The Syracuse Crunch lost 4-2 to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to open the Eastern Conference Final tonight at the War Memorial Arena.
The loss was the Crunch’s first of the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs and snapped the franchise’s record of seven consecutive postseason victories.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins opened the scoring 1:55 into the first period. Alex Grant released a one-timer from the glove side circle that beat Cedrick Desjardins. Derek Nesbitt and Trevor Smith assisted on the goal.
Brendan Mikkelson tied the game at the 16:41 mark of the period with a shot from the right point. Matt Taormina and J.T. Brown were credited with the assists on Mikkelson’s first goal of the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Penguins regained the lead less than a minute later with a power-play goal. Thirteen seconds into a Radko Gudas boarding penalty, Brian Gibbons passed across the crease to Trevor Smith for the goal. Chad Kolarik also assisted on the play.
The Crunch evened the score 5:38 into the second frame. Tyler Johnson scored his eighth goal of these playoffs with Joey Mormina sitting in the box for delay of game . Brett Connolly and Mark Barberio picked up the assists on Johnson’s power-play goal.
Read the rest at SyracuseCrunch.com.
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