Sports stats



AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly - December 6, 2016 - Vol. 23, No. 8

December 6, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Syracuse Crunch Weekly Release - December 6, 2016 - Vol. 23, No. 8

LAST WEEK

Tue., Nov. 29 - Crunch at St. John's - W, 6-2

Wed., Nov. 30 - Crunch at St. John's - SOL, 3-2

Sat., Dec. 3 - Crunch vs. Rochester - W, 4-0

Sun., Dec. 4 - Crunch at Hershey - L, 4-2

THIS WEEK

Wed., Dec. 7 - Crunch vs. Lehigh Valley - 7 p.m.

Fri., Dec. 9 - Crunch vs. Albany - 7 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 10 - Crunch vs. Utica - 7 p.m. (TV)

Syracuse leads division at quarter point

Syracuse regained the North Division lead in Week 8 with five of eight possible points (2-1-0-1). The team's 12-6-0-1 record and .650 points percentage ranks second in the Eastern Conference.

Syracuse earned three points in St. John's, downing the IceCaps, 6-2, Tuesday before falling in a shootout Wednesday, 3-2. The Crunch completed a stretch of seven straight games against North Division opponents with a 4-0 win over Rochester Saturday at the War Memorial. Syracuse owns an intra-divisional record of 11-2-0-1. The Crunch slipped to 1-4-0-1 against the Atlantic Division with a 4-2 loss Sunday in Hershey, snapping a season high point streak at five games.

After playing four of five games on the road, Syracuse plays three straight at home. After a Wednesday meeting with Lehigh Valley, Syracuse plays two division games: Albany Friday and Utica Saturday. The Crunch are 7-1-0-1 at home and 5-5-0-1 on the road.

Top Performers

Adam Wilcox recorded his first professional shutout Saturday vs. Rochester, stopping 25 shots in his 40th career appearance. Wilcox, who tied a school record with 13 shutouts in three seasons at Minnesota, last recorded a shutout in the Big Ten tournament March 20, 2014, with 39 saves vs. Ohio State at Joe Louis Arena.

Wilcox has won his last three starts, including both games in Week 8, improving to 8-3-0. His 2.14 goals-against average ranks 10th in the AHL. Last season, Wilcox was 9-12-6 in 27 appearances with a 3.34 G.A.A.

With six points (2g, 4a) in four games, Matt Taormina climbed atop the Crunch scoring leaderboard in Week 8. His total of 18 points ranks second in the AHL among defensemen, as do his 12 assists. Only one player in the AHL had more points in Week 8 than Taormina: Lehigh Valley's Jordan Weal at three goals and four assists.

Taormina recorded two goals Tuesday at St. John's, the third two-goal night of his career and the first since Feb. 28, 2014. He followed that with a three-point game (3a) Saturday vs. Rochester, his first since Oct. 30, 2015. He has four three-point games in his career, including a three-assist game in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Portland May 2, 2013.

Taormina has at least one point in 12 of the 15 games he's played, with five multi-point games. He had eight last year and totaled 41 points (13g, 28a) in 61 games.

Tanner Richard and Erik Condra contributed three-point games in Week 8. Richard totaled five assists in Week 8, including three in Tuesday's win at St. John's. Richard has two three-point games this year (hat trick Nov. 12) and is third on the Crunch at 15 points (6g, 9a).

Condra returned to Syracuse in Week 8 after spending more than a week in the NHL with Tampa Bay. He recorded three points (1g, 2a) in Saturday's shutout of Rochester. Condra has 12 points (4g, 8a) in 16 games.

Michael Bournival and Joel Vermin were recalled by Tampa Bay Nov. 30 and made their Lightning season debuts Dec. 1. Vermin, in his first NHL game since Dec. 14, 2015, posted two assists vs. St. Louis. He has three career assists in nine NHL games. Bournival, whose first 89 NHL games came with Montreal, became the 40th player to appear in a game for the Crunch and Lightning since the teams affiliated in 2012.

Bournival, who leads Syracuse with a plus-11, and Syracuse captain Luke Witkowski were assigned to the Crunch by the Lightning Tuesday.

Upcoming: Lehigh Valley, Albany, Utica

The Crunch host three opponents in Week 9: Lehigh Valley Wednesday, Albany Friday and Utica Saturday.

