Marlies outlast Crunch for Game 1 win

Photo: Christian Bonin

Round one to Toronto.

Travis Dermott scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and the Toronto Marlies posted a 6-4 win over the Syracuse Crunch in Game 1 of the North Division Finals at Ricoh Coliseum on Thursday night.

The Marlies host Game 2 of the best-of-seven series on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m. ET).

Adam Brooks and Mason Marchment each recorded a goal and an assist for the Marlies, while Dmytro Timashov, Pierre Engvall and Ben Smith also scored and Martin Marincin, Frederik Gauthier and Trevor Moore chipped in with two assists each.

Garret Sparks (4-2) stopped 28 shots in the victory as Toronto improved to 4-0 at home in 2018 playoffs and 9-0 at Ricoh over the last two postseasons.

Syracuse fell to 3-9 in 12 road playoff games over the last two years.

Kevin Lynch scored twice and Mathieu Joseph and Carter Verhaeghe contributed a goal and an assist each for the Crunch, and Eddie Pasquale (2-1) stopped 15 of 20 shots in the loss.

North Division Finals – Series “J” (best-of-7)
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. N2-Syracuse Crunch
Game 1 – Thu., May 3 – TORONTO 6, Syracuse 4
Game 2 – Sat., May 5 – Syracuse at Toronto, 4:00
Game 3 – Sun., May 6 – Toronto at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 4 – Tue., May 8 – Toronto at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 12 – Syracuse at Toronto, 4:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 14 – Toronto at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 16 – Syracuse at Toronto, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern