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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Weekly

February 25, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Last Week

Fri., Feb. 21 - Crunch vs. Utica - OTL, 2-1

Sat., Feb. 22 - Crunch at Hershey - W, 5-0

Sun., Feb. 23 - Crunch vs. Hershey - W, 5-2

This Week

Fri., Feb. 28 - Crunch vs. W-B/Scranton - 7 p.m.

Sat., Mar. 1 - Crunch vs. Adirondack - 7 p.m.

Sun., Mar. 2 - Crunch at Adirondack - 5 p.m.

Need to Know

- Syracuse earned five of six possible points in Week 21 including two wins over Hershey by a 10-2 combined margin.

- Richard Panik recorded his first career four-point performance (1g, 3a) Sunday in Washington, D.C. vs. Hershey.

- Syracuse hosts W-B/Scranton Friday before a home-and-home series with Adirondack Saturday and Sunday.

The Crunch broke out of a five-game skid with breakout offensive showings Saturday and Sunday against Hershey in wins of 5-0 at Giant Center and 5-2 at Verizon Center. With five points in three games, Syracuse climbed to 12th in the Eastern Conference standings at 49 points (20-23-4-5) but 15 points shy of a playoff spot.

Looking to make up ground in Week 22, Syracuse faces the conference's ninth place team, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Friday at the War Memorial followed by two matchups with Adirondack, 13th in the conference and two points behind the Crunch. The trio of contests is the third three-in-three this season and second straight.

Transactions

02/20/2014 Charles Landry (D) Reassigned by Tampa Bay (NHL) from Florida (ECHL)

Panik point explosion

Richard Panik returned from the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, faster, higher and stronger. He collected five points (2g, 3a) in Syracuse's victories over Hershey including his first Crunch goal of the season Saturday and his first career four-point performance (1g, 3a) Sunday in Washington, D.C. At the AHL level, the Slovak had four times produced three points in a game; in the NHL, once. He has 20 AHL multi-point games and two in the NHL.

Marking the milestones

Charles Landry recorded his first two points with the Crunch in Week 21. His assist Saturday in Hershey was his first point at the AHL level since Jan. 4, 2012 (with Norfolk). He has eight points (all assists) in 49 AHL games.

Max Parent posted his first AHL goal Saturday in Hershey and has five points (1g, 4a) in 22 AHL games. In nine career ECHL contests he has four points (3g, 1a).

Luke Witkowski collected his first professional goal Saturday in Hershey to go along with seven assists. Witkowski, Mike Angelidis and Cedric Paquette are the only three players who've appeared all 52 Crunch games to date.

With a goal and two assists Sunday, Dana Tyrell enjoyed his first three-point performance since March 20, 2010. He has six multi-point performances this season and 18 points (7g, 11a) points overall.

Vlad Namestnikov surged to the top of several Syracuse offensive categories with four points in the two wins over Hershey. He leads the Crunch in points (34), goals (15), assists (19) and multi-point games (11).

Allen York's 39-save shutout victory in Hershey Saturday was his first win with Syracuse and second AHL shutout this season, the third of his career in his 40th game.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Game 50: Utica captures overtime win in first visit to Syracuse

A sellout crowd of 6,293 watched the Crunch and Comets play at the War Memorial for the first time Friday. Utica prevailed in overtime, 2-1, and leads the season series two games to one and five points to three.

P.C. Labrie's second goal of the season and first point since Jan. 3 gave Syracuse a first-period lead. Phil Paradis and Mike Angelidis had assists. Angelidis led the Crunch with five shots on goal including three standout scoring chances. One wraparound attempt slid under Comets goalie Joacim Eriksson but video replay evidenced no score.

In the second Nicklas Jensen tied the game with his 13th goal, a power-play marker assisted by Cal O'Reilly and former Crunch center Pascal Pelletier. Cedrick Desjardins finished with 34 saves on 36 shots, one short of his season high. He could not make a 35th when four minutes into overtime O'Reilly's whirl-around shot went right to a circling Brandon DeFazio at the side of the net. DeFazio's ninth goal of the year was the game winner.

Syracuse had 11 shots in the first period but only 15 more in the last 44 minutes and went 0-for-3 on the power play. Syracuse is 0-4 in overtime and 2-9 in games decided beyond regulation (2-5 in shootouts).

