The IceCaps played the final game of their ten game road trip on Saturday night against the North Division leading Syracuse Crunch. The IceCaps were looking for their first win of 2017, and they had an immediate advantage going into the game. Due to last minute recalls to Michael Bournival and Erik Condra, the Crunch ended up playing the game down one man, with 11 forwards and six defencemen.
The game started slowly, with Tom Parisi taking a puck off his helmet as a scary moment, but he would return to the game unscathed. The first shot did not come until 6:25 of the first period when former IceCaps captain Gabriel Dumont tested starter Yann Danis with a shot that was handled easily.
The best IceCaps chance early in the first period came to Jacob de la Rose, who played another solid game, but it was newcomer Anthony Camara who broke the ice. He retrieved a point shot from Julien Brouillette, and whipped it past Crunch goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis to put the IceCaps up 1-0 as the period drew to a close.
Anthony Camara scores his first as an @IceCapsAHL player, assist going to the newly signed Julien Brouillette. pic.twitter.com/nArSEeX8s1
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) January 8, 2017
The IceCaps struggled to get shots on net in the second period, as they did all game, only earning 19 in total. Max Friberg had a golden opportunity to give them a two-goal lead, but his shot sailed just over the Crunch goal. With Jonathan Racine in the box for cross-checking, the Crunch equalized the game when Mike Halmo shot through a screen to beat Danis. This would be the only goal that Danis would allow all game, stopping 32 other shots, some of the spectacular variety.
The third period solved nothing, despite the Crunch dominance, and the game headed to overtime. The IceCaps controlled the play from the start with a two-on-one that saw Joel Hanley and de la Rose almost bring a quick conclusion to the extra frame, but were thwarted by Gudlevskis’ quick reflexes. A second two-on-one for the IceCaps did give them the win, as a miscommunication in the IceCaps zone between Dumont and Cory Conacher allowed Brouillette to send Daniel Audette and Stefan Matteau on a break, and after a couple of quick passes, Audette put the game away for the IceCaps on his team-leading fifth shot of the game.
Gabriel Dumont is forced into a turnover,Daniel Audette heads down the ice, and plays catch with Brouillette for the @IceCapsAHL OT winner. pic.twitter.com/5PdBjrfWG2
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) January 8, 2017
The IceCaps completed their 10 game road trip with a record of five wins, two losses, and three losses in extra time. During the course of the trip the IceCaps used an impressive total of 31 different players due to injury and recall to the Montreal Canadiens. Not to mention both Mathieu Gagnon and Reggie Traccitto, who were available at various points during the road trip, but did not see any game action.
The IceCaps now return to St. John’s for an eight game home stand to close out the month. They’re currently third in the North division, with a record of 18-14-3-1.