The Phantoms, Philadelphia's affiliate, is second in the Atlantic Division and third in the conference at 15-6-1-0 (.705). Jordan Weal leads the team at 24 points (9g, 15a), tied for second in the AHL. He and Taylor Leier (6g, 14a) are two of 12 players in the AHL over 20 points. Colin McDonald is tied for the league lead in goals, 11.

Albany snapped a three-game skid with a 3-1 win Sunday vs. Binghamton; the clubs meet again Wednesday. The Devils are second in the North at 13-8-0-1 (.614), but are 4-6-0-1 on the road. Albany is without top scorer John Quenneville (recalled by New Jersey) and goalie Scott Wedgewood (shoulder). Joe Blandisi has 17 points.

The Comets have won two of three meetings with the Crunch, but are 9-11-1-0, fifth in the North Division. Utica has won its last two games, a home-and-home with Albany. The Comets, who play Toronto and Binghamton this week, rank 26th in the league at 2.48 goals per game, led by Alexandre Grenier's 15 points (5g, 9a) and Jordan Subban's 14 points (5g, 9a).

Week 8 Results

Tuesday, November 28 | Game 17 at St. John's | W, 6-2

SYR 3 1 2 - 6 Shots: 9-8-13-30 PP: 2/8

STJ 1 1 0 - 2 Shots: 9-6-7-22 PP: 2/4

1st Per. - Taormina 5 (Gourde, Halmo), 0:43. Morin 2 (Richard), 6:40. Vermin 6 (Richard, Morin), 15:48. 2nd Per. - Taormina 6 (Conacher), 2:44 (PP). 3rd Per. - Vermin 7 (Conacher, Richard), 11:55 (PP). Halmo 6, 15:51. . . . Wilcox 7-3-0 (22 shots-20 saves).

Wednesday, November 29 | Game 18 at St. John's | SOL, 3-2

SYR 1 0 1 0 - 2 Shots: 12-3-13-0-0-28 PP: 0/3

STJ 0 2 0 0 - 3 Shots: 10-13-5-2-1-31 PP: 0/2

1st Per. - Letourneau-Leblond 1 (Ikonen, Hart), 3:34. 3rd Per. - Comrie 1 (Morin, Walcott), 5:09. Shootout - Syracuse 0 (Conacher NG, Richard NG), St. John's 2 (Audette G, Andrighetto G). . . . Gudlevskis 4-2-2 (30 shots-28 saves).

Saturday, December 3 | Game 19 vs. Rochester | W, 6-4

RCH 0 0 0 - 0 Shots: 8-6-11-25 PP: 0/4

SYR 1 2 1 - 4 Shots: 17-14-7-38 PP: 1/5

1st Per. - Morin 3 (Taormina, Richard), 4:17 (PP). 2nd Per. - Condra 4 (Dotchin, Taormina), 5:32. Erne 4 (Taormina, Condra), 10:02. 3rd Per. - Erne 5 (Gourde, Condra), 14:39 (EN). . . . Wilcox 8-3-0 (25 shots-25 saves). A-5,247

Sunday, December 4 | Game 20 at Hershey | L, 4-2

SYR 0 0 2 - 2 Shots: 8-12-17-37 PP: 2/7

HER 1 0 3 - 4 Shots: 4-5-4-13 PP: 0/4

3rd Per. - Conacher 4 (Taormina, Richard), 3:38 (PP). Gourde 5 (Peca, Gudlevskis), 5:08 (PP). . . . Gudlevskis 4-3-2 (12 shots-9 saves).

Category standings (previous week)

Power Play 17.5% (17-for-97) T-17th (20th)

Penalty Kill 81.5% (66-for-81) 16th (18th)

Goals For 3.25 GFA (65) 7th (9th)

Goals Against 2.75 GAA (55) 12th (15th)

Shots For 29.90 SF/G (598) 14th (20th)

Shots Against 24.70 SA/G (494) 1st (1st)

Penalty Minutes 13.95 PIM/G (279) 14th (17th)

Crunch Leaders

Points 18 Taormina

Goals 7 Vermin

Assists 12 Taormina

PIM 39 Dotchin

Plus/Minus +11 Bournival

Wins 8 Wilcox

GAA 2.14 Wilcox

Save % .917 Wilcox

Syracuse Crunch single game and season tickets for the 2016-17 season are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch office located in the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse or by calling the office at 315-473-4444. 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.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 6, 2016


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