Toronto Marlies Rout Syracuse Crunch 5-1, Extend Win Streak to Four

Alex Nylander touched the puck on three of Toronto's five goals, and Dennis Hildeby was nearly untouchable between the pipes as the Marlies dismantled the Syracuse Crunch 5-1 at Upstate Medical University Arena on March 11, ending the Crunch's five-game winning streak and extending Toronto's own run to four straight.

The Marlies were in control from the opening minutes. Five minutes in, Nylander set up Noah Chadwick for a wrister from the bottom of the right circle to put Toronto on the board first. The lead doubled late in the first period on an odd-man rush: Luke Haymes carried the puck down the left wing and fed it across the slot for Nylander to chip in. Toronto entered the second period with momentum and never let it go.

Ryan Tverberg made it 3-0 at the 4:32 mark of the second period, crossing the blue line, deking around a defender, and beating Brandon Halverson from between the circles. The Crunch, who had been generating little, went into the third trailing by three.

Syracuse finally cracked Hildeby four minutes into the third when Ethan Samson fired from the blue line and Mitchell Chaffee tipped it home from the slot. It was the lone bright spot for the home side. The Marlies answered quickly: Haymes scored from the right circle at 9:08 to restore the three-goal cushion, and Nylander added an empty-netter in the final minutes to seal the 5-1 final.

Hildeby's performance was the backbone of the effort. The Toronto netminder stopped 30 of 31 shots to earn the win, while Halverson turned away 21 of 25 on the other end. Syracuse's power play went 0-for-3, though the Crunch penalty kill held a perfect 3-for-3.

The loss drops Syracuse to 35-18-3-1 on the season and levels the clubs at 1-1-1-0 in their four-game season series. The Crunch return to Upstate Medical University Arena on Friday to host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.