In a tight-checking, hard-fought contest, it was two rookies connecting in overtime that allowed the Syracuse Crunch to emerge victorious on Wednesday night as they defeated the Charlotte Checkers 2-1 in a battle of the top two teams in the AHL. Alex Barre-Boulet tapped in a feed from Taylor Raddysh to give Syracuse the edge in what could be a preview of the Eastern Conference finals in a couple of months.
Another rookie, Cal Foote, gave the Crunch an early lead as he scored his ninth goal of the season in the first period.