It was a battle of streaks heading into Game One between the Syracuse Crunch and the Cleveland Monsters. The Monsters had won nine straight playoff games dating back to their Calder Cup victory in 2016. The Crunch had won six straight opening round games. In the end, it was Cleveland continuing their streak as they scored two third-period goals fifty-two seconds apart and defeated the Syracuse Crunch 5-3 on Friday night.
The Monsters wrestled home ice away from the North Division champs by thwarting the Crunch offense with a steady diet of blocked passes and interrupted shots. While the Syracuse power play was in early season form converting both opportunities they had, they couldn’t generate enough clean shots at even strength to counter the Cleveland offense.