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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Weekly

November 26, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Wed., Nov. 20 - Crunch at Hartford - W, 3-1 Sat., Nov. 23 - Crunch vs. Hartford - W, 6-3

THIS WEEK

Wed., Nov. 27 - Crunch at Utica - 7 p.m. Fri., Nov. 29 - Crunch vs. Laval - 7 p.m. Sat., Nov. 30 - Crunch at Binghamton - 7:05 p.m.

CRUNCH SWEEP SET WITH WOLF PACK

The Crunch took two wins from the Hartford Wolf Pack over a four-day span to complete a perfect Week 8. The two wins over the Atlantic Division leading Wolf Pack nudged Syracuse's winning streak to three, tied for the Crunch's longest this season. The Crunch (10-6-2-0) sit in fifth place in the North Division, but their 0.611 points percentage ranks third in the North.

Syracuse topped Hartford, 3-1, in the Wolf Pack's annual school day game Wednesday; the Crunch play a second field trip game Feb. 5 at Bridgeport. They carried that momentum into Saturday's rematch and scored a 6-3 win at the War Memorial Arena.

The Crunch return to North Division play this week with three games sandwiched around Thanksgiving.

TOP PERFORMERS

Mitchell Stephens snapped an eight-game goal drought by opening the scoring against the Wolf Pack last Wednesday. He scored again Saturday night by beating Hartford's Adam Huska five-hole on a penalty shot, becoming one of three Crunch skaters to register a shorthanded goal this season, joining Chris Mueller and Cory Conacher. It snapped a string of four consecutive unsuccessful Crunch penalty shot attempts; prior to Saturday, the last Crunch penalty shot goal was scored by Conacher Oct. 20, 2018 against Utica.

Stephens added another assist on Saturday night to complete his second multi-point game of the season. His +3 rating during the week tied for the second-best rating on the Crunch.

***

Dennis Yan followed up his two-point performance in Week 7 (1g, 1a) with three points in Week 8's two clashes against Hartford (2g, 1a). The 22-year-old's power-play goal Saturday night extended his active goal-scoring streak to a career-high three games. He has logged five points (3g, 2a) in his last five games.

Yan's nine points (5g, 4a) rank seventh on the Crunch after he had 22 points (11g, 11a) in 53 games last year.

***

Scott Wedgewood started both games against Hartford in Week 8. The Canadian netminder earned a pair of wins while allowing four goals on 51 Wolf Pack shots for a .922 save percentage. Wedgewood's current three-game win streak marks his longest this season, and he has posted a 2.00 goals-against average and .920 save percentage during that stretch. He is now 6-2-1 in his first year with the Crunch.

NEW DEFENSEMAN JOINS CRUNCH

The Tampa Bay Lightning made a defensmen swap with the Buffalo Sabres Sunday night. The Lightning sent Matt Spencer to the Sabres organization in exchange for Devante Stephens.

Spencer dressed in 53 games for the Crunch during his tenure with the organization.

Stephens, 22, has appeared in seven career AHL games, all with the Rochester Americans. He has also played in 105 ECHL games, totaling 34 points, for the Cincinnati Cyclones.

UPCOMING: UTICA, LAVAL, BINGHAMTON

The Crunch jump back into the North Division fray with three divisional showdowns in Week 9.

First up on the Crunch's plate is a pre-Thanksgiving clash with the Comets in the fourth installment on this year's Galaxy Cup series. The teams have split two games at the Adirondack Bank Center, with the Crunch winning there Nov. 11. Utica handed the Crunch their most recent defeat, Nov. 15 in Syracuse. The Comets lead the Crunch by one point in the division standings.

Black Friday means a tussle with the Laval Rocket for the first time this year; after Friday, the Crunch will have faced each North Division opponent at least once. After missing the playoffs in each of its first two seasons, Laval is off to its best 21-game start with an 11-7-3-0 record. Former Crunch forward Matthew Peca has nine points (2g, 7a) and Kevin Lynch has four (2g, 2a) for the Rocket.

The Crunch hope to continue to feast on the Binghamton Devils when they visit Binghamton Saturday night to wrap up November. Syracuse holds a 17-3-0-1 mark against Binghamton since the start of the 2017-18 season. The Crunch defeated the Devils, 3-2, in their first match up Nov. 2; they scored three goals on four shots in the first period for the win.

WEEK 8 RESULTS

Wednesday, Nov. 20 | Game 17 at Hartford | W, 3-1 Syracuse 0 2 1 - 3 Shots: 8-10-6-24 PP: 0/2 Hartford 0 0 1 - 1 Shots: 10-1-15-26 PP: 0/4 2nd Period-Stephens 3 (Smith, Barré-Boulet), 14:17. Yan 4 (Somppi, Masin), 15:08. 3rd Period-Raddysh 3 (Smith, Thomas), 4:47. . . . Wedgewood 5-2-1 (26 shots-25 saves). A-3,818

Saturday, Nov. 23 | Game 18 vs. Hartford | W, 6-3 Hartford 1 1 1 - 3 Shots: 4-10-11-25 PP: 0/4 Syracuse 1 2 3 - 6 Shots: 11-12-7-30 PP: 2/4 1st Period-Yan 5 (Colton, Raddysh), 15:51 (PP). 2nd Period-Mueller 6 (Masin, Yan), 4:51. Stephens 4 (Unassisted), 17:50 (SH)(PS). 3rd Period-Colton 2 (Somppi, Raddysh), 1:29 (PP). Martel 7 (Stephens, Masin), 2:00. Mueller 7 (Barré-Boulet), 18:41 (EN)(SH). . . . Wedgewood 6-2-1 (25 shots-22 saves). A-5,633

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev) Power Play 21.4% (18-for-84) 6th (6th) Penalty Kill 89.9% (71-for-79) 2nd (4th) Goals For 3.33 GFA (60) 8th (9th) Goals Against 3.22 GAA (58) 24th (26th) Shots For 28.17 SF/G (507) 26th (26th) Shots Against 27.22 SA/G (490) 4th (4th) Penalty Minutes 12.89 PIM/G (232) 16th (16th)

Category

Leader Points 15 Barré-Boulet, Gaunce Goals 8 Barré-Boulet Assists 13 Gaunce PIM 43 Masin Plus/Minus +6 Gaunce Wins 6 Wedgewood GAA 2.84 Martin Save % 0.894 Wedgewood

Ticket packages and single game tickets for the 2019-20 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch.

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