Syracuse Crunch vs. Springfield Falcons: Eastern Conference Semifinal, Game 2

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(Gallery by syracuse.com | The Post-Standard)

Springfield, Mass. -- By the time Saturday night ended, Syracuse Crunch forward Tyler Johnson created the impression that no matter how many players the Springfield Falcons sent out against him, the outcome would be the same.

The rest of the AHL has been feeling the same way for almost two seasons.

The league MVP ripped up Springfield for three goals and an assist to carry the Crunch to a 5-3 win in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the MassMutual Center.

Johnson scored a short-handed goal, a 5-on-3 marker and a 5-on-4 tally to rack up the hat trick, which was the first in franchise postseason history. His four points matched a team playoff record, and in five playoff games this season, Johnson is tied for the AHL scoring lead with 13 points (6-7).

"It's easy playing with great players,'' Johnson said. "I think we're playing very well. We just have to keep going. Things are going our way a little bit. We just have to ride the momentum.''

Mike Angelidis and Richard Panik also tallied for Syracuse, Ondrej Palat added three helpers and netminder Cedrick Desjardins made 28 saves.

The victory puts the Crunch in charge of the best-of-7 series with a 2-0 lead. Game 3 is Wednesday in Syracuse. The winner of this series takes on the winner of the Providence-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton semifinal, and the Bruins lead that affair two games to none



At 5-0, the Crunch is the only undefeated AHL team left in the playoffs. The five straight playoff wins also match a franchise mark, set in the 2002 postseason.



"I'm fully comfortable. I have no doubt in this group - they can overcome a lot,'' Springfield coach Brad Larsen said of his team's challenge.

"Springfield is a good team,'' said Syracuse coach Rob Zettler. "They are not going to pack up. We take nothing for granted against a good team like Springfield.''

Johnson capped the hat trick and gave the Crunch an insurance marker at the 6:47 mark of the third. With Syracuse skating a man-up, he beat Falcons goalie Curtis McElhinney for a 5-2 Syracuse lead.

"He just keeps playing and playing and playing,'' Zettler said of Johnson. "He's killing penalties. He's out there last minute, when we're protecting our lead.''

Johnson scored twice in the second as Syracuse doubled its 2-1 lead after one period to 4-2 after 40 minutes. But before he got to work, the Crunch's penalty kill gritted out an effort that swung the momentum of the contest.

Penalties to Radko Gudas and J.P. Cote late in the first period gave the Falcons, trailing by just a goal, 1:53 of 5-on-3 power play time stretched over two periods.

But Desjardins came up big on a handful of stops and Syracuse disposed of the two-man deficit.

"That's a big momentum boost right there,'' said Crunch defenseman Matt Taormina, who was on the PK. "You get that sense of urgency back. We blocked a lot of shots. Ceddy, he kept us in it.''

The Falcons then misplaced their cool and rang up five straight penalties, and Johnson took over from there. His first damage came on a tic-tack-toe Syracuse 5-on-3 power play, when he took a cross-ice pass from Brett Connolly at the 8:31 mark and blasted home a bid from the left circle for a 3-1 Syracuse cushion.

"It was just bing-bing,'' Zettler said of the tremendous puck movement. "It went through three or four guys before Johnny got it.''

Larsen had no problem with the run of whistles against his team.

"The calls were fine,'' he said. "We were in good position, and then we took five straight penalties in the second period. Syracuse is too skilled for us to do that.''

Johnson then dinged the Falcons from the other side of the manpower edge. With the Crunch killing a penalty, he skated down the right wing with teammate J.T. Wyman zipping down the middle.

Johnson looked pass all the way, right until he lasered a shot past McElhinney's stick side at the 14:05 mark to make it 4-1.

"I was looking to pass it to him the whole time,'' Johnson said. "I finally got to the point when he wasn't open, and I had to shoot.''



The Crunch scored on its first two shots of the game, taking a 2-0 lead just 1:15 after the opening faceoff.

At the 1:02 mark, Panik softly redirected in a soft pass from Palat for the first score. The line of Johnson, Palat and Panik has been tearing apart the Falcons in this series, combining for 16 points.

Thirteen seconds later, J.T. Brown's centering pass hit off Angelidis backside and went in to double the advantage.

"I was pumped,'' Angelidis said. "To go up 2-0, that's good momentum. The playoffs is all about momentum. When you have momentum, you have to keep pressure on.''

» Box score

Series schedule:

Game 1 – Friday – Syracuse 5, Springfield 2

Game 2 – Saturday – Syracuse 5, Springfield, 3.

Game 3 – Wednesday – Springfield at Syracuse, 7 p.m.

Game 4 – Friday – Springfield at Syracuse, 7 p.m.

*Game 5 – Saturday – Springfield at Syracuse, 7 p.m.

*Game 6 – May 21 – Syracuse at Springfield, 7 p.m.

*Game 7 – May 22 – Syracuse at Springfield, 7 p.m.

*if necessary