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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Weekly

October 22, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


NEED TO KNOW

- After starting 0-1-1-0, Syracuse won both games in Week 2 to cap a four-game, season-opening homestand.

- Jonathan Drouin, drafted third overall in 2013, made his Crunch/pro debut and had three points in two games.

- Drouin, Mike Blunden and Luke Witkowski have been recalled from loan by Tampa Bay.

TRANSACTIONS

- 10/21/2014 Mike Blunden (RW) DEL Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

- 10/20/2014 Luke Witkowski (D) DEL Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

- 10/19/2014 Jonathan Drouin (LW) DEL Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

- 10/17/2014 Jonathan Drouin (LW) ADD Conditioning loan from Tampa Bay (NHL)

WEEK IN REVIEW

Promotions and debuts

Tampa Bay recalled three players from Syracuse this week: forwards Mike Blunden and Jonathan Drouin, and defenseman Luke Witkowski. Injuries to Victor Hedman, Radko Gudas and Alex Killorn precipitated the moves.

Blunden played his 103rd career NHL game Wednesday in Calgary, his first for Tampa Bay, recording 10 minutes of time on ice. The Toronto native posted three points (2g, 1a) in Syracuse's first four games, including Saturday's game-winning goal vs. Binghamton. Blunden, 27, made his NHL debut with Chicago Oct. 25, 2006, and later played for Columbus and Montreal. He signed with the Lightning organization July 1.

Drouin, who had been with the Crunch on a two-week conditioning assignment, made his NHL debut Monday in Edmonton and registered an assist Wednesday in Calgary. The former third-overall pick collected three points (1g, 2a) and a plus-four in his first two professional games for Syracuse. A late-September thumb injury kept him out of Lightning preseason contests. Drouin, 19, had 108 points (29g, 79a) last season for Halifax (QMJHL).

Witkowski, 24, sat out Monday and Tuesday. As a rookie for the Crunch in 2013-14, the Western Michigan alumnus appeared in each of Syracuse's 76 games, the only player to do so, and led the team with 204 penalty minutes. Tampa Bay's sixth-round pick in 2008 has one assist and 15 penalty minutes in the first four Crunch games of this season.

The new French connection

Syracuse's top line helped generate five of the team's seven goals in Week 2, including all three Friday. Nine points among Quebec natives Jonathan Drouin (1g, 2a), Cedric Paquette (1g, 2a) and Jonathan Marchessault (2g, 1a) paced Syracuse trios in the Crunch's first two victories of the season.

A line dismantled with the promotion of Drouin to Tampa Bay Sunday has two thirds intact-Paquette and Marchessault lead Syracuse in points with five apiece. They were the last two forwards assigned to Syracuse when Lightning training camp ended.

Paquette, 21, and Marchessault, 23, each have played two NHL regular season games: Paquette with Tampa Bay last season and Marchessault with Columbus the year before.

Paquette collected 44 points (20g, 24a) as a rookie in 2013-14 for Syracuse, and was Crunch co-MVP. Marchessault, acquired via trade in March, has averaged 62 points in his first three AHL seasons.

Crunch and Punch

Syracuse has compiled 129 penalty minutes in its first four games, 32.25 per, second most in the AHL by total and average. The club's nine fighting majors and three 10-minute misconducts tie for league highs.

Syracuse logged 58 penalty minutes on opening night, the third-largest total in the AHL this season and 45% of the team's season total to date. Syracuse cut back on penalties after opening night, averaging 23.7 minutes in three games since. The Crunch's largest penalty minute total for a home game last season was 58, recorded Dec. 6 vs. Norfolk. Syracuse's 2013-14 season began with 113 PIM and six fights in its first four games (1-2-1-0).

J.P. Cote's 38 penalty minutes rank second in the AHL; Chicago's Cody Beach has 41. Cote's 31 PIM on opening night is a single-game high for all AHL players. Luke Witkowski Syracuse with 204 penalty minutes in 76 games last year; Cote logged had 57 penalty minutes in 33 AHL games. The Crunch single-season record, set in 2001-02 by Jody Shelley, is 357 penalty minutes.

Game 3: Drouin scores game-winner, Crunch earn first win of season

The Crunch found themselves in a familiar spot in Friday night's rematch against the Springfield Falcons: down 2-1. Where the Crunch lost the season opener to the Falcons, 3-1, this time would be different. Cedric Paquette found the back of the net for his third goal of the season to tie the game, 2-2, with 1:09 remaining in the second period. Jonathan Drouin, the No. 3 pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, impressed in his pro debut, scoring the game-winning goal at the 7:18 mark of the third.

Jonathan Marchessault scored the opening goal of the game and was assisted by J.P. Cote and Dylan Blujus. The assist was Blujus's first pro point. After falling behind, 1-0, the Falcons responded when Dana Tyrell redirected Austin Madaisky's shot from the point with 4:15 left in the first period.

Springfield controlled the opening minutes of the second period and took a 2-1 lead when Madaisky set up the play with another shot from the point. This time, Domenic Monardo scooped it into the net at the 3:53 mark of the period.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots to earn his first career AHL victory.

Game 4: Crunch cap homestand with 4-2 win against Senators

On back-to-back nights, the Crunch found themselves in a tie game in the third period, and for the second night in a row, the Crunch prevailed, beating the Binghamton Senators, 4-2, Saturday at the War Memorial Arena.

