BY WARREN KOZIRESKI —
SYRACUSE, NY — Syracuse rookie forward Waltteri Merela scored the double overtime game-winning goal on a breakaway after a turnover at the offensive blueline by Rochester rookie forward Anton Wahlberg at 10:18 of the fifth period to give Syracuse a 2-1 victory over Rochester and a two-games-to-one advantage in their best-of-five Morth Division semi-final series.
Three of the last four playoff games between the two teams have needed overtime to settle.
Ales Barre-Boulet broke up the scoreless tie staking the Crunch a 1-0 lead at 11:10 of the second period redirecting a point shot from Declan Carlile.
Eight minutes later, Rochester’s Isak Rosen was awarded a penalty shot and converted to tie the 1-1 and it stayed that way through the third period and the first overtime.
Rochester goaltender Devon Levi made a professional career high 60 saves in the loss.
“Once before I think when I was playing midget hockey,” Levi said about his save total. “You can’t control outcomes; you can only control the process. It’s a loss, but the series is not over, so as much it sucks losing in double-overtime, let’s hit the repeat button and the outcome might change.”
“We didn’t have enough looks, but we had good looks in overtime,” Rochester head coach Seth Appert said. “We’ve won series’ the past couple years with our backs against the wall on the road in hard environments and this team has a ton of resilience.
Game four is Saturday night in Syracuse and game five, if needed, is in Rochester Fri. May 10th.
(Photo by Janet Schultz Photography/NY Hockey OnLine)
