Cory Conacher scored the winning goal with 5:06 left in regulation to send the Syracuse Crunch to a 3-1 win over Providence and their second Eastern Conference championship in five years.
The Crunch eliminated the Bruins in five games to advance to the 2017 Calder Cup Finals.
Conacher, who added an empty-net goal in the game’s final minute to seal the victory, recorded 10 points in the last three games of the series and now leads the AHL with 20 points on the postseason.
Ben Thomas opened the scoring for Syracuse just 41 seconds into Game 5, his fourth playoff goal after scoring three times in 71 regular-season contests.
Mike McKenna (11-5) made 27 saves as the Crunch improved to 9-0 at home this postseason.
Chris Porter scored the only goal for the Bruins, and Malcolm Subban stopped 29 of 31 shots in his first start of the playoffs.
The Grand Rapids Griffins and Syracuse Crunch will meet in the 2017 Calder Cup Finals beginning Friday night, June 2, in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The Griffins and Crunch closed out their respective conference championship series with Game 5 victories on Saturday night. Grand Rapids eliminated San Jose, while Syracuse knocked off Providence.
It will be the second head-to-head meeting in the AHL’s championship series in the last five years for the clubs. The Griffins defeated the Crunch, four games to two, to win the Calder Cup in 2013.
As Western Conference champions, the Griffins, top development affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings, have won the Robert W. Clarke Trophy in their second season under head coach Todd Nelson. The Griffins were 47-23-1-5 (100 points, .658) and finished second in the Central Division during the regular season before defeating the Milwaukee Admirals (3-0), the Chicago Wolves (4-1) and the San Jose Barracuda (4-1) en route to the Finals.
The top development team of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, the Crunch are the winners of the Richard F. Canning Trophy as the AHL’s Eastern Conference champions. Under first-year head coach Benoit Groulx, the Crunch won the North Division with a record of 38-24-7-7 (90 points, .592) and eliminated the St. John’s IceCaps (3-1), Toronto Marlies (4-3) and Providence Bruins (4-1) in the playoffs.
Established in 1990, the AHL’s Western Conference championship trophy honors Robert W. Clarke, who served as the Chairman of the AHL’s Board of Governors from 1967-94. In 1956, Mr. Clarke played an instrumental role in the formation of the Rochester Americans, one of the most successful franchises in AHL history and themselves a seven-time recipient of the Clarke Trophy.
Established in 1990, the AHL’s Eastern Conference championship trophy honors Richard F. Canning, who served the AHL for more than 50 years during his career, including a term as league president from 1958-61. Mr. Canning is recognized as the author of the AHL’s constitution, by-laws, and regulations. -(TheAHL.com)
Boxscore
Syracuse 3 – Providence 1
| Scoring | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence Bruins | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 / 2 |
| Syracuse Crunch | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 / 2 |
| Shots | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence Bruins | 9 | 13 | 6 | 28 |
| Syracuse Crunch | 14 | 8 | 10 | 32 |
| # | Skater | Pos | G | A | PIM | Shots | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | A | Grant, Alex | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | |
| 3 | C | Cross, Tommy | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 5 | Grzelcyk, Matt | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | ||
| 6 | Casto, Chris | D | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Breen, Chris | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Heinen, Danton | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | ||
| 13 | Marshall, Ben | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Fitzgerald, Ryan | C | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 15 | Simpson, Wayne | RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | ||
| 20 | Hargrove, Colton | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | ||
| 21 | Blidh, Anton | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 24 | A | Porter, Chris | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 25 | Cave, Colby | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 | ||
| 27 | Czarnik, Austin | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 29 | DeBrusk, Jake | LW | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | -1 | ||
| 37 | Szwarz, Jordan | RW | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | -1 | ||
| 49 | Johansson, Emil | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 93 | Mueller, Peter | RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| # | Goalie | GA | Mins | SA | SVS | G | A | PIM | |
| 31 | McIntyre, Zane | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 47 | Subban, Malcolm | 2 | 58:45 | 31 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Head Coach: Kevin Dean |
| Assistant Coach: Jay Leach |
| Assistant Coach: Trent Whitfield |
| # | Skater | Pos | G | A | PIM | Shots | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Dotchin, Jake | D | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Masin, Dominik | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | ||
| 11 | C | Condra, Erik | RW | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 15 | Lynch, Kevin | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 16 | McGinn, Tye | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 20 | A | Taormina, Matt | D | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| 21 | Froese, Byron | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 22 | Peca, Matthew | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 25 | Brodeur, Mathieu | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 26 | Thomas, Ben | D | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 37 | Gourde, Yanni | LW | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 40 | A | Dumont, Gabriel | C | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 65 | Koekkoek, Slater | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 67 | Stephens, Mitchell | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 73 | Erne, Adam | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 78 | Bournival, Michael | LW | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 89 | Conacher, Cory | RW | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 92 | Vermin, Joel | RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| # | Goalie | GA | Mins | SA | SVS | G | A | PIM | |
| 50 | Gudlevskis, Kristers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 56 | McKenna, Mike | 1 | 60:00 | 28 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Head Coach: Benoit Groulx |
| Assistant Coach: Jeff Halpern |
| Assistant Coach: Trent Cull |
Scoring
| 1st | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:41 | SYR | Ben Thomas (4) ASST: Michael Bournival (3), Erik Condra (10) | |
| 2nd | |||
| 13:27 | PRO | Chris Porter (5) ASST: Ryan Fitzgerald (4) | |
| 3rd | |||
| 14:54 | SYR | Cory Conacher (8) ASST: Ben Thomas (6), Matt Taormina (12) | |
| 19:01 | SYR | Cory Conacher (9) ASST: Yanni Gourde (12), Gabriel Dumont(4) (EN) |
| 1st | ||
|---|---|---|
| 01:01 | PRO | Jake DeBrusk, Roughing, 2 min |
| 01:01 | PRO | Jake DeBrusk, Roughing, 2 min |
| 01:01 | SYR | Jake Dotchin, Roughing, 2 min |
| 01:01 | SYR | Yanni Gourde, Roughing, 2 min |
| 02:32 | PRO | Chris Casto, Holding the stick, 2 min PP |
| 06:04 | PRO | Jordan Szwarz, Roughing, 2 min PP |
| 11:29 | SYR | Cory Conacher, Hooking, 2 min PP |
| 2nd | ||
| 01:26 | SYR | Erik Condra, Tripping, 2 min PP |
| 3rd | ||
| No Penalties | ||
Three Stars
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| PP | PIM | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providence Bruins | 0 / 2 | 8 min / 4 inf | 1 G + 1 A = 2 PTS |
| Syracuse Crunch | 0 / 2 | 8 min / 4 inf | 3 G + 6 A = 9 PTS |
| Arena | OFFICIALS |
|---|---|
|
Onondaga County War Memorial Arena
Attendance: 5987 Start: 7:03 pm End: 9:29 pm Length: 2:26 |
Referee: Tom Chmielewski (43)
Referee: Pierre Lambert (47) Linesman: Ryan Daisy (81) Linesman: Francois Dussureault (60) |
Video
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[protected-iframe id=”7a3045cbbb1506cec5e4a3bb8ddaeec9-114320562-46289989″ info=”hash” class=”twitter-video”]Grand Rapids Griffins vs. Syracuse Crunch
Game 1 – Fri., June 2 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 2 – Sat., June 3 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 3 – Wed., June 7 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., June 9 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., June 10 – Grand Rapids at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 6 – Tue., June 13 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 14 – Syracuse at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
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