ICECAPS
St. John’s

3-2

CRUNCH
Syracuse

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Veilleux – McCarron – de la Rose
Andrighetto – Audette – Friberg
Broll – Eisenschmid – Gregoire
Crisp – MacMillan – Scherbak[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Didier – Parisi
Lernout – Racine
Hanley – Brouillette[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Danis
Lindgren

Scratches: Bobby Farnham, Philip Samuelsson, Ryan Johnston, Mathieu Gagon, Stefan Matteau (suspension)

Injured Reserve: Martin Reway

Game Report

The IceCaps came out much stronger in the second of two games against the Syracuse Crunch. They did not get scored upon in the first minute, but Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond made it 1-0 just over three minutes into the game. The Crunch were banging away in front and Letourneau-Leblond potted his first of the season, leaving the IceCaps with some work to do.

While they did come out looking far better than Syracuse and maintained their play after the goal, they could not crack Kristers Gudlevskis. St. John’s had back-to-back man advantages, but Gudlevskis answered the call to keep Syracuse ahead. That was all in what was an uneventful first period of play and the IceCaps headed into the intermission trailing 1-0.

The second period was much like the first, uneventful early in the frame but picking up later in the period. Just over 15 minutes into the second, Daniel Audette got into a spirited scrap with Tanner Richard after the whistle. St. John’s rallied around their teammate and scored just under a minute later. Nikita Scherbak, who sat for the entirety of the first period, would snipe his ninth of the season past Gudlevskis, off a drop pass from Sven Andrighetto to tie the game at 1-1.

Then, as the period was expiring, Scherbak and Andrighetto struck again. This time it was Scherbak putting the puck towards the net and Markus Eisenschmid would pot home his fourth of the season to give St. John’s their first lead of the series. Andrighetto also picked up a helper on the play. The puck crossed the line at 19:59, just beating the buzzer, and St. John’s went to the dressing room with a 2-1 lead.

Syracuse came out strong to start the third. After some sustained pressure from the Crunch, Adam Comrie blasted one past Danis to tie the game at two apiece. The rest of regulation solved nothing, as these teams needed extra time to determine the winner.

In the extra frame the IceCaps had multiple glorious chances, two of which were set up by Audette, but St. John’s just could not put Syracuse away. Max Friberg even had a breakaway later in the period, but Gudlevskis turned him aside and the teams headed to the shootout.

Audette shot first for the IceCaps and he scored over the shoulder of Gudlevskis. Cory Conacher followed Audette for Syracuse and was turned aside by Danis. The next shooter for St. John’s was Andrighetto, who beat Gudlevskis to give the ‘Caps a 2-0 lead in the shootout. Richard shot second for the Crunch but he could not beat Danis, sealing the win for the IceCaps.

It was a great bounce back win for the IceCaps following their 6-2 defeat the night before. Danis was solid between the pipes making 26 saves on 28 shots.

St. John’s gets back at it this weekend with two games against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

(Game Report written by Joseph Whalen, Staff Writer for AHL Report)

▲     Yann Danis, Markus Eisenschmid, Sven Andrighetto, Nikita Scherbak, Josiah Didier, Max Friberg

▼     Jonathan Racine, Tom Parisi

1. Daniel Audette  STJ
2. Markus Eisenschmid  STJ
3. Adam Comrie  SYR

Post-game interview with Sylvain Lefebvre

Audio from interviews provided by Joseph Whalen for AHL Report | Rocket Sports Media.

Quotes courtesy of AHL Report

Scherbak has had about 4 shifts after not playing in the 1st and he looks extremely motivated. Been all over the ice. #IceCaps @TheAHLReport

— Joe Whalen (@SportsFanJoe17) December 1, 2016

AHL has announced that #IceCaps forward Stefan Matteau has been suspended one game for spearing in last night's game vs Syracuse. #Habs

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) November 30, 2016

⬆️ ROSTER MOVE! Mathieu Gagnon earns callup to AHL affiliate, @IceCapsAHL.

DETAILS: [https://t.co/XYhCStTOsO]#WeStandTogether #RoarAsOne pic.twitter.com/JHn4W82oV3

— Brampton Beast (@BramptonBeast) November 30, 2016

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