Mike Blunden provided the game-winning goal in the third following an offensive-zone steal for Cody Kunyk. He and Joel Vermin made quick passes to set up Blunden's close-range score. The helper was Kunyk's second in as many nights, while Blunden and Vermin had two-point games. Blunden set up Vermin for a second-period goal which had given the Crunch a 2-1 lead earlier in the contest.

Matt Corrente scored an insurance marker for Syracuse 1:10 after Blunden's goal and secured the victory for the Crunch. Paquette and Drouin assisted on the goal. The pair also set up Jonathan Marchessault's second-period marker which erased an early Senators lead.

Kristers Gudlevskis finished with a career-high 43 saves and made one of his best with 1:30 left in the second period, a glove save on Cole Schneider from 20 feet away. Four fights in the game pitted Matt Corrente and Darren Kramer, J.P. Cote and Max McCormick, Luke Witkowski and Garrett Thompson, and Tanner Richard and David Dziurzynski. A hit from Dziurzynski on Joey Mormina resulted in the AHL suspending the Senators' forward for three games.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Crunch at Worcester-Friday, 7:30 p.m.

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

The Crunch hope to build on their two-game win streak against the Sharks (3-0-0-0) Friday in Worcester. It's the Crunch's first road game of the season following a four-game home stand. Worcester, the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, have missed the playoffs the last four seasons but have begun 2014-15 with the Eastern Conference's only unblemished record.

Former Crunch defenseman Matt Taormina, who signed with the Sharks organization as a free agent this offseason, had a game-winning overtime goal in Worcester's season opener against Binghamton. Taormina played 96 games with the Crunch during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, amassing ten goals and 42 points, the second-most for a Crunch defenseman during the last two seasons (Dmitry Korobov, 48). During the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs, Taormina's 12 points (2g, 10a) were tied for fifth most on the squad.

The Crunch have not played the Sharks since the 2012-13 season, a 4-3 shootout win April 20, 2013, at the War Memorial; J.T. Wyman had the game-winning tally. The last time the Crunch played the Sharks at DCU Center, Nov. 25, 2012, former Crunch player J.T. Brown had his first-and only-professional hat trick in a 6-1 victory.

Crunch at Portland-Saturday, 7 p.m.

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

Saturday the Crunch visit the Portland Pirates (1-3-0-0) for the first time since the 2013 playoffs when Syracuse swept a first-round, best-of-five series. Seven Pirates remain from that team: forwards Alexandre Bolduc, Darian Dziurzynski, Phil Lane, Lucas Lessio, Jordan Martinook, Brendan Shinnimin and defenseman Mark Louis. Four current Crunch players appeared in that year's postseason: forwards Mike Angelidis, Cedric Paquette and Philippe Paradis, and defenseman J.P. Cote. Paquette did not play in the series vs. Portland; Eric Neilson was on the roster but did not play.

The Pirates, AHL affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes, are coming off their worst season since 1999. Playing home games in Lewiston, Maine, the Pirates were 24-39-3-10 overall last year and missed the playoffs for second time in three seasons. The team returns to familiar confines for 2014-15 as the Cumberland County Civic Center has been renovated and renamed Cross Insurance Arena. The franchise came to Portland in 1993 after 11 seasons as the Baltimore Skipjacks.

Bolduc (2g, 1a) and former Crunch defenseman Dylan Reese (3a) lead the Pirates with three points each. Bolduc has two goals in 62 career NHL games with the Canucks and Coyotes. In 77 NHL games with the Islanders and Penguins Reese has three goals. He had four goals and 22 points for the Crunch in 2009-10.

Crunch at Springfield-Sunday, 3 p.m.

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

The Crunch cap their three-day, three-city road trip Sunday in Springfield, facing the Falcons for the third time in seven games-the first time on the road.

Syracuse and Springfield split their first two meetings. Four Falcons players are tied for a team-best three points this season: Sean Collins, Austin Madaisky, Domenic Monardo and Denny Urban. All four have points against the Crunch: Madaisky had two assists against Syracuse Oct. 11; Urban scored the game-winning goal Oct. 11 and notched an assist Oct. 17. Jonathan Marchessault is the only Crunch player with multiple points against the Falcons (1g, 1a).

Crunch goalies Andrei Vasilevskiy and Kristers Gudlevskis have stopped 47 of 51 Springfield shots (.921) in two games, but Vasilevskiy earned the lone victory. Falcons' goalie Anton Forsberg took both decisions vs. Syracuse, stopping 57 of 60 shots (.950), and was recalled by Columbus Monday when Curtis McElhinney was placed on IR.

The Crunch next meet the Falcons Dec. 7 in Springfield; the Falcons next come to Syracuse Feb. 7.

Team Schedule (subject to change)

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 11 a.m., Practice, war Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

Thursday,Oct. 23,11 a.m., Practice, War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

1 p.m., Travel to Worcester

Friday, Oct. 24, 11:15 a.m., Morning skate, DCU Center, Worcester, Mass.

7:30 p.m., Game at Worcester, DCU Center, Worcester, Mass.

Saturday,Oct. 25, 11:15 a.m., Morning skate, Cross Insurance Arena, Portland, Maine

7 p.m., Game at Portland, Cross Insurance Arena, Portland, Maine

Sunday, Oct. 26, 3 p.m., Game at Springfield, MassMutual Center, Springfield, Mass.

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