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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Weekly

November 5, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Fri., Oct. 31 - Crunch vs. Rochester - L, 3-0

Sat., Nov. 1 - Crunch at Binghamton - W, 6-3

THIS WEEK

Fri., Nov. 7 - Crunch vs. Norfolk - 7 p.m.

Sat., Nov. 8 - Crunch vs. Norfolk - 7 p.m.

Sun., Nov. 9 - Crunch at W-B/Scranton - 4:05 p.m.

NEED TO KNOW

- Syracuse posted its highest scoring output of the season Saturday in a 6-3 victory at Binghamton.

- After a stint with Tampa Bay, Cedric Paquette returned to the Crunch lineup Saturday and posted two points.

- Defenseman Slater Koekkoek, a first round pick in 2012, scored his first pro goal Saturday on the power play.

TRANSACTIONS

- 11/4/2014 Cedric Paquette (C) DEL Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

- 10/31/2014 Cedric Paquette (C) ADD Returned on loan from Tampa Bay (NHL)

- 10/27/2014 Danick Gauthier (LW) DEL Reassigned by Tampa Bay (NHL) to Florida (ECHL)

WEEK IN REVIEW

Paquette: touring edition

Cedric Paquette's early-season whirlwind continued Tuesday with his second promotion to Tampa Bay in two weeks. He had been loaned to the Crunch by the Lightning for Saturday's game in Binghamton-in which he recorded a goal and an assist-but is back with the Bolts for their Thursday contest vs. Calgary.

After playing the first four games of the season for Syracuse, Paquette was called up to Tampa Bay Oct. 24. He skated in the Lightning's next four games: road contests in Winnipeg and Minnesota, Oct. 24 and 25, and home games against Arizona and Philadelphia, Oct. 28 and 30. Paquette recorded five penalty minutes-a fight vs. Arizona's Connor Murphy-in his four games with Tampa Bay, averaging 11:28 of ice time.

Rookie triad finds harmony

For the first time this season, Syracuse's three rookie defensemen all recorded points in the same contest. Saturday in Binghamton Slater Koekkoek scored his first pro goal, a power-play marker in the second. He has three points in eight games. Koekkoek's 16 shots are tied with Nikita Nesterov for the most by a Crunch defenseman.

Jake Dotchin notched two helpers Saturday, assisting on Jonathan Marchessault and Dalton Smith goals. Dotchin has three assists in eight games.

Dylan Blujus has two assists in seven games after providing the setup for Koekkoek's goal.

New contributors

Koekkoek became the fifth Crunch newcomer to score a goal this season, joining Mike Blunden, Matt Corrente, Cody Kunyk and Jonathan Drouin (now with the Lightning). Blunden and Kunyk each have two goals and are tied for fourth on the Crunch with four points.

The goals for Koekkoek, Kunyk and Drouin are their first as pros. Joel Vermin, who leads all Crunch rookies with three goals, scored once in eight Crunch games last year.

Game 8: Amerks blank Crunch, 3-0

Despite outshooting Rochester by double digits, the Crunch fell to the Americans Friday, 3-0. Rochester opened the scoring with Joel Armia's shorthanded goal 2:58 into the first; the goal was Armia's fourth on the season. Jerome Leduc added a power-play goal in the final minute of the first to double the Amerks' lead. Phil Varone finished off the evening's scoring with his fourth goal of the season 7:42 into the third. Syracuse pounded Rochester goalie Andrey Makarov with 14 shots in the second and 11 in the third but could not score.

Makarov stopped all 38 Syracuse shots to record his first professional shutout in his 45th pro game. Andrei Vasilevskiy took the loss, stopping 22 of Rochester's 25 shots. Syracuse's power play was 0-for-5, extending its drought to 0-for-15. The I-90 rivals next meet Dec. 6 at the War Memorial.

