ALLENTOWN, Pa. – After Matt Taormina tied the game with just 1:04 remaining, Tye McGinn netted the game-winner for the Syracuse Crunch in overtime to down the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 5-4, tonight at the PPL Center.
 
Slater Koekkoek opened scoring and John Kurtz built a two-goal lead for the Crunch before the Phantoms netted three to take over. During back-and-forth scoring, Kevin Lynch and Taormina contributed in regulation followed by McGinn's second game-winning goal of the season in the extra frame. The win gives Syracuse two big points in their playoff push and moves the team to 31-20-6-5. The Crunch also swept the two-game season series with the Phantoms, 2-0.
 
Mike McKenna earned his first win with the Crunch turning aside 44-of-48 shots on goal. Alex Lyon stopped 27-of-32 in net for the Phantoms. Syracuse went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Lehigh Valley was 2-for-4 on the man-advantage.
 
The Crunch jumped out to a quick lead 7:40 into the first period. Lynch sent a cross-zone pass for Koekkoek to redirect on the backdoor. Joel Vermin earned a point with the secondary assist on the opening tally.
 
Syracuse built a two-goal lead 4:09 into the middle frame. Dylan Blujus's shot from the left circle was stopped, but Kurtz was in the crease to get a stick on the loose rebound and backhand it in while Lyon was stuck at the far post.
 
The Phantoms finally got on the board at the 6:54 mark and went on to score three goals to takeover the lead. Nicolas Aube-Kubel forced a turnover and passed off to Radel Fazleev in the neutral zone. The left wing skated in and fired a wrist shot over McKenna's glove from the high slot.
 
With 7:45 remaining in the second, the Phantoms evened the score on the power play. Mark Zengerle sent the puck down to Colin McDonald who backhanded a drop pass for Danick Martel in front of the cage. One minute later, the Phantoms scored another power-play marker. Chris Conner connected with Andy Miele to redirect a cross-zone feed. T.J. Brennan recorded a point on the go-ahead goal.
 
The Crunch knotted the score 8:16 into the final stanza. Jonathan Racine passed ahead for Mike McNamee to circle around the back of the net and backhand a cross-crease feed to Lynch alone at the left goal post.
 
Lehigh Valley went back up on top with 2:04 remaining in the game off Martel's second of the night, but one minute later, Syracuse tied the game on the power play to force overtime. Lynch won the faceoff in the left circle and kicked it back for Taormina. The defenseman ripped a slap shot that trickled through Lyon to earn the Crunch a point and require extra time.
 
McGinn netted the game-winner from the right circle 3:51 into the extra frame to give Syracuse the victory. Taormina and Matthew Peca tallied points on the game-winner.
 
The Crunch travel to face the Utica Comets on Friday at 7 p.m.
 
Syracuse Crunch single game and ticket packages for the 2016-17 season are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch office located in the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. 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 (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch, #WeAreOne and #BLUnited.
 
Crunchables: Tye McGinn is on a four-game goal-scoring streak…Kevin Lynch recorded his first career three-point game with a goal and two assists…Mike McKenna recorded his first win in four games with the Crunch.