IceCaps taste victory in Mary's Cup finale
September 29, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
St. John's IceCaps News Release
ST. JOHN'S, NL - It took six tries but the IceCaps finally came out on top in a Mary's Cup game against the Syracuse Crunch, winning 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Mile One Centre to snap a five-game preseason losing streak to the Tampa Bay Lightning's AHL affiliate.
Andrew Gordon notched the eventual game-winner in the third period while Blair Riley and Josh Lunden also scored for St. John's. Eddie Pasquale made 26 saves for the win in his first appearance of the preseason.
Cedrick Desjardins stopped 26 shots in the loss and Nikita Nesterov had a goal and an assist for the visitors in the loss.
The IceCaps got on the scoresheet first on a goal by Riley midway through the opening frame. Shortly after a big save by Pasquale, St. John's continued the momentum when Riley got a piece of Ryan Schnell's shot from the left side as the puck snuck through the pads of Desjardins to make it 1-0.
On a power play in the second period, Lunden made it 2-0. After the faceoff, Eric O'Dell and J.C. Lipon helped get the puck to the slot where Lunden was waiting, and the winger turned and fired a shot along the ice past Desjardins to give the home side a two-goal cushion.
The Crunch cut the lead in half late in the frame with a shorthanded tally by Nesterov. St. John's turned the puck over it the offensive zone which lead to a break for Syracuse and a timely goal by Nesterov, who beat Pasquale to make it 2-1 with 11 seconds left in the second period.
Syracuse tied the score at the quarter mark of the third period on a goal by Cedric Paquette, his third of the preseason, this time on the power play. Nesterov's floater from the point was redirected in by Paquette to make it a brand new game.
The deadlock didn't last for long, however, as 27 seconds later Gordon put the IceCaps on top for good. Jerome Samson got the puck to Brenden Kichton at the point, and the rookie defenceman made a beautiful slap pass to Gordon, who was parked in the crease and deflected the puck past Desjardins to make it 3-2.
The IceCaps wrap up the preseason with a 1-2-0-0 record and get set to host the Providence Bruins Friday and Saturday for the start of the 2013-14 AHL regular season.
Notes: Not dressed for St. John's: Patrick Kennedy, Kris Fredheim, Zach Bell, Ivan Telegin, Mike Ullrich, Yasin Cisse, Blair MacAulay, Cody Sol, Zach O'Brien, Julian Melchiori, Maxim Legault, Philip-Michael Devos, Carl Klingberg, Travis Ehrhardt, Austen Brassard, Adam Brown, Michael Hutchinson... St. John's went 1-for-6 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill... Sunday was designated a "School Game," with more than 4000 kids and their family members in attendance at Mile One Centre... Molson Canadian Three Stars: 1. Eddie Pasquale 2. Josh Lunden 3. Cedrick Desjardins... Mary Brown's Hardest Working Player: Cody Lampl.
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