Crunch bounce back with OT win!

After getting blown out of their own barn the night before in a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Marlies, the Syracuse Crunch bounced back to take a 5-4 win in OT off of Joakim Lindstrom's game winner.

Things didn't look good for the Crunch in the second period as they trailed 4-2. Mid-way through the 3rd though the boy started to apply some heat and stormed back off of goals from the Dereks (MacKenzie and Brassard).

Then after squandering an extended 5 on 3 advantage to open up OT Joakim Lindstrom, off a sweet pass by Zenon Konopka, netted the game winner when he buried a Konopka's pass in the slot.

Lindstrom may have gotten the sweet taste of scoring the OT winner but it was Konopka who once again fueled this Syracuse Crunch train. He had 1g and 3a and 7 shots on goal. Derek Brassard also improved his playoff performance with another goal and assist to bring his playoff totals to 4g, 7a for 11p in 10 playoff games. This kid is really maturing and this time spent in the AHL should prove to be invaluable.

Not to overlook was the play of Tom Sestito who by all accounts played a fantastic game last night. He had a goal and 3 shots and is really taking some steps in his development. Marc Methot also played some strong bruising defensive hockey and collected a pair of assists.

Nice to see some of the Jackets prospects really contributing during this playoff stretch. There are some concerns though as Gilbert Brule continues his season long scoring slump - he's only got 2 assists through 10 playoff games.

Crunch have a commanding 3-1 series lead and can close out the series in Toronto on Friday night. This Toronto team won't go quietly into the night so the Crunch have to come out firing on all cylinders to conclude this series.

-LTL