AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Weekly

Published on April 1, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Last Week

Wed., Mar. 27 - Crunch at Rochester - L, 1-0

Fri., Mar. 29 - Crunch at Norfolk - OTL, 5-4

Sat., Mar. 30 - Crunch at Norfolk - L, 2-0

This Week

Fri., Apr. 5 - Crunch vs. Hershey, 7:30 p.m. (TV)

Sat., Apr. 6 - Crunch at Hershey, 7:00 p.m.

Need to Know

- Syracuse begins April in a four-way tie for the Eastern Conference points lead, 87, at 39-20-4-5.

- Rob Zettler became the eighth head coach in Crunch history Mar. 27 after Jon Cooper's promotion to the NHL.

- Following a winless three-game road trip, Syracuse plays a home-and-home with Hersehy Friday and Saturday.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Game 66: Rochester blanks Syracuse in Zettler's head coaching debut

In Rob Zettler's first game taking over for Jon Cooper as head coach, the Crunch fell to Rochester 1-0 Wednesday at Blue Cross Arena. Syracuse bombarded Americans' goalie David Leggio with 38 shots, but he turned them all away. The only goal came in the first period's final minute when Rick Schofield scored on Zemgus Girgensons' feed from behind the net. Syracuse dominated the final two periods, but couldn't manage a goal. The Crunch put 28 shots on Leggio in the final 40 minutes, but the AHL's winningest goalie won his seventh vs. Syracuse. Rochester had only 14 shots: four in the first, three in the second and seven in the third.

Game 67: Crunch falter in third, lose in overtime to Admirals

Syracuse led Norfolk 4-1 early in the third period, but lost 5-4 in overtime Friday at the Norfolk Scope. Four minutes in, Brett Connolly banked a shot off goalie Frederik Andersen from the left corner for his 27th goal. Eric Neilson doubled the lead with his first tally late in the first, deflecting a point shot from Danick Gauthier. Norfolk got on the board when Patrick Maroon beat Riku Helenius through the five-hole with 14 seconds left in the first. Alex Hutchings scored his third late in the second on the rebound of a J.P. Cote point shot. Ten seconds into the third frame, J.T. Wyman and Dan Sexton both tipped a drive from J.T. Brown, to give Syracuse the 4-1 edge, Sexton's seventh. In the next three minutes, the Admirals got two goals to close the deficit to 4-3. Maroon tied the game with a power play goal midway through the third and, in overtime, finished a hat trick (another power play marker) to win. Syracuse has squandered a third-period lead four times this year (28-1-3-0). Eric Neilson and Jared Nightingale had fights for Syracuse, facing Pierre-Luc Letourneau Leblond and Josh Brittain, respectively.

Game 68: Andersen, Norfolk defense stymie Syracuse for a weekend sweep

The Crunch offense was shut out for the second time in three games during a 2-0 loss to the Admirals Saturday in Norfolk. The Crunch peppered Norfolk goalie Frederik Andersen with 13 shots in the first period, but couldn't score. The Admirals managed just three shots in the opening frame, but finally cracked Riku Helenius in the second. After two assists Friday, Sami Vatanen snapped a goal past Helenius' glove to put the Admirals up 1-0 almost halfway through the game. Norfolk doubled its lead early in the third period with a John Mitchell goal from the slot. Helenius finished with night with 25 saves. He didn't get any help from the Syracuse power play, which went 0-for-8 on the night. Danick Gauthier dropped the gloves with John Kurtz in the first period, his fourth fight.

Transactions

04/01/2013 Luke Witkowski ADD Signed to ATO

04/01/2013 Tanner Richard ADD Signed to ATO

03/26/2013 Brian Lee (D) ADD Loaned from Tampa Bay (NHL)

03/25/2013 Carl Nielsen (RW) ADD Signed to PTO

Notes

- Syracuse has eight games remaining in the regular season (six at home) and has 87 points, tied with Binghamton, Providence and Springfield for the most in the Eastern Conference. Syracuse and Binghamton have both played 68 games, Providence 67 and Springfield 66. One win clinches a playoff spot for both Syracuse and Binghamton.

