Waltteri Merelä scored on a breakaway 10:18 into the second overtime period as the Syracuse Crunch took a 2-1 decision over Rochester in the pivotal Game 3 of their North Division semifinal series on Thursday night.
With a 2-1 series lead thanks to back-to-back OT wins, the Crunch can eliminate the Amerks with another victory at home in Game 4 on Saturday.
Gage Goncalves found Merela coming onto the ice on a line change, and the Finnish forward raced in alone and slipped the puck past Devon Levi to end the first multi-OT Calder Cup Playoff game ever played at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Levi finished the night with 60 saves for Rochester, including 23 over a period and a half of overtime. The Amerks were outshot 62-34 on the night.
Alex Barré-Boulet broke a scoreless tie at 11:10 of the second period, tapping home a pass from Declan Carlile at the side of the crease to record his third career Calder Cup Playoff goal.
Rochester answered with 54.4 seconds to play in the middle frame as Isak Rosén was tied up from behind on a breakway and awarded a penalty shot. He beat Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson to the glove side to make it 1-1.
Halverson (2-1) would wind up with 33 saves for Syracuse.
The Amerks were a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, including two opportunities in overtime.
(Syracuse leads series, 2-1)
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 26 – ROCHESTER 3, Syracuse 2
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Syracuse 4, ROCHESTER 3 (OT)
Game 3 – Thu., May 2 – SYRACUSE 2, Rochester 1 (2OT)
Game 4 – Sat., May 4 – Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 10 – Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern