MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – SYRACUSE, NY. -- Tying an AHL playoff record, the Manitoba Moose and Syracuse Crunch headed to overtime for the fifth time in six games Tuesday night. The Moose were desperate to stave off elimination, but a broken stick and opportunist Crunch forward Trevor Frischmon combined for a 3-2 Syracuse victory, effectively ending Manitoba's Calder Cup run.
Six penalties kept special teams busy in the first period, but goaltenders Cory Schneider and Karl Goehring teamed up with their penalty killers to dominate the play and force a scoreless opening frame.
A roughing penalty to Gilbert Brule gave the Moose their second powerplay early in the second period. After taking some time to set themselves up, Danny Groulx slapped the puck past goalie Goehring, but referee Terry Koharski disallowed the goal, citing goaltender interference from forward Greg Classen.
ADVERTISEMENT But 20 seconds later, Derek Dorsett joined Brule in the Crunch penalty box and Brad Moran tallied a powerplay goal that counted. Poised at the bottom of the far face-off circle, Manitoba's regular-season scoring leader went top shelf from a sharp angle to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Although the club trailed 14 shots to seven at the start of the second period, Manitoba used two more powerplays to assume a 19-17 shot lead just past the midway point of the game. Minutes later, the Crunch countered with their own powerplay and reclaimed the top spot on the shot clock. Though the home team couldn't connect on the five-on-four, Derick Brassard's even-strength attempt turned out to be the equalizer. Syracuse cycled the puck around the Moose zone, and Brassard caught Schneider sliding in the opposite direction and beat the rookie goalie to his glove side to tie the game at one.
A Crunch powerplay, then a Moose powerplay, and then another Crunch powerplay kept special teams hopping in the first five minutes of the third period. With Classen serving a hooking penalty and another Moose infraction pending, Alexandre Picard pounced on a rebound and fired the puck into the net to give Syracuse their first lead of the game.
The Crunch resisted the desperate Moose until the final five minutes of the game, at which point Manitoba's top line connected for the game-tying goal. While Jason Jaffray was being bounced around in the far corner, Moran set up Jannik Hansen for a quick wrist-shot that found its way past Goehring and into the net to set the score 2-2. The tie game would continue to the end of regulation, forcing overtime for an AHL record-tying fifth time this series.
Trailing 34-29 on the shot clock, the Moose began their sudden-death battle with the Crunch. Five minutes into overtime, Manitoba benefited from their 10th powerplay of the game and attempted to tally the most important powerplay goal of the season. But only 31 seconds in, Nolan Baumgartner nullified the man-advantage by taking a hooking penalty.
An exciting scoring opportunity had Crunch fans on their feet during the following Syracuse powerplay, but it would take another minute for the real celebration to begin. After a broken stick hindered Manitoba's defence, Frischmon shot through the scramble and past Schneider to end Manitoba's playoff hopes and propel Syracuse into the second round.