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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Weekly

March 3, 2020 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Fri., Feb. 28 - Crunch vs. W-B/Scranton - W, 4-3

Sat., Feb. 29 - Crunch vs. Rochester - W, 4-2

THIS WEEK

Fri., March 6 - Crunch at Toronto - 7 p.m.

Sat., March 7 - Crunch at Toronto - 7 p.m.

CRUNCH MAINTAIN SPOT IN PLAYOFF RACE

The Crunch won their two games in Week 21 to hold their position in fourth place in the North Division. At 28-22-4-5, the Crunch carry 65 points into the new week. They hold a one-point cushion on the final playoff spot, but they have also moved within two points of Utica for third place in the division.

Syracuse claimed a 4-3 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to open the week Friday night. It earned the Crunch a season series split with the Penguins and brought the team back to 0.500 (9-9-1-0) against Atlantic Division foes. The Crunch earned the weekend sweep with a 4-2 win over the Rochester Americans, with Boris Katchouk netting the game-winner in the third period.

The Crunch have earned points in 11 of their last 12 games (8-1-1-2). They went 8-2-1-2 in February for their most successful month this season. It was their first winning month since November. They faceoff twice with Toronto in a crucial weekend set in Week 22.

TOP PERFORMERS

Alex Barré-Boulet remained red-hot in Week 21 for the Crunch. One week after his first career five-point outburst, the second-year pro netted his firsr career hat trick in Friday's 4-3 win over the Penguins. The Quebec native had eight career three-goal games-including two during the playoffs-in the QMJHL before turning pro; his most recent one prior to Friday was April 8, 2018 in the postseason.

Despite being held scoreless in Saturday's win, Barré-Boulet leads the AHL in scoring over the last two weeks. He has 11 points (7g, 4a) and a +9 rating in six games since Feb. 17. He is fifth in the AHL with 55 points (26g, 29a) in 57 games this season.

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One player right on Barré-Boulet's heels for scoring over the last two weeks in teammate and linemate Ross Colton. After producing back-to-back multi-point games (1g, 3a) this weekend, the second-year pro is tied for third in the league over the last two weeks with nine points (2g, 7a); his seven assists are tied with Tucson's Andy Miele for the most in the league in that span.

With at least one assist in nine of the last 11 games, and 11 assists in that stretch, Colton has grabbed the Crunch lead with 31 assists and he ranks second on the team in scoring with 42 points (11g, 31a) in 59 games; last year he finished with 31 total points in 66 games.

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Alex Volkov netted a pair of goals and added one assist in two games last week. He scored the game-winning goal in Friday's 4-3 win over the Penguins, tallying the marker with under four minutes remaining in the game. He then had an assist and scored a power-play goal against the Amerks.

It's only the second time this season Volkov has tallied a goal in consecutive games (also Jan. 18-20). The third-year pro has 30 points (9g, 21a) in 43 games. Although off pace from his back-to-back 23-goal seasons, his overall scoring pace (0.70 points per game) is ahead of his first two years in the AHL.

UPCOMING: GAMES 60 & 61 AT TORONTO

The Crunch make their first visit this season to Toronto for a pair of matches against the Marlies in a pivotal weekend for the North Division.

The Marlies enter the week four points behind the Crunch, but they have played two fewer games; they'll use up one of those Wednesday in Belleville. Toronto rallied from 2-0 down with three third-period goals in a rescheduled game Monday at Texas to improve to 28-24-3-2 this season.

Although currently in seventh place in the division, the Marlies are tied with Binghamton for the most home wins in the North with 18 (18-10-0-0). The Crunch and Marlies play three times at Coca-Cola Coliseum in March. They have only squared off twice so far in 2019-20, and the Crunch won both games in Syracuse, including an 8-2 win Jan. 3.

AHL FIRST

Crunch rookie Tyler Bird, currently signed to a professional tryout (PTO) with the Crunch, collected his first AHL point Saturday night in his third career AHL game.

He is one of five Crunch players to record a first career AHL point this season, joining Peter Abbandonato, Jimmy Huntington, Devante Stephens and Logan Roe.

WEEK 21 RESULTS

Friday, Feb. 28 | Game 58 vs. W-B/Scranton | W, 4-3

W-B/Scranton 2 0 1 - 3 Shots: 11-3-5-19 PP: 2/6

Syracuse 2 1 1 - 4 Shots: 7-9-13-29 PP: 1/5

1st Period-Barré-Boulet 24 (Colton, Gaunce), 0:11. Barré-Boulet 25 (Gaunce, Conacher), 13:04 (PP). 2nd Period-Barré-Boulet 26 (Joseph, Colton), 9:46. 3rd Period-Volkov 8 (Smith), 16:13. . . . Martin 10-11-5 (19 shots-16 saves). A-5,553

Saturday, Feb. 29 | Game 59 vs. Rochester | W, 4-2

Rochester 1 0 1 - 2 Shots: 10-17-18-45 PP: 1/4

Syracuse 1 1 2 - 4 Shots: 7-6-7-20 PP: 1/3

1st Period-Smith 21 (Abbandonato, Volkov), 4:53. 2nd Period-Volkov 9 (Joseph, Colton), 8:03 (PP). 3rd Period-Katchouk 13 (Bird, Somppi), 5:07. Colton 11 (Unassisted), 19:34 (EN). . . . Wedgewood 13-7-2 (45 shots-43 saves). A-6,239

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 20.2% (51-for-253) 8th (8th)

Penalty Kill 82.2% (212-for-258) T-13th (13th)

Goals For 3.31 GFA (195) 10th (10th)

Goals Against 3.44 GAA (203) T-27th (28th)

Shots For 29.47 SF/G (1739) 20th (19th)

Shots Against 28.95 SA/G (1708) 9th (9th)

Penalty Minutes 13.10 PIM/G (773) T-11th (14th)

Category Leader

Points 55 Barré-Boulet

Goals 26 Barré-Boulet

Assists 31 Colton

PIM 84 Walcott

Plus/Minus +11 Witkowski

Wins 13 Wedgewood

GAA 2.96 Wedgewood

Save % .895 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.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch.

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