TORONTO – The Syracuse Crunch fell to the Toronto Marlies, 6-4, in Game 1 of the North Division Finals tonight at Ricoh Coliseum.
 
The Crunch tied the game twice, but were never able to take the lead in the high-scoring affair. Kevin Lynch put up two goals on the night, while Mathieu Joseph and Carter Verhaeghe recorded a goal and an assist each.
 
Eddie Pasquale turned aside 15-of-20 shots in net for the Crunch. Garrett Sparks earned the win with 28 saves. The Crunch converted on 1-of-2 power play opportunities, while the Marlies went 2-for-4 on the man-advantage.
 
The Marlies were first on the board at the 8:33 mark of the first period. Adam Brooks tipped Martin Marincin's slap shot from the left point to beat Pasquale. Mason Marchment earned the secondary assist.
 
With 1:26 remaining in the opening frame, the Crunch knotted the score. Joseph forced a turnover in the neutral zone and sped down the ice to pot a shorthanded breakaway. Toronto was quick to respond and regained their lead 42 seconds later on the man-advantage. Chris Mueller dished the puck to Trevor Moore at the right post. He spun to send a no-look backhand feed for Dmytro Timashov to net backdoor.
 
Syracuse tied the game for a second time on the power play halfway through the middle frame. Stephens kept the puck in at the right boards and threw a centering feed to Verhaeghe in the high slot. Sparks caught a piece of the wrister, but the puck trickled across the goal line.
 
The Marlies went back on top with another power-play marker late in the second period. Travis Dermott sent home a wrister from the blue line while Pasquale was screened. Andreas Johnsson and Carl Grundstrom recorded the helpers.
 
Toronto made it a two-goal lead 7:53 into the final stanza. Marincin kept the puck in at the left point and sent it down to Frederik Gauthier. His feed followed the goal line before Marchment finished the play from in front of the crease.
 
Less than a minute later, the Crunch came back within one. Alexander Volkov chased the puck down into the right circle and sent it towards the goal. Lynch was parked in front and tallied his first of the postseason with a quick stick. Erik Condra picked up a point on the play.
 
With 6:14 left to play, the Marlies went back up by two. Brooks sent the puck towards the end boards for Moore. He skated around the back of the net and sent it back out front for Pierre Engvall to clean up from the slot.
 
Lynch potted his second of the night when he poked in a rebound at the 18:55 mark. Joseph and Verhaeghe tallied multi-point nights on the goal.

Ben Smith added an empty-netter in the final seconds with the help of Gauthier to secure a Marlies victory.
 
The teams return to Ricoh Coliseum for Game 2 on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Single game tickets and packages for the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, 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.
 
Crunchables: Tonight was the first career multi-goal game for Kevin Lynch…Mathieu Joseph, Mitchell Stephens and Erik Condra each have at least one point in all four post-season games…The Crunch have scored a power-play goal in all four playoff games.