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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly

November 26, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Wed., Nov. 19 - Crunch at Hartford - W, 5-4

Fri., Nov. 21 - Crunch at Adirondack - L, 4-1

Sat., Nov. 22 - Crunch vs. Utica - W, 2-1

THIS WEEK

Wed., Nov. 26 - Crunch at Utica - 7 p.m.

Fri., Nov. 28 - Crunch vs. Binghamton - 7 p.m.

Sat., Nov. 29 - Crunch at Hershey - 7 p.m.

NEED TO KNOW

- Saturday's Toyota Frozen Dome Classic drew 30,715, the largest crowd for an indoor pro hockey game in U.S. history.

- Syracuse is 10-5-3-0, fourth in the Eastern Conference, with two wins in its last three games and seven in 10.

- Yanni Gourde has taken the team lead in goals, eight, with 11 points (8g, 3a) and a plus-9 in his last eight games.

History at the Carrier Dome

The Toyota Frozen Dome Classic proved to be a record-breaker. The first pro hockey game at the Carrier Dome shattered the U.S. indoor pro hockey attendance record as 30,715 fans packed the iconic venue to watch Syracuse defeat Utica, 2-1. The Crunch broke the record previously held by their parent club, Tampa Bay. The Lightning had 28,183 fans attend their playoff game against Philadelphia April 23, 1996 at the Thunderdome.

Saturday's crowd at the Carrier Dome also ranks as the second-largest in the 79-year history of the AHL.

Largest Single-Game Crowds, AHL History

*45,653 Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pa. Jan. 6, 2012

30,715 Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y. Nov. 22, 2014

*21,673 Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn. Feb. 19, 2011

*21,508 NYS Fairgrounds, Syracuse, N.Y. Feb. 20, 2010

20,672 Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C. Jan. 18, 1997

*20,565 Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton, Ontario Jan. 21, 2012

*20,337 Comerica Park, Detroit, Mich. Dec. 30, 2013

#20,103 Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pa. June 10, 2005

*outdoors #playoffs

Vasi warming up

After notching one win in his first six AHL games, Andrei Vasilevskiy's play now reflects his projection as a top goaltending prospect. The rookie from Tyumen, Russia, has won his last three starts and hasn't suffered a regulation loss since Oct. 31. The 20 year old has been particularly strong at home, allowing just two goals on 49 shots in his last two home starts, including Saturday at the Carrier Dome.

Vasilevskiy spent the last two seasons in the KHL in Russia after being picked 19th overall by Tampa Bay in the 2012 NHL Draft.

Comeback Crunch

The Crunch have 10 wins on the season and nine of those 10 are come-from-behind victories. The only win in which the Crunch never trailed was against Binghamton, Nov. 1, a 6-3 victory.

The biggest comeback by Syracuse on the season was a 5-4 win against Norfolk, Nov. 8, after trailing 4-1 heading into the final period. The four goals in the final frame were scored in a 12-minute period by Dalton Smith and Yanni Gourde.

Most of the comebacks have happened in the second period, as the Crunch are 8-0-2-0 when leading or tied heading into the third. The two wins when trailing in the third were the previously noted comeback against Norfolk and a 3-2 comeback against W-B/Scranton after trailing, 2-1, entering the third.

Embroiled in several tight decisions this season, the Crunch have managed a 7-1-3-0 record in one-goal contests. The close games are made evident by the plus-1 goal-differential this year. Syracuse has been outscored by nine goals in the first, are plus-1 in the second, and have outscored opponents by nine in the third.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Game 16: Crunch score early, hold on for 5-4 win at Hartford

Philippe Paradis scored the game-winning goal with 16:00 left in the third, his first goal of the season, and the Crunch stayed in front of the Wolf Pack to win, 5-4, Wednesday at XL Center. The goal snapped a 17-game goal-less streak for Paradis. The former first-round pick had last scored the second-to-last game of the 2013-14 regular season against the Marlies in a 6-3 Crunch victory.

Syracuse held a 4-2 lead at the end of the first, thanks to two-goal efforts by Mike Angelidis and Yanni Gourde. It was Angelidis's second multi-goal game of his Crunch career. The last time the captain had two tallies in a game was against Bridgeport Jan. 26 in a 6-5 Crunch loss. Over his nine-year AHL career, he has nine two-goal games. He has never recorded a hat trick.

Hartford tied the game with two second-period goals, but Andrei Vasilevskiy earned the victory stopping 16 of the 20 shots he faced. Syracuse's four first-period tallies in the first 16:01 of the first period forced Hartford goalie Cedrick Desjardins out of the game. The former Crunch netminder made five saves. Mackenzie Skapski yielded the game-winner to Paradis and took the loss after making 14 saves.

Game 17: Crunch allow last three goals and fall 4-1 to Flames

Crunch goalie Kristers Gudlevskis saved 30 shots, the second-most shots he's faced in nine appearances this season, but yielded four goals, and Syracuse lost 4-1 to Adirondack Friday in Glens Falls. The Gudlevskis save total was his most since a career-high 43 in a victory against Binghamton Oct. 18.

The loss stopped an eight-game Crunch point streak and a four-game win streak for the team and Gudlevskis, which had tied his career high. Gudlevskis last had four consecutive wins in the first four games of his Crunch career, Oct. 26-Nov. 8, 2013.

Luke Witkowski scored his first goal of the season, and the only Syracuse goal of the game, in the second period to tie the game, 1-1. Tanner Richard and Cody Kunyk netted assists. Two player point streaks were halted: Jonathan Marchessault at eight and Yanni Gourde at six.

