Hunter McKown tallied a goal and an assist, Jet Greaves made 17 saves, and Cleveland grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five North Division Finals with a 4-1 win over Syracuse on Saturday afternoon.
The Crunch return home facing elimination in Game 3 on Wednesday.
Devante Stephens scored on a power play 8:07 into the game to give Syracuse a 1-0 lead, but it was barely more than three minutes before the Monsters tied it up on a Billy Sweezey goal that snuck between the pad of Brandon Halverson and the near post.
Cleveland took the lead for good on McKown’s goal with 4:42 left in the opening period, as he pounced on a fumbled pass by Halverson and scored his first goal since Mar. 12.
Jakob Zboril registered a power-play goal early in the third period, and Alex Whelan added a late empty-netter.
Greaves (5-1) and the Monsters have won five in a row since dropping their opener to Belleville last round.
Halverson (3-4) made 24 saves for Syracuse.
Attendance at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse was 10,570.
(Cleveland leads series, 2-0)
Game 1 – Thu., May 16 – CLEVELAND 1, Syracuse 0
Game 2 – Sat., May 18 – CLEVELAND 4, Syracuse 1
Game 3 – Wed., May 22 – Cleveland at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 24 – Cleveland at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 26 – Syracuse at Cleveland, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
