Desjardin stones Griffins to keep Crunch alive

Tampa Bay Lightning and Syracuse Crunch goalie Cedrick Desjardins defends the goal from a shot from the Montreal Canadiens during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Tampa, Fla. (AP/Brian Blanco)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Cedrick Desjardins made 40 saves as the Syracuse Crunch stayed alive in the Calder Cup final Saturday with a 5-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins in Game 5.

Ondrej Palat had a goal and two assists for Syracuse, which heads back home for Game 6 on Tuesday. The Crunch still trail the Griffins 3-2 in the series after Grand Rapids won the first three games.

Desjardins was at his best in the second period. He allowed just one goal during a Grand Rapids onslaught where the Griffins outshot the Crunch 20-5.

Tyler Johnson, Richard Panik, Dan Sexton and Brett Connolly also scored the Crunch.

Triston Grant and Tomas Tatar replied for the Griffins, while Petr Mrazek allowed four goals on 21 shots.

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