Anthony Richard scored two goals and an assist, Maxime Lagacé made 28 saves and the Syracuse Crunch beat Laval Rocket 5-3 Friday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Crunch led the North Division semi-final series 1-0. Game 2 of the best-of-five series will be shown on Saturday, still in Syracuse.
Rocket took advantage of one of their two chances in power play, while Crunch went 2 for 4 with an extra man in a game that was met with some scuffles.
Alex Belzile scored twice, while Joël Teasdale also hit the target for the Rockets, who are playing the first game in its playoff history. Danick Martel had two assists and Sami Niku had three, while Kevin Poulin stopped for 26 shots.
Cole Koepke had a goal and assist, while Remi Elie and Gemel Smith were the other Crunch scorers.
The home team won seven of the eight games between the two teams on the regular schedule. The Rockets won over Syracuse at the end of the campaign, when Crunch gave permission to some regular players.
In addition to preferring veteran Poulin over Montreal Canadiens prospect Cayden Primeau on the net, Rocket head coach Jean-François Houle has decided to leave young defender Mattias Norlinder. The latter joined the team in the final days after completing his campaign in Sweden.
Lagacé won his duel
Rocket opened the scoring 4:11 into the game with a power play. Belzile chose to return after a pitch from Martel.
Crunch responded quickly, just 1:43 left. Niku went there with an errant pass in the slot and Elie beat Poulin by a one-timer.
Both goalkeepers made some great saves afterwards. Lagacé twice frustrated Jesse Ylönen, while Poulin signaled at Smith’s expense.
Crunch led with 1:17 left in the first period in a power play. Koepke deflected a long shot from Richard behind Poulin.
Richard came back after just 68 seconds in the second period. Poulin stopped a shot from Koepke, but the return deflected defenseman Tory Dello’s foot and the puck returned to Richard in the fold. Richard took advantage of the situation to defeat Poulin.
The Rocket goalkeeper made a real steal against Charles Hudon minutes later, when the Crunch forward was left alone in the mouth of the net.
For his part, Lagacé shone against Xavier Ouellet as the Rocket played more in numbers.
Rocket cut the deficit to 3-2 with 4:41 remaining in the second period, seconds after power play. Teasdale was pleased with the comeback, while defenseman Fredrik Claesson was handicapped by the loss of a skate blade.
Crunch returned its two-goal cushion before the end of the second period, with 1:49 left. While Martel was in the penalty box for hitting Lagacé, Smith was able to shoot into an empty net after Hudon hit the post.
Belzile revived the Rocket by scoring his second game goal 6:28 in the third period.
Poulin shone with a spectacular save against Koepke with less than three minutes left, giving his team one last chance to tie the game.
Teasdale and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard then missed golden opportunities after an additional striker replaced Poulin. Richard allowed Crunch to close the books by scoring on an empty net with 22 seconds left.
Source: Radio-Canada