Game 51: York sparkles in Crunch 5-0 victory

Allen York made 39 saves to shut out the Bears Saturday in Hershey, 5-0. York's first win with the Crunch is his second AHL shutout this season and third of his AHL career (40 games). Five different goals scorers paced the Crunch with Luke Witkowski and Jon DiSalvatore in the first, Richard Panik in the second (power play), and Vladislav Namestnikov and Max Parent in the third. The markers for Witkowski and Parent were the first of their AHL careers; Panik's was his first with the Crunch since last year's Calder Cup Finals.

Namestnikov and DiSalvatore both had two-point nights with a goal and an assist each. Namestnikov, who'd not registered a point in his previous seven games with Syracuse, tied Cedric Paquette for the Crunch lead in goals (14) and points (32). The second-year pro also leads Syracuse in multi-point games (10). DiSalvatore now has five points in five games against his old team.

Game 52: Panik's four points pace Crunch in 5-2 win at Verizon Center

Syracuse pulled away from Hershey Sunday at in Washington, D.C. for a 5-2 win. The Richard Panik-Vlad Namestnikov-Dana Tyrell line combined for nine points and Cedrick Desjardins made 24 saves for his first win since Nov. 30. The Crunch lead the season series with the Bears 4-3 with one meeting remaining March 14.

Namestnikov and Panik built leads of 1-0 and 2-1 for Syracuse and Mike Angelidis provided the eventual game winner in the second, his first game-winning goal of the season while extending his scoring streak to three games.

Tyrell and Jon DiSalvatore added to the Crunch lead in the third and Brett Connolly had his 19th assist.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Crunch vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton-Friday, 7 p.m.

ESPN Radio 97.7 FM & 1200 AM, Syracuse; 100.1 FM & 1440 AM, Oswego

Syracuse and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton have played seven times so far this season, yet only two of those meetings have come at the War Memorial. The Penguins took both of those games by scores of 6-3, and 5-3. On the season Wilkes-Barre/Scranton holds the advantage in the season series having won five of the first seven.

The Penguins (28-19-3-4) have dropped to fourth in the East Division and ninth in the Eastern Conference after losing the last six heading into Tuesday. After hosting Hershey on Tuesday the Penguins begin a five-game road trip in Syracuse on Friday.

Captain Tom Kostopolous leads Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 37 points (19g, 18a) in 51 games so far this season. Against the Crunch he has appeared in all seven games tallying seven points (5g, 2a). Nick Drazenovic is second on the team with 32 points (11g, 21a). In six games with the Penguins since being acquired from Springfield winger Spencer Machacek has tallied five points (4g, 1a).

Both Eric Hartzell and Jeff Deslauriers have seen significant time in net but Deslauriers has started the last three games. In 36 contests overall Deslauriers has a 17-14-3 record with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage. In six games against Syracuse the netminder is 4-1-1. Hartzell (10-7-1) has the third lowest goals-against average at 2.19, to go along with a .914 save percentage. He has appeared in three games against the Crunch, most recently recording a shutout Jan. 29 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Crunch vs. Adirondack-Saturday, 7 p.m.

KROCK 100.9 FM, Syracuse; 106.5 FM, Oswego

Crunch at Adirondack-Sunday, 5 p.m.

ESPN Radio 97.7 FM & 1200 AM, Syracuse; 100.1 FM & 1440 AM, Oswego

The Crunch and Phantoms will meet for the second and third times this season with a home-and-home series beginning Saturday in Syracuse. The Crunch won the prior meeting, 1-0, behind a power-play goal from Cedric Paquette and a 28-save shutout from Cedrick Desjardins.

Adirondack (22-27-0-3) comes into the weekend with 47 points, two fewer than Syracuse, for fourth in the Northeast Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference. The Phantoms will take on Utica Friday night before completing the three-game weekend against Syracuse.

In 52 games Jason Akeson has totaled 48 points (18g, 30a) to lead the Phantoms. Kris Newbury is second with 33 points (13g, 20a) and Tye McGinn is third with 25 points (14g, 11a). Defenseman Brandon Manning's 193 penalty minutes are tied for the third most in the AHL Cal Heeter has played in 35 games for the Phantoms posting a record of 15-19-3 to go along with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. Yann Danis has also seen significant time appearing in 22 games with a 6-7-3 record alongside a 2.69 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.

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