ICECAPS
St. John’s

1-2

CRUNCH
Syracuse

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Hudon – Terry – Scherbak
Matteau – de la Rose – McCarron
Farnham – Audette – Friberg
Veilleux – Petti – Camara[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Redmond – Lernout
Hanley – Juulsen
Brouillette – Didier
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Lindgren
Fucale

Scratches: Mark MacMillan, Yann Danis, Keegan Lowe, Ryan Johnston, Tom Parisi, David Broll, Guillaume Asselin, Markus Eisenschmid, Jeremy Gregoire, Victor Mete, Daniel Carr (undisclosed)

Injured Reserve: Martin Reway

Game Report

As Coach Sylvain Lefebvre put it in an interview on Wednesday night, Friday’s Game 4 tilt between the IceCaps and Crunch was “do or die”.  With St. John’s staring down elimination, a big performance from the visiting team was going to be needed to stay in the playoffs.

As with all of the games in this hard-fought series, victory would come down to one goal.  Erik Condra scored first in the opening frame on a power play opportunity.  Although there were no actual fights per se, this game was filled with penalties yet again, as both teams took our their frustrations on each other seemingly after every whistle.

Charlie Lindgren was sharp in the crease, turning aside some very close shots and the IceCaps defense did a good job at collapsing the shooting lanes.  Both teams battled hard at every shift, although there were many times when it felt as if St. John’s dominated the play.  So many chances to tie the game went just out of reach as the puck hit goalposts or was pushed to safety at the last minute.

Finally, with just over five minutes remaining in the game, Stefan Matteau potted his third goal of the postseason, a high wrister on the power play to even the score and breathe life back into the IceCaps bench.  However, those uplifted spirits were quickly doused just 2:18 into overtime when former St. John’s captain Gabriel Dumont found an opening and put the puck into the net to win the game, and the series.

The St. John’s IceCaps, after delivering an impressive regular season performance, fought to the bitter end in the playoffs.  Their gameplay in this final game was nothing short of inspirational, and they left everything they had on the ice.  They battled in every shift and never gave up.  The loss brings an official end to their season, as well as closes the final chapter of the franchise in St. John’s, Newfoundland.  Fans, staff, and players will now look ahead to the offseason and preparations for the team’s move to Quebec in the fall where they will become the Laval Rocket.

▲     Charlie Lindgren, Josiah Didier, Bobby Farnham, Charles Hudon, Jacob de la Rose

▼

1. Mike McKenna  SYR
2. Gabriel Dumont  SYR
3. Erik Condra  SYR

Post-game interview with Sylvain Lefebvre

Post-game interview with Max Friberg

Post-game interview with Michael McCarron

Post-game interview with Charlie Lindgren

Quotes courtesy of AHL Report

Here's to 20 years.

Thank you, Newfoundland and Labrador. #LetsCelebrate pic.twitter.com/236BtQxMsY

— St. John's IceCaps (@IceCapsAHL) April 29, 2017

Can't thank the city of St. John's and the fans enough for their support this year. Was an absolute blast #thankyou

— CharlieLindgren35 (@CharlieLindgren) April 29, 2017

ROSTER MOVE! Goaltender Zach Fucale has been reassigned from the @IceCapsAHL to the Beast.

DETAILS ➡️ [https://t.co/1QQxWDe3zd]#RoarAsOne pic.twitter.com/LiQ9oZ4S0m

— Brampton Beast (@BramptonBeast) April 29, 2017

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