AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Weekly

Published on January 14, 2020 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Fri., Jan. 10 - Crunch vs. Laval - L, 7-5

Sat., Jan. 11 - Crunch vs. Rochester - W, 5-4

Sun., Jan. 12 - Crunch at Binghamton - SOL, 6-5

THIS WEEK

Wed., Jan. 15 - Crunch at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 p.m.

Fri., Jan. 17 - Crunch vs. Springfield - 7 p.m.

Sat., Jan. 18 - Crunch at Binghamton - 7:05 p.m.

Mon., Jan. 20 - Crunch vs. Utica - 1 p.m.

CRUNCH EARN THREE OF SIX POINTS IN THREE-IN-THREE

The Crunch went 1-1-0-1 in their second three-in-three weekend of the 2019-20 season during Week 15.

Syracuse netted five goals in all three games during the week. It's the first time they scored at least five goals in three straight games since Games 1-3 of the 2018 North Division Semifinals, when they potted six goals in three straight games against Rochester. The last regular season instance was a five-game run Dec. 2-15, 2017. This past week, the Crunch lost, 7-5, to Laval Friday, rallied for a 5-4 win against the Amerks Saturday before slipping up, 6-5, in a shootout in Binghamton Sunday afternoon.

Starting Wednesday, the Crunch have seven games in 11 days over the next two weeks before the All-Star Break.

TOP PERFORMERS

Four players-Mathieu Joseph, Taylor Raddysh, Ross Colton and Cory Conacher-logged at least one point in all three Crunch games last week. Conacher (1g, 4a), Raddysh (2g, 3a) and Colton (2g, 3a) were all part of a group of players that finished tied for the second-highest scoring output in the AHL in Week 15 with five points apiece.

Conacher has points in 12 of his last 16 games and his 18 points (7g, 11a) in that span are tied with Gemel Smith for the most on the Crunch. He enters the week two points away from 200 in his Crunch career. Colton recorded two multi-point games last week to give him six this season, which matches his total from last season. For Raddysh, it's the first time this season he's earned a point in three straight games; he has seven points (3g, 4a) in the last five outings.

***

Mathieu Joseph extended his scoring streak to seven games, a career-best and the longest by any Crunch player this season. He has a point in seven of the eight Crunch games he's played in this season, logging eight points (3g, 5a). Prior to this current run, Joseph's longest point streak in the AHL was four games, which he did multiple times as a rookie in 2017-18.

HALFWAY THERE

The Crunch reached the midway point of their season Sunday in Binghamton, playing 38 of their 76 regular-season games. At 18-16-2-2, the Crunch are slightly behind their pace from last season (22-13-2-1). They hope to replicate their second-half success from last year; they posted a 25-8-2-3 mark in the second half of the season en route to the North Division championship.

At the midway point of the season last year, the Crunch had a +34 goal differential; their 3.74 goals per game ranked first in the league while their 2.84 goals-against per game ranked sixth. This year, they have a -5 goal differential; while their offense is on a similar trajectory at 3.42 goals per game (fifth), they have allowed 3.55 goals per game (29th).

The Crunch have been stymied by a 0.883 team save percentage; at this time last year it was at .902, which jumped to .920 by the end of the season.

UPCOMING: LEHIGH VALLEY, SPRINGFIELD, BINGHAMTON

The Crunch see two new opponents and one familiar foe over the three games in Week 16.

They begin two-game season series with both the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Wednesday) and the Springfield Thunderbirds (Friday). Last season, the Crunch swept the two-game set against the Phantoms, who have slumped to seventh in the Atlantic Division despite back-to-back 2-0 shutout wins over North Division opponents last week. The T-Birds currently hold a two-point lead for the final Atlantic Division playoff spot.

Saturday, the Crunch are back in Binghamton for their seventh meeting with the Devils, the AHL's hottest team, who enter on a seven-game winning streak.

WEEK 15 RESULTS

Friday, Jan. 10 | Game 36 vs. Laval | L, 7-5

Laval 1 4 2 - 7 Shots: 4-16-8-28 PP: 1/3

Syracuse 2 1 2 - 5 Shots: 11-6-14-31 PP: 2/2

1st Period-Conacher 13 (Martel, Sieloff), 4:27. Raddysh 7 (Colton, Sieloff), 19:04. 2nd Period-Colton 6 (Foote), 6:42 (PP). 3rd Period-Walcott 3 (Thomas, Yan), 9:26. Gaunce 4 (Joseph, Conacher), 19:50 (PP). . . . Martin ND (7 shots-4 saves), Condon 2-2-0 (20 shots-17 saves). A-5,464

Saturday, Jan. 11 | Game 37 vs. Rochester | W, 5-4

Rochester 2 1 1 - 4 Shots: 10-7-7-24 PP: 0/4

Syracuse 0 1 4 - 5 Shots: 7-10-16-33 PP: 0/4

2nd Period-Colton 7 (Raddysh), 9:25. 3rd Period-Raddysh 8 (Colton, Joseph), 2:47. Katchouk 8 (Thomas, Raddysh), 8:36. Sieloff 2 (Conacher), 11:45. Walcott 4 (Smith, Conacher), 17:32. . . . Martin 7-8-1 (24 shots-20 saves). A-6,170

Sunday, Jan. 12 | Game 38 at Binghamton | SOL, 6-5

SYR 3 1 1 0 0 - 5 Shots: 11-13-3-3-0-30 PP: 1/3

BNG 1 1 3 0 1 - 6 Shots: 11-12-11-3-1-38 PP: 2/11

1st Period-Barré-Boulet 15 (Gaunce, Katchouk), 1:41. Katchouk 9 (Gaunce, Joseph), 5:39 (PP). Smith 14 (Stephens, Conacher), 7:03. 2nd Period-Martel 12 (Stephens, Barré-Boulet), 12:44. 3rd Period-Joseph 3 (Raddysh, Colton), 12:14. Shootout-Binghamton 1 (Merkley NG, Maltsev NG, Gignac G), Syracuse 0 (Raddysh NG, Conacher NG, Smith NG). . . . Condon 2-2-1 (37 shots-32 saves). A-3,008

Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 21.8% (36-for-165) 5th (7th)

Penalty Kill 83.5% (137-for-164) 10th (10th)

Goals For 3.42 GFA (130) 5th (7th)

Goals Against 3.55 GAA (135) 29th (27th)

Shots For 28.84 SF/G (1096) 23rd (25th)

Shots Against 28.47 SA/G (1082) 7th (7th)

Penalty Minutes 13.61 PIM/G (517) 12th (11th)

Category Leader

Points 33 Barré-Boulet

Goals 15 Barré-Boulet

Assists 22 Gaunce

PIM 61 Masin

Plus/Minus 9 Witkowski

Wins 7 Wedgewood, Martin

GAA 3 Wedgewood

Save % 0.891 Wedgewood

Single game tickets and packages for the 2019-20 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial 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.comor follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch.

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