Syracuse, N.Y. -- One hundred seventy feet and 1:30 separated the Syracuse Crunch from the Laval Rocket’s empty net and a trip to the North Division finals on Tuesday night.
But that minute and 30 seconds remained, and as Laval stuffed Syracuse goalie Max Lagace’s crease, the nearly 200 feet between the two nets seemed to spread farther apart
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Lagace stopped the first 14 third-period shots the Rocket slung, deflected and knuckled his way. Sprawling across the net for a loose puck, Lagace did not prevent Laval’s Cédric Paquette from tying the game with 38 seconds left.
Laval’s Gabriel Bourque then swatted a puck past Lagace 10 minutes into overtime, shoving the Rocket over Syracuse 3-2 and into the next round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
“It’s a tough one,” Crunch coach Ben Groulx said after the loss. “It’s just disappointing being here tonight coming up short like that.”
The loss capped a season where Syracuse played 55 games over 116 days due to Covid-19 schedule changes. The Crunch rose from fifth place in the American Hockey League’s North Division standings into second place, earning home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
And for part of Tuesday night, Syracuse’s magical season was going to continue. Syracuse fans gave the Crunch its loudest home crowd of the postseason, and the Crunch, following that momentum, opened a two-goal lead.
Anthony Richard chipped an errant pass around a Rocket defender in the first period, swooshed down the ice and scooped a backhand shot past Laval goalie Cayden Primeau.
Richard’s shorthanded goal, his fourth of the series, put the Crunch ahead 1-0. Ryan Jones then doubled that lead, swiping a pass from Alex Barré-Boulet into Laval’s net for his first goal of the postseason.
But Laval’s Alex Belzile answered Jones’ tally minutes later with his fourth goal of the series. Laval outshot Syracuse 15-8 in the third period before tying the game late and ending the Crunch’s 2021-22 season.
“I thought when (Laval) scored their first goal our energy went down and there’s went up big time,” Groulx said. “We became nervous, we were hesitant on the ice and not skating as much. When you start thinking too much, you’re giving the other team the edge.”
In the locker room between the third period and overtime, Groulx told his players to ‘just play hockey.’ The Crunch earned its first powerplay of the game in overtime where Charles Hudon narrowly missed a few one-time chances to win the game.
“This series was about bounces,” Groulx said. “You score and you don’t and they come back, and I think overall it was a very even series.”
As Bourque fell to his knees and Crunch players scanned for the puck, one of those bounces ended Syracuse’s Calder Cup hopes.
Syracuse watched Laval huddle around Bourque after the game-winning goal. Most Crunch fans stayed to cheer their team off the War Memorial ice for the final time this season.