It was yet another valiant effort for the Providence Bruins. But in the end, just wasn’t enough.

Much like Game 1, Providence found themselves trailing by three in the third period before making it interesting by scoring two quick goals, only to ultimately fall to the Syracuse Crunch.

The latest blow came Wednesday night in Game 3, as Syracuse held off another late Providence rally to defeat the P-Bruins 5-4 to take a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals.

Providence found themselves down 1-0 at 8:19 after surrendering their second power-play goal of the series. With Colby Cave serving time for slashing, Syracuse caught the Providence penalty kill flat-footed, winning a few key loose-puck battles. It led to Matt Tourimina finding an open Cory Conacher at the point, who drilled a slap shot past Zane McIntyre to give Syracuse the early lead.

At 14:18, a Mathieu Brodeur shot from the blue line appeared to bounce off several skaters in front, including Crunch forward Michale Bournival, before finding the back of the net. Bournival was credited for his fourth of the playoffs from Brodeur and Ben Thomas.

Syracuse outshot the P-Bruins 12-8 in the opening frame. Providence did have the first power-play of the game when Thomas was called for delay of game, but could not do anything with it.

Early in the second, Syracuse picked up where they left off. Less than five minutes into the middle frame, Tourimina took a pass from Conacher at the blue line and fired a wrister past McIntyre for the 3-0 lead and the end of McIntyre’s night. Following Tourimina’s second of the night, Malcolm Subban replaced the P-Bruins stalwart netminder for his first action of the playoffs.

The move actually sparked the P-Bruins, as they found their legs. At 17:35, they would finally break through when Wayne Simpson poked the puck free after an initial shot by Jordan Szwarz and landed right on Danton Heinen’s stick, who beat Mike McKenna for a much-needed first goal.

Down by two and having outshot Syracuse 20-12 through two periods, Providence had a little momentum going into the third. That momentum did not carry over to the third for very long after Yanni Gourde followed through on a rebound attempt to give Syracuse the three-goal lead again at 4-1. The play was set up by Slater Koekkoek’s hustle along the side boards and solid play from the point from Conacher and Jake Dotchin.

But Providence, as they had in the first game, would make things interesting with two late goals. Anton Blidh potted his first goal of the playoffs from Alex Grant and Ryan Fitzgerald at 16:49. Just 22 seconds later, Heinen tallied his second of the game, and eighth of the playoffs, from Jordan Szwarz and Wayne Simpson. It would be reminiscent of Jake DeBrusk and Heinen going back-to-back 13 seconds apart midway through the third in Game 1 this past Friday.

Much like Friday, and in this one as well, the Providence momentum would be, well, crunched. Forty-one seconds after the second Heinen goal, Conacher added his second of the game, an empty-netter at 17:52 to make it 5-3. But Providence made it interesting once more. Austin Czarnik would be sent off for the remainder of the game for a double-minor high-stick. This would open the door for Providence’s third short-handed goal of the playoffs as Fitzgerald tallied his first of the postseason from Chris Porter with 51 seconds remaining. The time would run out on Providence as Syracuse skated off with the win.

With his two goals on the night, Heinen moved into a tie with Ryan Carpenter of the San Jose Barracuda for the playoff lead in points with 17. McKenna made 37 saves in the win, while McIntyre stopped just 12 of the 15 shots he faced. Subban played well in relief, turning aside 21 Syracuse shots.

Game 4 is set for Friday night at 7:00 pm, once again in Syracuse.