The Crunch got goals from J.F. Jacques and Patrick Maroon but were scoreless on three power-play opportunities, dropping them to 19-18-3-3 on the season.
Toronto got out to an early lead thanks to a power-play goal from Marcel Mueller. With the Crunch's Maxime Macenauer serving two minutes for holding, Mueller was able to push the puck past Crunch goaltender Iiro Tarkki for the 1-0 lead 2:30 into the opening frame.
Mike Ziogmanis added to the Marlies lead at the 7:39 mark of the first period. Zigomanis slipped the puck past Tarkki from the far left side off of a pass from Ryan Hamilton, giving the Marlies a 2-0 lead which they carried into the first intermission.
Less than five minutes into the second stanza Simon Gysbers scored to extended the Marlies lead to 3-0. After allowing three goals on 10 shots Tarkki was replaced by Marco Cousineau.
The Crunch got their first goal of the game courtesy of Jacques just over a minute into the final frame. Jacques beat Marlies goaltender Ben Scrivens to make it a 3-1 game. Jacques goal, assisted by Troy Bodie and Brandon McMillan, was his 13th of the season.
Cousineau allowed his first goal of the game four minutes later when Will Acton's fourth goal of the season gave the Marlies a 4-1 lead.
The Crunch struck back with a goal from Maroon at the 7:32 mark of the third period. Dan Sexton and Matt Smaby assisted before Maroon jammed the puck past Scrivens, cutting the Crunch deficit to two goals.
Former Crunch center Philippe Dupuis added an empty net goal to secure a 5-2 win for the Marlies.
Crunchables: Before being traded, Luca Caputi had 3 points in 21 games for Toronto, since then he has 12 points in 11 games for the Crunch… Troy Bodie recorded his first point since Jan. 20… Mat Clark has played in 123 consecutive games.
**Courtesy Syracuse Crunch**
