Syracuse Crunch 5/17/2013 11:02:00 PM

Crunch Advance to Conference Finals with 5-2 win

5-2 Win

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Springfield Falcons 5-2 tonight at the War Memorial Arena to advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since the 1995-96 season.

The Crunch swept their second consecutive opponent and have extended their franchise record to seven consecutive postseason victories.

The Crunch came out of the gate quickly with a goal 6:04 into the first period. Philip-Michael Devos intercepted a Falcons pass along the stick-side boards and passed to J.T. Wyman in front of the net. Wyman then slammed in the puck for his first goal of the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs and first of the game.

Less than two minutes later, Mark Barberio doubled the Crunch's lead. After the initial save on a Vladislav Namestnikov shot, Curtis McElhinney was unable to control the puck and Barberio tapped it in from the crease. Richard Panik also picked up an assist on Syracuse's second goal.

The Falcons cut the Crunch lead in half at the 3:38 mark of the second period. Five seconds into a Brendan Mikkelson roughing penalty, Ryan Craig tipped a shot past Cedrick Desjardins. David Savard and Boone Jenner assisted on the power-play goal.

With 2:40 left in the second period, Wyman restored Syracuse's two-goal lead on a two-on-one with Mike Angelidis. Wyman's shot from the stick-side circle went past McElhinney's left shoulder and into the net. J.T. Brown and J.P. Cote assisted on Wyman's second goal of the game.

The Crunch and Falcons traded goals half-way through the third period. Andrew Joudrey collected a rebound and scored with traffic in front of the net at the 8:35 mark of the period. Jenner and Savard picked up their second points of the game on the play. Matt Taormina answered back for Syracuse just over a minute later with a wrist shot. Brett Connolly assisted on Taormina's first goal of these playoffs.

Dan Sexton's empty-net goal with 1:59 left in the game sealed the Crunch's victory. After saves by Desjardins in the Crunch end, Namestnikov passed to Sexton, who skated into the Springfield zone and buried the puck in the undefended Falcons net. Desjardins finished the game with 28 saves on 30 shots.

Syracuse now awaits the winner of the Providence Bruins-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Eastern Conference Semifinals series. Providence holds a 3-1 series lead.

Crunchables...With goals by J.T. Wyman and Matt Taormina, the Crunch now have 11 players with a goal during the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs… Ten Crunch players found their names on the scoresheet tonight…Syracuse is the only team that has not lost a game this postseason…Tonight was Wyman's first multipoint postseason game…This is the first game of this post-series that Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson have not had a point.

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