Game 9: Syracuse sizzles against Senators in 6-3 victory

A season-high six goals propelled the Crunch to a bounce-back victory, 6-3, Saturday in Binghamton. Syracuse improved to 2-0 against its local rival. Eleven Crunch players earned at least one point, and six scored goals: Jonathan Marchessault, Slater Koekkoek, Cody Kunyk, Joel Vermin, Dalton Smith and Cedric Paquette. Multi-point performers were Vermin (1g, 1a), Paquette (1g, 1a) and Jake Dotchin (2a). Marchessault was a game-high plus-4. Vermin, the game's first star, notched his first career game-winning goal.

After a scoreless first frame, Syracuse took a 2-0 lead in the second and snapped an 0-for-20 power-play drought on Koekkoek's first pro goal. Binghamton tied the game, 2-2, but Syracuse out-gunned the Sens in the third, 4-1, the team's most productive frame of the season. Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 25 of 28 Binghamton shots, improving to 3-2-0 with a .908 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average.

The last time Syracuse scored six goals in a game was April 12 against Toronto; the Crunch scored six goals four times last season. The last time Syracuse scored six or more goals against the Senators was Feb. 15, 2013 in a 7-1 victory. The last time Syracuse followed a shutout loss with a six-goal effort was Jan. 25 and 26, 2013, losing to Binghamton in a shootout, 1-0, and winning against St. John's, 6-3.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Crunch vs. Norfolk-Friday, 7 p.m. and Saturday, 7 p.m.

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

Syracuse begins its second three-games-in-three-days weekend with back-to-back home bouts against Norfolk. The Admirals were Crunch division rivals the previous five seasons, but with Syracuse now in the Northeast Division, the season series was halved to four meetings.

The Admirals are 4-5-0-0 (8pts, t-14th Eastern Conf.) and have allowed 11 more goals (31) than they have scored (20) this season, tied for third-worst in the AHL. Only Adirondack (12) and St. John's (17) have a worse goal differential than Norfolk.

The Admirals are second in the AHL with 254 penalty minutes and the Crunch are tied for fourth in the league at 239 PIM. Former Crunch players who've played for Norfolk this year include Igor Bobkov, Brendan Bell, Mat Clark, John Kurtz and Aaron Rome.

Crunch at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton-Sunday, 4:05 p.m.

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

Syracuse meets a familiar foe Sunday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The Penguins compiled a 7-2-0-1 mark against Syracuse last season as East Division rivals. At Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, the Pens were 3-2-0-0 against the Crunch, scoring an average of 3.2 goals per game while allowing just 2.2 goals.

Last season, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (42-26-3-5, 92pts) finished second in the East Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference, earning their 12th-consecutive Calder Cup Playoff birth. After defeating Binghamton in the first round, the Pens topped Providence 4 games to 3 in the best-of-seven series. The Pens' playoff run came to an end in the Eastern Conference Finals when they lost, in six games, to the St. John's IceCaps. It was the second-straight year the Pens were ousted in the Eastern Conference Finals after the team lost to the Crunch in five games in the 2012-13 Eastern finals.

This year, the Penguins (5-5-1-0, 11pts) are second in the East Division behind Hershey (6-4-0-0, 12pts). They lost their last two games vs. Norfolk.

Tom Kostopoulos, a 15th-year pro in his eighth season with the Penguins organization, led Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in scoring with 47 points (22g, 25a) last year. The Mississauga, Ontario native collected a team-high seven points (5g, 2a) in nine games against Syracuse. Since being selected 204th overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by the Penguins, Kostopoulos has played for six NHL teams: Penguins, Kings, Canadiens, Hurricanes, Flames and Devils, totaling 630 NHL games.

Team Schedule

- Wednesday Nov. 5 Off

- Thursday Nov. 6 11 a.m. Practice War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

- Friday Nov. 7 9:30 a.m. Morning skate War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

7 p.m. Game vs. Norfolk War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

- Saturday Nov. 8 9:30 a.m. Morning skate War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

7 p.m. Game vs. Norfolk War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

- Sunday Nov. 9 4:05 p.m. Game at W-B/Scranton Mohegan Sun Arena, Wilkes-Barre, Pa

- Monday Nov. 10 Off

- Tuesday Nov. 11 11 a.m. Practice War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N .Y .

*Subject to change

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