March 18, 2013; Tampa FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat (74) is congratulated by teammates after he scored a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period at Tampa Times Forum. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Last night the Syracuse Crunch finished their third game of the series with a win against the Portland Pirates and advance to the second round of the AHL playoffs. Ondrej Palat scored the game winning goal in overtime to complete the series sweep.

The Portland Pirates drew first blood by scoring a power-play goal 15:57 into the first period. Andy Miele earned the goal, while Alexandre Bolduc and Chris Brown earned assists.

However, Radko Gudas scored a power-play goal 6:57 into the second period to tie the game at 1, Matt Taormina and Dan Sexton assisted.

Nineteen seconds into the third period, the Pirates struck again. This time it was Bolduc earning the goal, with Miele and Lucas Lessio getting the assists. Nick Johnson, assisted by Michael Stone and Chris Conner, scored a power-play goal 10:47 in the third period bringing their lead 3-1. The Crunch battled back, with captain, Mike Angelidis, scoring 13:59 into the third period, assists given to J.T. Wyman and Mark Barberio. While Cedrick Desjardins was pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Palat equaled the score at 3 with 1:12 remaining in regulation, which brought the game into overtime.

The clock kept ticking down in overtime, and for some it may have felt like another overtime would be imminent. Some key saves were made by each goalie, which kept the game tied at 3. With 57 seconds remaining in overtime, Palat notched the game-winning goal, sending the Pirates packing and the Crunch into round two.

While their next opponent remains unknown at this time, they can only play Springfield Falcons, Hershey Bears, or Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. If the Crunch play the Bears or the Penguins, the series would start Friday-Saturday at War Memorial in Syracuse with the format being 2-2-1-1-1. If it’s neither of those two, then the Falcons would have home ice on the Crunch and the series format would be 2-3-2.

Lora Andrews
@Electrifying

March 17, 2012; Tampa FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Brett Connolly (14) shoots against the St. Louis Blues during the second period at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight the Syracuse Crunch took on the Portland Pirates for game 2 of the AHL Eastern Conference quarterfinals, and now lead the series 2-0. Crunch won game 2 4-2 in Syracuse at the War Memorial. Their next game, third of the best of five series, is scheduled Thursday, May 2 in Portland.

Ondrej Palat, assisted by Tyler Johnson and Matt Taormina, opened up the scoring 9:33 in the first period with J.T. Brown  firing one past Chad Johnson only 68 seconds later, bringing the score 2-0 Crunch.  Mike Angelidis and J.T. Wyman earned the assists on Brown’s goal.

Forty nine seconds into the middle stanza, Tyler Johnson knocked in a shorthanded goal giving Syracuse a 3-0 lead, primary assist was given to Palat. Brett Connolly, assisted by Dan Sexton and Philip-Michael Devos, scored 14:36 into the second period, upping the score 4-0.

In the second period, the game started getting chippy totaling 42 penalty minutes. Richard Panik  and Andy Miele earned matching game misconduct penalties. As well as J.P. Cote, Panik, Phil Lane and Miele each getting 5 minutes for fighting.

However, in the third period the Pirates tried to make a comeback, managing to score 2 goals to knock the score in half, 4-2 Crunch. Brendan Gormley and Nick Johnson were the Pirates goal scorers.

Neither team made the power-plays come to fruition. Crunch went 0/6 for the power-play, while Pirates went 0/8. Cedrick Desjardins saved 18 out of 20 shots.

The three stars were Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Matt Taormina.

Lora Andrews
@Electrifying