Sports stats



AHL Syracuse Crunch

Gudlevskis Stops 38, Crunch Down Comets, 4-1

February 28, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Tanner Richard tallied two goals and Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 38 shots in a 4-1 victory by the Crunch (33-15-8-0) Saturday against the Utica Comets (32-17-5-1) at the War Memorial Arena. The victory moved Syracuse up to second in the Eastern Conference, one-point behind Hershey.

Less than 24 hours after giving up seven goals on 23 shots, Gudlevskis rebounded with a .974 save percentage tallying his 18th win of the season, equaling his total from last year.

Richard opened the scoring against the Comets when he potted his first goal in a month, 6:24 into the first period. He added an insurance marker midway through the third for his second career multi-goal game, the first came Nov. 9 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Richard has posted seven multi-point games this season. Dylan Blujus and Carter Ashton recorded the assists on the second marker. Nicolas Deschamps recorded his first point in a Crunch sweater with an assist on Richard's first goal.

"Sometimes it takes a couple games to know what someone's tendencies are," Richard said about anchoring a line with Ashton as opposed to his usual linemate Philippe Paradis, who was injured Feb. 4. "You're trying to figure out their strengths, where do they like to go, how do they think, what type of plays they like to make, and I think with [Ashton] on the wing, he makes a lot of good plays. He's a first-round pick for a reason."

The Crunch special teams killed off 5-of-6 Comets power-play opportunities after allowing a season-high four power-play goals Friday against Albany. After Hunter Shinkaruk scored 12:15 into the opening frame, Syracuse stopped five-straight Utica man advantages, including 1:50 of 5-on-3 time in the second period when J.P. Cote took a double-minor for high-sticking 10 seconds in a roughing penalty on Vladislav Namestnikov.

"[Coach Zettler] wanted us to be aggressive when we can," Kevin Lynch said about the Crunch penalty-kill as he was a centerpiece in the 5-on-3 kill. "We have to get on them when they have their back turned to the puck and when they bobble pucks...we were lucky to get our sticks on a couple pucks to clear it and burn some time on the PK that really helped us out."

Yanni Gourde added to his team lead in goals with a power-play marker 7:45 into the second, his 21st of the season. Vladislav Namestnikov extended his point streak to six games with the assist, his best six-game stretch of his career with 12 points (5g, 7a). The 22-year-old center has produced at a pace of more than one goal-per-game this season, 36 points (14g, 22a) in 34 games. Kristers Gudlevskis recorded the secondary assist, the second of his career. His first came last season on March 9, 2014 vs. Binghamton.

Jonathan Marchessault knocked in an empty-net goal with 2:11 to play in regulation to extend his point streak to six games since returning from injury. His team-high 47 points (15g, 32a) ranks tied for eighth in the AHL.

Pat Nagle stopped 25 of 28 shots in his first start with the Comets. In 2013, Nagle played in two games for Syracuse, making his AHL debut March 6 against Toronto, and earning his first start vs. Binghamton on Apr. 21, a 5-1 loss.

The Crunch have nearly a week off before hosting the Portland Pirates for the only time at the War Memorial this year.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 28, 2015


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.

OurSports Central