
Tyler Johnson show. He would find the back of the net twice in the second period. After a slew of Springfield penalties gave the Crunch an extended five-on-three power play, Johnson blasted a one timer from the left wing circle on a feed from
Brett Connolly to make it 3-1 Crunch. Later in the period, Johnson scooped up a bouncing puck while the Crunch were shorthanded to start a 2-on-1 break. He faked a pass to J.T. Wyman, then shot the puck past McElhinney from the right wing side for a 4-1 Crunch lead. Springfield would cut the deficit in half on a goal from Trent Vogelhuber, making it 4-2 after two periods.
Less than seven minutes into the third, Johnson would complete the hat trick on another one timer from the left wing circle. It was his fourth goal of the series and his sixth of the playoffs. The hat trick was the first in Crunch playoff history. Boone Jenner scored just over a minute later on a redirection to make it 5-3, but the Falcons wouldn't get any closer.
Cedrick Desjardins stopped 28 of 31 shots while Curtis McElhinney allowed five goals on 25 shots. The Crunch power play went 3-for-8 while the Falcons went 0-for-7.
