
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.
American Hockey League Stories from March 3, 2020
- Predators Summon Yakov Trenin - Milwaukee Admirals
- Amerks, Perinton Youth Hockey Announce Launch of Junior Amerks Organization - Rochester Americans
- Iowa Wild Recalls Goaltender Dereck Baribeau from Allen - Iowa Wild
- Florida Panthers Recall G Chris Driedger from Springfield - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Crunch Weekly - Syracuse Crunch
- Griffins Face Three Divisional Showdowns this Week - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Norris Reflects on NHL Debut - Belleville Senators
- Mackenzie Blackwood Named February's AHL Graduate of the Month - Binghamton Devils
- New Jersey Devils' Mackenzie Blackwood Named Ephesus/AHL Graduate of the Month - AHL
- Monsters Team up with TrustedSec to Host Annual Harvest for Hunger Campaign this Month - Cleveland Monsters
- Syracuse Crunch Sign Forward Sami Tavernier to ATO - Syracuse Crunch
- Condors Host Star Wars Night Saturday with a Big Crowd Expected - Bakersfield Condors
- IceHogs Set to Host Country Night on Friday - Rockford IceHogs
- Penguins to Play with Purpose When They Return Home Saturday, Sunday - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Dallas Stars Recall Goaltender Jake Oettinger from Texas - Texas Stars
- Phantoms Power Play - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Cholowski Assigned to Griffins - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Bears Weekly: First Place on the Line in Critical Road Battles - Hershey Bears
- Sens Sign Windsor to PTO - Belleville Senators
- Stars Upended Late by Marlies - Texas Stars
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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