Game 18: Crunch make hockey history at Carrier Dome, defeat Utica, 2-1

The Crunch set the all-time U.S. indoor hockey attendance record Saturday night at the Carrier Dome, with 30,715 fans filling the Dome to see Syracuse beat their I-90 rivals, the Comets, 2-1. Utica scored first on Crunch goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy three minutes into the first, but Crunch forward Joel Vermintied the game with four minutes left in the opening period. It was Vermin's fifth goal and ninth point of the season, both tops for Crunch rookies. Richard had the lone assist and has four in the last three games.

Second-year Crunch forward Yanni Gourde scored the game-winner, tipping a Jonathan Marchessault shot past Utica goalie Joacim Eriksson 49 seconds into the second period. Gourde leads Syracuse with eight goals and is second on the team with 13 points, trailing Jonathan Marchessault, 17. The forward leads the Crunch with three multi-goal games this season. With eight goals, the fourth-year forward has already equaled his AHL season high which was eight goals in 2012-13. The St. Narcisse, Quebec native has four multi-point games already this season after he had six career multi-point games his previous three AHL campaigns.

After allowing a goal on the first shot, Crunch netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 consecutive saves the rest of the game.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Crunch at Utica- Wednesday, 7 p.m.

ESPN Radio 97.7 FM, Syracuse; 100.1 FM, Oswego

The Crunch and Comets tango for the second time in as many games. After a record-setting night inside the Carrier Dome that concluded with a 2-1 Syracuse win in front of 30,715 fans, the Crunch head to Utica Memorial Auditorium for the first time this season.

The Comets (12-4-2-0, 26pts) sit atop the North Division and are second in the Western Conference and the AHL, trailing only Rockford (29pts). Utica is led by ninth-year center Cal O'Reilly who leads the team with 17 points (1g, 17a). Joacim Eriksson (5-3-1) and Jacob Markstrom (7-1-1), both from Galve, Sweden, have split time in goal. The game will be the second of six meetings between the I-90 rivals, who play just 60 miles apart, but compete in separate conferences.

Syracuse and Utica met four times in the 2013-14 season, but only once did a game end in regulation. The Crunch accumulated a 2-1-1-0 mark, while the Comets had the slight edge with a 2-0-1-1 record. Current Tampa Bay Lightning forward Vlad Namestnikov led all Crunch skaters with four points (1g, 3a) in the season series, but the Comets' Cal O'Reilly led all skaters with five points (1g, 4a). In the final meeting of last year's season series, Syracuse came back from a 5-2 deficit to defeat Utica 6-5 in overtime at the War Memorial. The Crunch tallied three goals in the final minute and 39 seconds of regulation, including two shorthanded goals by Jonathan Marchessault, to force overtime. Brett Connolly netted the game-winning goal midway through the extra frame.

In their inaugural season last year, Utica finished third in the North Division (35-32-5-4, 79pts) and missed out on the playoffs by four points.

Crunch vs. Binghamton- Friday, 7 p.m.

KROCK 100.9 FM, Syracuse; 106.5 FM, Oswego

Syracuse meets a familiar foe on Friday night, when former East Division rival Binghamton heads to the War Memorial. It will serve as the third of eight meetings between the I-81 rivals, who met 10 times last season.

The Senators (7-8-2-0, 16pts) sit in fourth place in the East Division and 14th in the Eastern Conference. Syracuse has won both meetings this season, earning a 4-2 win at the War Memorial on Oct. 18 and netting a 6-3 win on Nov. 1 in Binghamton. The Senators' season opener served as the first game requiring the use of the AHL's new overtime rules. During 3-on-3 play, Binghamton was defeated on a goal from former Crunch Matt Taormina, earning Worcester a 3-2 victory.

As a member of the East Division last season, Syracuse battled Binghamton ten times. The Senators finished with an 8-2 record in the season series, while the Crunch compiled a 2-5-2-1 mark; at the War Memorial, Binghamton was 4-1. At season's end, the Senators ranked first in the East Division and third in the Eastern Conference. Although the Sens earned their third division title in franchise history, they were eliminated from the playoffs by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the first round.

Binghamton welcomes back third-year defenseman Chris Wideman, who led the B-Sens in scoring against the Crunch last season. The St. Louis native tallied 12 points (2g, 10a) in ten games. This season, Wideman leads the AHL with 21 points (10g, 11a). In two games against the Crunch this year Wideman has three points (1g, 2a), while Syracuse's Cedric Paquette (1g, 3a) and Joel Vermin(2g, 2a) lead all Syracuse skaters with four points.

Crunch at Hershey- Saturday, 7 p.m.

ESPN Radio 97.7 FM & 1200 AM, Syracuse; 100.1 FM & 1440 AM, Oswego

The Crunch meet yet another former East Division foe this week in the Hershey Bears Saturday at Giant Center. This match will be the second of four in the 2014-15 season after Syracuse topped Hershey 5-1 at the War Memorial on Nov. 14.

Hershey (9-7-1-1, 20pts) ranks second in the East Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference. The Bears began November with four losses in their first five games, but are 2-2-0-1 in the last five games.

Syracuse and Hershey met eight times in the 2013-14 season. The Crunch were the better of the two squads, earning a 5-2-0-1 mark, while Hershey was just 3-4-1-0, winning just once at the War Memorial. Jon DiSalvatore led all scorers in the season series with seven points (5g, 2a) against his former team.

Bears center Kris Newbury leads the AHL with 21 points (10g, 11a). The 12-year veteran spent the majority of last season with Adirondack (46 games), before concluding the year in Hershey (17 games). The Brampton, Ontario native was Hershey's lone goal scorer in their 5-1 loss to Syracuse on Nov. 14. Newbury has played for five different organizations, while participating in 76 NHL games (4g, 6a).

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