Marlies lose OT heartbreaker; trail 3-1 in series

The Toronto Marlies are one loss away from being eliminated in the Calder Cup playoffs after dropping a 5-4 overtime decision to the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday night.  The Marlies held a 4-2 lead heading into the third period, but were outplayed and outworked by the home team over the final 20 minutes.  A power-play goal by Syracuse's Derick Brassard with just 1:38 left in the third period sent the game into overtime.

Toronto now trails the best-of-seven North Division Final 3 games to 1.

The defeat overshadowed a strong effort by the Marlies special teams, who successfully killed a pair of 5-on-3 situations in the game, including a two-man disadvantage to begin the first 1:41 of overtime.  Derrick Walser and Kris Newbury had power-play goals for Toronto, while both John Mitchell and Jamie Sifers scored goals immediately after stepping out of the penalty box.  Defenceman Jay Harrison collected 4 assists.

The game was played before 5,061 fans at Onondanga County War Memorial Arena.  Game #5 of the series is on Friday at Ricoh Coliseum.

Forward lines: Tlusty-J. Mitchell-Ondrus, Battaglia-Newbury-D. Mitchell, Foster-Rogers-Harrington,  Wellar-Tsimikalis-Ling
Goaltenders: Clemmensen (L 69:34, 42 SV, 5 GA), Pogge (0:00)

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