AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Weekly

Published on January 21, 2020 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Wed., Jan. 15 - Crunch at Lehigh Valley - L, 5-4

Fri., Jan. 17 - Crunch vs. Springfield - L, 4-1

Sat., Jan. 18 - Crunch at Binghamton - W, 6-5

Mon., Jan. 20 - Crunch vs. Utica - W, 4-2

THIS WEEK

Wed., Jan. 22 - Crunch at Laval - 7 p.m.

Fri., Jan. 24 - Crunch vs. Binghamton - 7 p.m.

Sat., Jan. 25 - Crunch at Rochester - 7 p.m.

CRUNCH STRING TOGETHER CONSECUTIVE WINS

The Crunch ride a two-game winning streak, their first instance of consecutive wins since Dec. 6-11, into the final week before the All-Star Break.

After dropping two tight games which were tied heading into the third period, the Crunch responded with back-to-back wins over North Division opponents. The losses came against Atlantic Division foes Lehigh Valley and Springfield, but the Crunch rebounded with a 6-5 win in Binghamton Saturday night. Bolstered by the return of goaltender Scott Wedgewood, Syracuse downed division-leading Utica Monday afternoon, 4-2, to pull within two points of the final playoff spot.

The Crunch duel with three North Division teams before hitting the All-Star Break in Week 17.

TOP PERFORMERS

Winger Alex Volkov returned from a four-game stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning and powered the Crunch to consecutive wins. In his return to the Crunch lineup Saturday, the Russian logged his third career four-point game. After initially being credited with a hat trick, one of his goals was credited to Gemel Smith following a league review a day later. His two goal, two assist performance marked his 11th career two-goal game in the AHL. On Monday, Volkov added another two points (1g, 1a) for a six-point, two-game week.

He more than doubled his season goal total, going from two to five. Volkov now has 21 points (5g, 16a) in 27 Crunch games this season. He also notched his first NHL point on an assist last week.

***

Cory Conacher picked up five points (1g, 4a) in four games for the Crunch to give him points in 15 of the last 20 games since Dec. 6. He recorded multiple points twice over the four games; he has five multi-point games in his last nine outings and in nine games total this season.

Conacher started the week by becoming the fifth player in franchise history to record 200 points for the Crunch. Later in the week he logged his 200th AHL assist. Now at 203 career points with the Crunch, Conacher ranks fifth in franchise history in all-time scoring. He is one point shy of Joe Motzko for fourth place and nine points behind Mark Hartigan for third. The franchise record is held by Brad Moran at 241 points. With a team-leading 22 assists this year, Conacher has moved up to second place in franchise history with 131 assists, 12 behind Moran's 143.

WEDGEWOOD RETURNS

After missing 18 games due to injury, goaltender Scott Wedgewood returned to the Syracuse crease in a 4-2 win over Utica Monday afternoon. Wedgewood leads the Crunch in wins (8), goals-against average (2.93) and save percentage (.893) in his 15 appearances.

In his absence, the Crunch were 7-9-0-2 and allowed 4.06 goals per game (73 goals in 18 games). Wedgewood has allowed two or fewer goals in nine of his 15 appearances, including seven starts.

UPCOMING: LAVAL, BINGHAMTON, ROCHESTER

The Crunch will reach the All-Star Break following games against Laval, Binghamton and Rochester.

It's the fifth of six meetings against the Rocket, who hold a 3-1 advantage in the season series against the Crunch, including a 1-0 mark at Place Bell. Syracuse and Binghamton play for the sixth time since Dec. 21 and the eighth time this season, with the Crunch holding a 4-1-0-2 record. The Crunch and Amerks have played four one-goal games; Rochester has three wins.

WEEK 16 RESULTS

Wednesday, Jan. 15 | Game 39 at Lehigh Valley | L, 5-4

Syracuse 2 1 1 - 4 Shots: 7-11-9-27 PP: 2/5

Lehigh Valley 2 1 2 - 5 Shots: 11-15-7-33 PP: 2/7

1st Period-Colton 8 (Thomas, Conacher), 6:13 (PP). Barré-Boulet 16 (Katchouk, Martel), 7:56. 2nd Period-Martel 13 (Raddysh, Thomas), 0:51. 3rd Period-Conacher 14 (Barré-Boulet, Colton), 17:53. . . . Martin 7-9-1 (33 shots-28 saves). A-5,471

Friday, Jan. 17 | Game 40 vs. Springfield | L, 4-1

Springfield 1 0 3 - 4 Shots: 5-5-13-23 PP: 0/1

Syracuse 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 13-13-11-37 PP: 0/2

1st Period-Yan 8 (Somppi, Huntington), 11:51. . . . Martin 7-10-1 (22 shots-19 saves). A-5,394

Saturday, Jan. 18 | Game 41 at Binghamton | W, 6-5

Syracuse 3 2 1 - 6 Shots: 13-9-10-32 PP: 2/5

Binghamton 3 1 1 - 5 Shots: 16-7-8-31 PP: 2/5

1st Period-Smith 15 (Volkov, Conacher), 6:01 (PP). Yan 9 (Somppi, Walcott), 18:43. Volkov 3 (Unassisted), 19:55. 2nd Period-Raddysh 9 (Joseph, Stephens), 13:20. Volkov 4 (Katchouk, Conacher), 15:53 (PP). 3rd Period-Colton 9 (Volkov), 10:23. . . . Martin ND (10 shots-7 saves), Condon 3-2-1 (21 shots-19 saves). A-3,564

Monday, Jan. 20 | Game 42 vs. Utica | W, 4-2

Utica 0 0 2 - 2 Shots: 10-5-13-28 PP: 1/6

Syracuse 0 2 2 - 4 Shots: 7-12-10-29 PP: 0/4

2nd Period-Katchouk 10 (Barré-Boulet, Thomas), 5:02. Volkov 5 (Smith), 16:04. 3rd Period-Barré-Boulet 17 (Sieloff, Colton), 12:26. Smith 16 (Conacher, Volkov), 19:04. . . . Wedgewood 8-4-1 (28 shots-26 saves). A-5,691

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 22.1% (40-for-181) 7th (5th)

Penalty Kill 82.5% (151-for-183) 14th (10th)

Goals For 3.45 GFA (145) 5th (5th)

Goals Against 3.60 GAA (151) 29th (29th)

Shots For 29.07 SF/G (1221) 23rd (23rd)

Shots Against 28.50 SA/G (1197) 8th (7th)

Penalty Minutes 13.38 PIM/G (562) 13th (12th)

Category Leader

Points 37 Barré-Boulet

Goals 17 Barré-Boulet

Assists 22 Conacher, Gaunce

PIM 65 Masin

Plus/Minus +10 Gaunce

Wins 8 Wedgewood

GAA 2.93 Wedgewood

Save % .893 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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