The Syracuse Crunch had a chance to leave home with at least a little more than one point, but Toronto finished the job in overtime and walked out of Upstate Medical University Arena with a 3-2 win.
Syracuse struck first and did it early, cashing in on the power play just 2:32 into the night. The sequence started with James working the puck in the high slot before sending it to Abruzzese, who moved it quickly to Gauthier in the left circle. Gauthier made the finish count for the opening goal.
Toronto answered at 12:27 of the first period when Borya Valis found the puck at the post, wrapped around the netminder and jammed it home to tie the game.
The Marlies then grabbed their first lead late in the second period on another power-play goal. At 12:29 of the middle frame, Benoit-Olivier Groulx set up Vinni Lettieri for a one-timer from the left circle, and Toronto took a 2-1 edge into the third.
Syracuse needed only 1:14 of the final period to pull even. James fed the puck down low, and Gauthier swept in from the bottom of the left circle to score his second of the game and force overtime.
But the extra period went Toronto’s way almost immediately. Lettieri scored again, this time one minute into overtime on the man-advantage, sealing the win for the Marlies.
Gauthier led the Crunch with the two-goal effort, while Nick Abruzzese and Dominic James each finished with two assists. Olivier Rodrigue stopped 24 of 27 shots for Syracuse, and Artur Akhtyamov earned the win for Toronto by turning aside 14 of 16.
The special teams battle tilted heavily toward the Marlies, who went 3-for-4 on the power play. Syracuse finished 1-for-4.
The point moved the Crunch to 5-6-3-0 on the season. They’ll head to face the Utica Comets tomorrow.
Crunch notes: Steven Santini played in his 400th AHL game, Matteo Pietroniro appeared in his 200th AHL game, Gauthier posted his first multi-goal game since Feb. 6 against Belleville, and Syracuse fell to 0-3 in overtime this season.
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