Barberio, Mark

A Syracuse comeback takes away a point on opening night.

SYR-5
ROC-6 (SO)

Dustin Tokarski allowed 5 goals on 24 shots and 1 of 5 shooters to convert for the shootout loss. That's an ugly stat line for a young man trying to stave off a Riku Helenius challenge for the starting job.

First Period
RCH Tropp, (1) (Hodgson), 0:24
SYR Barberio, (1) (Namestnikov, Killorn), 5:28 (PP)
RCH Tropp, (2) (Adam, Schiestel), 14:52
RCH Foligno, (1) (Porter, Mancari), 16:12

Second Period
RCH Pysyk, (1) (Rankin, Varone), 3:22
SYR Angelidis, (1) (Wyman), 19:14

Third Period
SYR Conacher, (1) (Palat), 1:42
SYR Johnson, (1) (Conacher, Taormina), 8:01
SYR Johnson, (2) (Conacher, Palat), 10:09 (PP)
RCH Mancari, (1) (Brennan, Foligno), 12:42 (PP)

Overtime
NO SCORING

Shootout
SYR- None
ROC- Mancari

Cory Conacher (pictured) was the game's second star after posting 1 goal and 2 assists on opening night.Tyler Johnson had a pair of goals and Ondrej Palat also had a multi-point night with a pair of helpers. Youngster Vladislav Namestnikov also posted his first professional point on an assist on Mark Barberio's game opening goal.

I'm stunned that Syracuse threw out a shootout lineup of Palat, Connolly, Panik, Johnson, and Conacher and got nothing. That's five stud prospects with a lot of skill and... nada. I wouldn't have bet on that.

Syracuse outshot Rochester 34-25 in the game, and was very game to come out of a three goal hole to get a point out of the night. When Johnson pulled Syracuse ahead for the first time in the Third Period, you even had to think for a moment that maybe that killer instinct from Norfolk last season was still in effect. There was plenty of good, plenty of bad, and plenty of coachable moments for Jon Cooper to work on the team with after this one.

On to Syracuse tomorrow and the home opener against perennial power Hershey.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Alex Killorn (pictured) had 3 goals and 1 assist to lead Syracuse to a 6-5 overtime victory over St. John's. Richard Panik also had a multi-point game with 1 goal and 1 assist, as did Mark Barberio with a pair of assists, including 1 on Ondrej Palat's overtime winner. Reigning AHL MVP Cory Conacher also had a goal and J.T. Brown and Keith Aulie added single helpers.

Dustin Tokarski was between the pipes for the Crunch.

Syracuse completes its preseason 3-0-0, sweeping the IceCaps, and moves on to Rochester where they'll face the Americans on opening night of the regular season on Friday.

Game story from syracusecrunch.com.

The Tampa Bay Lightning assigned 18 players to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL ahead of what appears to be an NHL lockout, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Among the players moving to New York are reigning AHL Most Valuable Player Cory Conacher, former No.6 overall pick Brett Connolly, and last year's late-season signing, J.T. Brown. Others include recently signed prospects Vladislav Namestnikov, Danick Gauthier, Dmitry Korobov, and Riku Helenius. The additions of Connolly, Brown, Namestnikov, and Korobov will make the Crunch a stronger team, which is scary considering they were already among the favorites to claim the Calder Cup.

The full list of new Syracuse residents includes forwards Brown, Conacher, Connolly, Gauthier, Alex Hutchings, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Namestnikov, Ondrej Palat, Richard Panik; defensemen Mark Barberio, Radko Gudas, Korobov, Charles Landry, Dan Milan; and goaltenders Helenius, Dustin Tokarski, and Pat Nagle.

We'll offer some opinions shortly on who could end up in ECHL Florida with the Everblades and who likely stays in Syracuse.

As uncertain as things have traditionally been for the Lightning between the pipes, the defenseman position may be even more unsettled at this point in the offseason. After cheating father time for much of the 2011-2012 season, age caught up to many of the Lightning's veteran defensemen in 2012-2013. Mattias Ohlund may never play another NHL game after the 35 year old's knee finally gave out after over 900 games of NHL service.

Admirals win the battle. War of attrition continues.

NOR-5
MAN-2

Norfolk Leads the Series 2-1

Dustin Tokarski stopped 25 of 27 shots for the victory, including turning away 4 shorthanded breakaways. He was a difference maker tonight.

First Period
NOR Segal, (1) (Oberg, Killorn), 0:35
NOR Labrie, (1) (Smith, Conacher), 7:40
MCH Czarnik, (2) (Vey, Mullen), 11:06

Second Period
NOR Devos, (1) (Kostka, Smith), 4:31
MCH Legein, (2) (Vey, Kolomatis), 12:51

Third Period
NOR Picard, (4) (Conacher, Smith), 14:45 (PP)
NOR Segal, (2) (Killorn, Picard), 18:32 (EN)

Phillip-Michael Devos and Trevor Smith were the game's first and second stars.

Brandon Segal scored the game's opening goal, and then an empty netter to ensure that for Manchester the game was Out of Reach. His linemate, Alex Killorn has 4 points in his first 3 AHL playoff games.

Alexandre Picard, who only had 6 goals the entire regular season, has 4 goals in the first 3 games of the playoffs. Make it so, Number Nine.

Kidding aside, Mark Barberio had to leave the game in the Third Period after a Stefan Legein boarding major. Possible concussion. Norfolk can't afford to let Manchester stick around in this series, because Manchester's managed to injure 2 of Norfolk's best players in the first 3 games of this series. Tyler Johnson went out with the old upper-body injury in Game One. The playoffs are a war of attrition, and staying healthy is perhaps the biggest key to success for Norfolk. They need to put Manchester away in Game Four on Friday.

Box score from TheAHL.com.