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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly â?? March 26, 2019

March 26, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH PUNCH PLAYOFF TICKET

The Crunch split a four-game week in Week 25 with three games coming against two of the top five teams in the AHL. They clinched a playoff berth for the third straight season and the 15th time in franchise history. The Crunch (42-19-4-2) reached 90 points for the ninth time in team history; they have accomplished both feats all three seasons under head coach Ben Groulx. Syracuse is one of two teams (Charlotte) that has clinched a playoff berth with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

Syracuse started the week with a two-game series in Charlotte against the league-leading Checkers. The Crunch won the opening game, 2-1, in overtime, but Charlotte responded with a 4-2 win the next night in a game that was a one-goal game nearly the entire way until the Checkers added an empty-net marker late in the third period. The Crunch won their lone home game of the week with a 6-2 thrashing against the Utica Comets, but then they dropped a Sunday match in Bridgeport, 4-1, to the Sound Tigers.

The Crunch prepare for three games in Week 26, closing out March with matches against Belleville, Providence and Utica.

TOP PERFORMERS

Alex Barré-Boulet led the way for the Crunch last week, logging a point in all four games and extending his scoring streak to five games (3g, 2a). It's his longest streak since a nine-game run Nov. 11-Dec. 12, which remains tied for the longest in the AHL this season. The rookie has netted a point in 15 of the last 17 games dating to Feb. 18, producing 19 points (11g, 8a) to lead the Crunch and rank third in the league in that span.

Barré-Boulet scored three goals last week to take over the league lead with 32 tallies this season. That mark has also established a new franchise rookie record, moving past Lonny Bohonos and Geoff Platt, who both score 30 as rookies. Barré-Boulet leads all AHL rookies with 60 points (32g, 28a).

He scored his 30th goal of the year last Tuesday with an overtime game-winning goal in Charlotte; his sixth game-winner is also a Crunch rookie record. The record-setting goal came on Saturday as he scored his 16th power-play goal, which also ties a Crunch rookie record (Platt). He is the fifth Crunch rookie to reach 60 points in a season.

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Alex Volkov notched his first three-point game of the season Saturday against the Comets, scoring two goals and adding an assist. The second-year winger finished the week with four points (2g, 2a) in four games, reaching 40 points (18g, 22a) for the second straight season. Volkov has six goals in the last night games and is two goals shy of becoming the fifth Crunch player to reach 20 goals this season; as a rookie last year, the Russian led the Crunch with 23 goals.

Volkov's three-point game was the third of his AHL career; he had two last season with both coming in Belleville against the Senators.

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Cory Conacher netted his fifth three-point game of the season - but his first since November - in that same game. He scored two goals in 25 seconds to open the scoring and became the fourth player on the Crunch with 20 goals; only the Texas Stars have as many. It's Conacher's first 20-goal season since his MVP-winning rookie season, when he scored 39 in 2011-12 for the Norfolk Admirals.

UPCOMING: BELLEVILLE, PROVIDENCE, UTICA

The Crunch play their final three games of a 16-game March, starting with a Wednesday visit to Belleville. The Senators enter the week with consecutive regulation losses to drop out of the final playoff position in the North Division at 74 points. The Crunch lead the season series with three wins in the first four meetings.

Syracuse finished the week with back-to-back home games. The Crunch host the Providence Bruins for the only time this season Friday night; Providence shut out the Crunch, 4-0, Feb. 10 in Providence.

The Crunch and Comets conclude the week Saturday night in Syracuse. The Crunch have four straight head-to-head wins in the series and lead the Galaxy Cup 6-4 with two games left.

WEEK 25 RESULTS

Tuesday, March 19 | Game 64 at Charlotte | W, 2-1 (OT) Syracuse 1 0 0 1 - 2 Shots: 7-10-2-1-20 PP: 0/3 Charlotte 0 0 1 0 - 1 Shots: 8-7-6-3-24 PP: 1/5 1st Period-Foote 9 (Yan, Volkov), 11:22. Overtime-Barré-Boulet 30 (Raddysh, Gaunce), 1:59. . . . Pasquale 24-10-5 (24 shots-23 saves). A-4,477

Wednesday, March 20 | Game 65 at Charlotte | L, 4-2 Syracuse 0 1 1 - 2 Shots: 11-12-11-34 PP: 0/4 Charlotte 0 2 2 - 4 Shots: 13-9-9-31 PP: 2/3 2nd Period-Dumont 11 (Barré-Boulet, Foote), 17:11. 3rd Period-Verhaeghe 29 (Unassisted), 4:47. . . . Ouellette ND (2 shots-2 saves), Pasquale 24-11-5 (28 shots-25 saves). A-4,876

Saturday, March 23 | Game 66 vs. Utica | W, 6-2 Utica 1 1 0 - 2 Shots: 14-10-10-34 PP: 0/5 Syracuse 3 2 1 - 6 Shots: 10-10-3-23 PP: 2/3 1st Period-Conacher 20 (Andreoff), 6:19 (PP). Conacher 21 (Dumont, Volkov), 6:44. Volkov 17 (Conacher, Labrie), 19:29. 2nd Period-Thomas 2 (Dumont, Katchouk), 6:27 (SH). Barré-Boulet 31 (Raddysh, Foote), 11:05 (PP). 3rd Period-Volkov 18 (Unassisted), 12:12 (SH). . . . Pasquale 25-11-5 (34 shots-32 saves). A-6,180

Sunday, March 24 | Game 67 at Bridgeport | L, 4-1 Syracuse 0 1 0 - 1 Shots: 8-13-10-31 PP: 0/2 Bridgeport 0 3 1 - 4 Shots: 8-17-5-30 PP: 1/4 2nd Period-Barré-Boulet 32 (Colton, Masin), 16:01. . . . Tolvanen 0-1-0 (29 shots-26 saves). A-3,549

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 21.0% (59-for-281) T-5th (5th)

Penalty Kill 84.3% (269-for-319) 5th (4th)

Goals For 3.49 GFA (234) 4th (3rd)

Goals Against 2.48 GAA (166) 1st (1st)

Shots For 28.30 SF/G (1896) 23rd (23rd)

Shots Against 28.61 SA/G (1917) 11th (11th)

Penalty Minutes 13.66 PIM/G (915) 8th (6th)

Category Leader

Points 70 Verhaeghe

Goals 32 Barré-Boulet

Assists 41 Verhaeghe

PIM 127 Andreoff

Plus/Minus +30 Masin

Wins 25 Pasquale

GAA 2.26 Ingram

Save % 0.922 Ingram

Single game tickets and packages for the 2018-19 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the War Memorial Arena 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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