Game Results

By Jeremy Houghtaling

It was an emotional chain of events that rival most blockbusters.

After demanding a review, the Syracuse Crunch were credited with the game-tying goal. Moments later -- 26 seconds on the amended scoresheet despite more than two minutes mistakenly being added to the clock -- the Grand Rapids Griffins scored a power play goal that stood as the game-winner.

While the Griffins' Francis Pare provided the movie-like twist with a goal in the closing minutes of the six-goal, 20-plus minute second period, Jan Mursak gave the curtain call with a breakaway goal late in the third, as the Griffins topped the Crunch 6-4 in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals at the Onondaga County War Memorial Sunday.

"To me, that was the game," said Crunch coach Rob Zettler of the turn of events in the second. "That was huge. We had a lot of momentum, the building was rocking, fans were into it, the players were into it. There was a lot of excitement on the bench."

Syracuse trails the series 2-0, as it travels to Grand Rapids Wednesday for Game 3. Game 4 is set for Friday.

Trouble.

GR-6
SYR-4

Grand Rapids Leads the Series 2-0

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 6 goals on 29 shots for the loss. I don't care how you spin that. That's an ugly stat line. Desjardins suffered tonight from going long stretches without seeing any shots and then suddenly having to face a 10 bell scoring chance, like Mursak's game sealing breakaway.

First Period
GR Tatar, (12) (Evans, Nyquist), 4:29
GR Grant, (1) (Ferraro), 11:31
SYR Sustr, (1) (Taormina, Paradis), 14:03

Second Period
GR Ferraro, (5) (Hoggan, Sheahan), 6:23
SYR Panik, (5) (Connolly, Johnson), 10:06 (PP)
GR Jurco, (8) (Sheahan), 12:09 (PP)
SYR Connolly, (4) (Johnson, Palat), 16:12 (PP)
SYR Brown, (4) (Wyman), 18:23
GR Pare, (3) (Ferraro, Paetsch), 18:49 (PP)

Third Period
GR Mursak, (9) (Hoggan, Paetsch), 14:56

Brett Connolly was the game's third star.

I think these past two games put an exclamation mark on the impact Radko Gudas being absent from the lineup hurts the Syracuse Crunch. They're not giving up huge amounts of zone time or shots, but the number of odd man rushes is out of control, and the team misses its best defenseman. Clearly.

The AHL's top officials should seriously consider whether they want the players or the referees to decide their champion. The degree to which the referees have had an impact so far in this serious has been stunning for a professional league.

Now these players have to decide how much their legacy means to them. A comeback victory against the odds with 3 in a row in Grand Rapids would only add to this group's legend as one of the best assemblages of players in AHL history. Going out with a whimper makes the team look more like a one year, Norfolk wonder. They've worked too hard, I think, to let it go down like that, though. Game Three is Wednesday.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

By Jeremy Houghtaling

Despite the loss, the Syracuse Crunch saw plenty of positives.

The Crunch got their offensive opportunities and held the Grand Rapids' top line to an empty-netter, but had a hard time solving Griffins goalie Petr Mrazek, as they dropped Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals 3-1 at the Onondaga County War Memorial Saturday night. Game 2 is set for Sunday evening in Syracuse.

"When we lose, we still try and keep that good feeling about ourselves," said Crunch defenseman Jean-Philippe Cote. "We've done some really good things, that's why you can never go too low when you lose and never too high when you win."

"In less than 24 hours we've got another go at them," he added. "We showed a lot of good things."

Long layoff, shaky goal, Mrazek, and the refs cost Syracuse Game One.

GR-3
SYR-1

Grand Rapids leads the series 1-0

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 2 goals on 20 shots for the loss. He's a bit infuriating. He was pretty well excellent throughout the game making several big stops along the way, but the eventual game winner was a long slapshot that he allowed to go through him that you simply cannot surrender in a 1-0 game in the Third Period. So frustrating.

First Period
GR Callahan, (5) (Billins, Evans), 6:45

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
GR Sheahan, (3) (Mursak), 12:00
SYR Cote, (1) (Angelidis, Brown), 13:19
GR Nyquist, (2) (Andersson), 19:45 (EN/PP)

Ondrej Palat was the game's third star. There's little doubt he was the straw that stirred the drink on the reformed PTP line tonight with Richard Panik back in the lineup. They got a fair number of scoring chances, but Petr Mrazek is a damned good goaltender. The Crunch definitely learned that tonight.

Also helping Mrazek out was that Syracuse showed just a bit of rust from their long layoff. In the first half of the game it seemed their short to mid-range passes were just a shade off of clicking, and it really allowed Grand Rapids to keep Syracuse away from the kind of zone time domination the Crunch thrive off of. They've got to find a way to better establish their forecheck headed into Game Two.

Beyond that, it should be noted that the refs waved off a goal in the match on a power play in the Second Period that should have tied the game on a crease violation where the replay showed no real contact with Mrazek. Between that and an interference penalty that went uncalled late in the Third Period right before Panik took a call that essentially ended the contest, the refs influence on the game could hardly be underestimated. Again, frustrating, and I think the wave off of the goal definitely deflated Syracuse for the rest of the Second and on into the early Third Period.

So, now Syracuse falls behind the 8-ball with Grand Rapids stealing home ice and playing with house money in Game Two. Hopefully Syracuse will get Radko Gudas back for the contest, because the thought of being down 0-2 before heading west is beyond unappealing.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

By Jeremy Houghtaling

After four tight games, Rob Zettler could finally breathe easy.

The Syracuse Crunch head coach, his team leading 5-0 through the first 40 minutes, still kept his team focused on finishing the series off the right way.

Syracuse's Philippe Paradis added a pair of third period goals to finish off a hat trick, as the Crunch routed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 7-0 to win the Eastern Conference Finals series 4-1 at the Onondaga County War Memorial Saturday.

"It felt good to be able to relax back there for a change," Zettler said.

The Crunch, in the Calder Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, host the winner of Grand Rapids and Oklahoma City next weekend. That series is tied 2-2.

"I don't think we were expecting a 7-0 finish," said Syracuse defenseman Mark Barberio. "We just wanted to stick to our game plan. It's been successful all season and we were opportunistic with our chances."