1
0
Crunch snatch two of the biggest points of the season thus far.
SYR-3
ROC-2 (OT)
Brandon Halverson allowed two goals on 27 shots for the OT victory. He went 2-1-0 with Tomkins shelved on a massively important back-to-back-to-back weekend. Came up big in a big moment.
First Period
NO SCORING
Second Period
6:35 ROC Ostlund (18), (unassisted)
13:05 ROC Murray (25), (Ostlund)
13:15 SYR Finley (13), (Sheary, Geekie)
Third Period
14:59 SYR Angello (10), (Santini, Allard)
Overtime
0:14 SYR Sheary (18), (Finley, Crozier)
Conor Sheary and Anthony Angello were the game’s first and third stars. Jack Finley also contributed a big 1-1-2 in the winning effort, including the response goal that started the comeback. Periodic reminder: always bet on JACK. He matched his career high in goals today with 13 despite missing the first two months of the season rehabbing an injury. It’s probably not crazy to suggest he’s be around 20 goals right now if he’d have been healthy the entire campaign.
The game was looking bleak for a while as the Crunch have really struggled recently with a very good Rochester side. But they dug deep today in their third game in less than 72 hours and delivered two points on the road that, when we look back in a couple of weeks, may be the ones that really gave them their clear pathway to the postseason. They move a full three points clear of Belleville for the final playoff spot in the North Division and within one point of Cleveland with a game in hand on the Monsters. We’ll see how the Third Period of today’s Marlies and Islanders game goes, but at day’s end the Crunch will be three-to-five points back of the Marlies with a game in hand.
Nine regular season games left to go. What an amazing last month of high leverage hockey this has been for the young Lightning farmhands, who have already added Cooper Flinton to their ranks and now will add Connor Kurth and the recently acquired UMASS (as in, today) standout forward Lucas Mercuri.
Box score from TheAHL.com.
