TORONTO, ONTARIO – Despite leading three separate times in a game full of back-and-forth scoring, the Syracuse Crunch were unable to hold off the Toronto Marlies and fell, 5-4, tonight in overtime at Ricoh Coliseum.
 
The third period saw five goals and two lead changes. Toronto notched three of those markers and climbed out of a two-goal deficit to down the Crunch in the extra frame. By making it to overtime, Syracuse earned one point and moved to 18-15-7-1 on the season. Toronto advances to 32-8-2-0 and build a 5-1 lead in the eight-game season series with the Crunch.
 
The Crunch special teams were perfect, going 1-for-1 on the power play and penalty kill. Crunch goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis made 39 saves. His counterpart, Antoine Bibeau, earned the win turning aside 33 of 37 shots.
 
At the 12:25 mark of the first period, the Crunch opened scoring with a power-play tally. Adam Erne sauced one over to Mike Blunden in the neutral zone. He skated it across the blue line and fired on net. Bibeau appeared to make the save, but the puck trickled past him. Matt Taormina picked up a point with the secondary assist.
 
With 1:31 remaining in the first, the Marlies responded. After receiving a pass from T.J. Brennan, Viktor Loov blew one past Gudlevskis from the top of the left circle. Mark Arcobello recorded a point on the equalizer.
 
Just when it seemed the teams would enter the second intermission knotted, Cameron Darcy lit the lamp. Darcy sent the puck ahead to Philippe Paradis at center ice. He carried it into the attacking zone and sent it back over to Darcy. Darcy deked left around a defender and slid a shot between Bibeau and the goalpost with 47 remaining in the frame. Luke Witkowski was credited with a helper on the go-ahead goal.
 
After a low scoring 40 minutes, the third period saw five goals. At the 5:22 mark, the Marlies climbed back to tie the game for the second time. Brendan Leipsic dropped the puck in the right circle for Arcobello to bury with a wrister.
 
Syracuse took back the lead with two goals in 40 seconds. At 5:59, Blunden grabbed the puck off the faceoff and pushed it up to Yanni Gourde at the top of the left circle. His quick feed to the slot allowed Tanner Richard to net his fourth of the season. Less than a minute later, Anthony DeAngelo scored with a wrist shot from the right wing side off assists from Richard and Gourde.
 
However, the Marlies rallied back with two goals of their own to force overtime. Just past the halfway mark, Zach Hyman sent home a rebound in the blue paint to cut the lead to one. With 1:27 remaining in regulation, Toronto evened the game again. When the puck kicked out through the neutral zone, Arcobello beat a Crunch defender in a foot race down the ice and ripped a slap shot to tie the game.
 
Leipsic netted the game-winner 1:22 into the extra period to take a 5-4 victory for the Marlies.
 
The Crunch continue a three-game road trip when they visit the Binghamton Senators on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.
 
Syracuse Crunch single game and season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch Box Office located in the War Memorial at 800 South State Street in Syracuse or by calling the office at 315-473-4444. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@officialsyracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch and #BelieveInBlue.
 
Crunchables: The Crunch and Marlies have gone to overtime in three of their six contests this season…Anthony DeAngelo scored his first goal since Oct. 30…Three Crunch players recorded a multi-point game tonight: Mike Blunden (1g, 1a), Tanner Richard (1g, 1a) and Yanni Gourde (2a).