After trailing through two periods, Tye McGinn put the Crunch on the board halfway through the third. Syracuse was unable to build momentum to rally back and took a loss in their first post-season contest.
Mike McKenna turned aside 19-of-21 shots between the pipes for the Crunch. Charlie Lindgren earned the win with 28 saves for the IceCaps. Syracuse went 1-for-5 on the power play and 1-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The IceCaps were first on the board with a power play marker in the final minutes of the first period. Jacob de la Rose fired the puck into the zone and around the back of the net. Charles Hudon chipped out a centering feed from beyond the goal line for Nikita Scherbak to one-time.
St. John's doubled their lead at the 2:59 mark of the middle frame. Hudon slid a quick feed across the slot for Chris Terry to redirect back door.
The Crunch finally got on the board with 9:39 remaining in the third period. Matthew Peca set up McGinn to send it bardown from the slot while on the power play. Brett Howden picked up a point on the play.
The teams return to Mile One Centre for Game 2 Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
Crunchables: Brett Howden is on a five-game points streak with three goals and two assists…Tye McGinn has four points (2g, 2a) in his last three games…The Syracuse Crunch won the eight-game regular season series against the IceCaps with a 4-1-2-1 record.
