Recapping the action from the Eastern Conference on the third night of the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs…
SYRACUSE 4, ST. JOHN’S 3 (2OT)
Tye McGinn ended the longest game in Syracuse Crunch history with a tap-in goal 10:37 into the second overtime, squaring the North Division Semifinals on the strength of a 4-3 win in St. John’s on Saturday night.
The 21st playoff OT game in team history was also the first ever to extend past a single extra period. The Crunch are now 11-10 in extra time during the playoffs.
Facing the prospects of an 0-2 series hole, Syracuse rallied with a pair of goals late in regulation to pull even. Matt Taormina scored with 4:17 remaining and Cory Conacher tied the game with 2:44 to play; both goals were scored with goaltender Mike McKenna on the bench for an extra attacker.
Slater Koekkoek also scored for the Crunch, who will host Game 3 of the best-of-five series on Wednesday night.
Jacob de la Rose, Charles Hudon and Stefan Matteau scored for the IceCaps, who fell to 3-7 all-time in playoff overtime games.
Charlie Lindgren (1-1) made 46 saves in the loss as Syracuse finished with a 50-41 advantage in shots on goal. McKenna (1-1) stopped 38 shots for the win.
What a finish! @TyeMcGinn in double OT to tie the series up. #SYRvsSTJ pic.twitter.com/mQHyXafTOb
— AHL (@TheAHL) April 23, 2017
HERSHEY 5, LEHIGH VALLEY 4
Chris Bourque scored his second goal of the game with 33.0 seconds remaining in regulation as Hershey rallied to stun Lehigh Valley, 5-4, and take a 2-0 lead in their Atlantic Division semifinal series.
After back-to-back wins in Allentown, the Bears head home with a chance to close out the series in Game 3 on Wednesday night.
The Phantoms took a 4-2 lead into the third period before Hershey scored the final three goals of the contest. Lehigh Valley was 28-0-1-0 during the regular season when ahead through 40 minutes.
Bourque’s two goals, the 30th and 31st of his AHL postseason career, give him 109 points in 123 Calder Cup Playoff contests.
Stanislav Galiev and Christian Djoos tallied a goal and an assist each for Hershey and Tyler Lewington scored the tying goal midway through the third period.
Following Friday’s shutout loss, Greg Carey led the Phantoms with two goals and an assist in Game 2, while T.J. Brennan tallied a goal and an assist and Chris Conner registered three helpers.
Pheonix Copley (2-0) made 30 saves to earn the win for Hershey. Alex Lyon allowed three goals on 13 shots before leaving the game in the third period with an injury. Martin Ouellette (0-1) stopped two of the four shots he faced in relief.
TORONTO 6, ALBANY 2
Toronto rebounded from a shutout loss in Game 1 to score six times on 23 shots in Game 2, evening the North Division Semifinals with a 6-2 victory in Albany on Saturday.
Six different Marlies found the back of the net and defenseman Justin Holl dished out three assists for the Marlies, who host Game 3 at Ricoh Coliseum on Wednesday.
Kerby Rychel and Frederik Gauthier notched a goal and an assist each for Toronto. Garret Sparks (1-1) played the first two periods and stopped 16 of 18 shots to earn the win.
Kevin Rooney and John Quenneville scored for the Devils. Mackenzie Blackwood (1-1) allowed four goals on 13 shots before yielding to Ken Appleby early in the second frame.
