Ondrej Palat scored with 16.2 seconds remaining in overtime to defeat the Portland Pirates 4-3 and advance the Crunch to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
For the second time this series the Crunch came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Portland Pirates in overtime. Tonight’s win completed a 3-0 series sweep of the Pirates. The Crunch’s opponent in the second round has yet to be determined.
Palat’s overtime goal was his second of the game, he also scored with 1:12 remaining in regulation to force the extra period. The Crunch outshot the Pirates 45-18 overall, including 15-4 in overtime. Crunch netminder Cedrick Desjardins made 15 saves while his Portland counterpart Chad Johnson stopped 41 of 45 shots.
Pirates center Andy Miele opened the scoring with a power-play goal 15:57 into the first period. Miele one-timed a feed from Aleandre Bolduc past Desjardins to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Crunch defenseman Radko Gudas evened the score with a power-play tally 6:57 into the middle stanza. Dan Sexton won an offensive zone faceoff back to Matt Taormina, who fed Gudas for a one-timer from the point. Despite outshooting the Pirates 12-3 in the second the Crunch were unable to beat Portland goaltender Chad Johnston for a second time and ended the period locked at 1-1.
Portland took a 2-1 lead just 19 seconds into the third period with a wrap-around goal from Bolduc, assisted by Miele and Lucas Lessio. The Pirates extended their lead to 3-1 halfway through the period with a power-play goal from Nick Johnson.
Read the rest at SyracuseCrunch.com.
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