Derek Meech scored on a drive from the right-wing circle with 5:01 gone in overtime on Friday night, sending the St. John’s IceCaps into the second round of the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 4-3 victory over the Syracuse Crunch.
The IceCaps won the series, three games to one.
Meech’s goal, his third of the series, capped a comeback for St. John’s, which trailed 2-0 and 3-2 in the game.
Carl Klingberg, John Albert and Raymond Sawada also scored for the IceCaps, who will open the conference semifinals at home Tuesday vs. either Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or Hershey.
Emerson Etem scored twice and Mark Bell had a goal for the Crunch.
Eddie Pasquale stopped 27 of 30 shots in the win, while Iiro Tarkki finished with 34 saves in defeat.