- The Crunch power play is scoreless over its last six games, its longest drought of the season. The Crunch are 2-3-1-0 in those six games, averaging 1.3 goals per contest. Syracuse's power play is 12th in the AHL at 17.4% (56-for-322), slipping from 7th at 18.9% (56-for-296) as of Mar. 16. The Crunch last scored with a man up Mar. 16 vs. Albany and haven't converted on the last 28 chances. Syracuse was 0-for-25 on the power play over four games Dec. 8-14, the team's previous worst skid of 2012-13.

- The Crunch had not been shut out on the road all season, until being held scoreless in two away games last week: Mar. 24 in Rochester, 1-0, and Mar. 20 in Norfolk, 2-0. Blanked three times in the last five games, Syracuse had been shut out one time in the first 63 games of the season, a 1-0 shootout loss to Binghamton Jan. 25.

- Right wing Eric Neilson scored his first goal (first point) of the season Saturday at Norfolk. The eighth-year pro now has 16 goals in 365 games, seven in 220 AHL games plus nine in 145 ECHL contests. Nielson had the goal, five fights and a plus-2 in March, appearing in 10 of 14 games, including the last eight in a row. He hadn't dressed in more than five consecutive games prior. He has 13 fighting majors in 34 games this season.

- Week 25 marked the Crunch debut of two players, veteran defenseman Brian Lee and rookie Carl Nielsen. After clearing waivers Mar. 23, Tampa Bay assigned Lee to Syracuse Mar. 26. The North Dakota alum played his first Crunch game Wednesday in Rochester. In three contests, Lee is minus-2 with five shots and two penalty minutes. Lee, 26, last played in the AHL for Binghamton in 2009-10. Nielsen, 24, joined the Crunch Mar. 25, signing a professional try out contract after his fourth season at Michigan Tech. The Lorain, OH native played his first professional/Crunch game Saturday in Norfolk as a right wing, converting from defense as a collegian.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Crunch vs. Hershey - Friday, 7:30 p.m. (TV) | Crunch at Herhsey - Saturday, 7 p.m.

The Syracuse Crunch wrap up their season series with the Hershey Bears with a home-and-home series Friday and Saturday nights. The Crunch host the Bears 7:30 p.m. Friday at the War Memorial, then travel to Hershey for a 7 p.m. match Saturday. The Crunch have won three of the first four meetings this season. The Crunch won the first three meeting this season, but Hershey won the last match, 5-3, Mar. 3 in Hershey.

The Bears enter the week coming off a 3-2 win over Providence on Saturday. This week is a three-in-three for the Bears. After facing the Crunch on Friday and Saturday, Hershey opens up a six-game road trip with a game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday. Hershey ends the season with one final home game after the road trip.

With their win over the Bruins Saturday, the Bears are just 4-5-0-1 in their last ten games. That has dropped Hershey to 32-26-3-6 overall, 71 points, and fourth place in the East Division, eighth place in the Eastern Conference. They hold a two point cushion over the Norfolk Admirals for the final playoff spot in the conference.

The Bears are led by center Jeff Taffe (18g-44a-62pts), center Casey Wellman (15g-31a-46pts), and right wing Jon DiSalvatore (16g-27a-43pts). Taffe's 62 points are tied for the AHL lead and his 44 assists puts him one behind the league leader. Casey Wellman has 23 points (8g, 15a) in 24 games since being acquired from San Antonio. In goal, Dany Sabourin and Philipp Grubauer have shared time this season, although Grubauer has seen action in seven of the last eight games. Overall he is 11-6-2 in 21 games, with a 2.16 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. He recorded the lone win against the Crunch.

For Syracuse, Brett Connolly and Mark Barberio lead active players with four points each in the four games against Hershey. In net, Riku Helenius won his only start against the Bears.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics

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