Sports stats



AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly

January 22, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Fri., Jan. 16 - Crunch at Binghamton - L, 5-0

Sat., Jan. 17 - Crunch at Bridgeport - W, 6-2

Sun., Jan. 18 - Crunch at Bridgeport - L, 2-1

THIS WEEK

Fri., Jan. 23 - Crunch vs. Lehigh Valley - 7 p.m.

Sat., Jan. 24 - Crunch vs. Hartford - 7 p.m.

Mon., Jan. 26 - All-Star Game in Utica - 7 p.m.

NEED TO KNOW

- Forward Jonathan Marchessault has been added to the Eastern Conference roster for the AHL All-Star Classic.

- Luke Witkowski made his NHL debut Tuesday, becoming the 32nd player to play for Syracuse and Tampa Bay.

- After eight of nine games on the road Syracuse, fourth in the conference at 24-11-5-0, is home Friday and Saturday.

Transactions

01/19/2015 Dan Milan (D) DEL Reassigned by Tampa Bay (NHL) to Wichita (ECHL)

01/16/2015 Charlie Dodero (D) ADD Signed to PTO

01/16/2015 Dan Milan (D) ADD Reassigned by Tampa Bay (NHL) from Wichita (ECHL)

01/16/2015 Luke Witkowski (D) DEL Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

01/16/2015 Vladislav Namestnikov (C) ADD Returned on loan from Tampa Bay (NHL)

Three-in-three breakdown

After their second road three-in-three of the season, the Crunch have four more weekends with three games remaining this year. Syracuse has finished both of its three-in-three road trips with 1-2-0-0 records, but heading forward all of the three game weekends include at least one home game.

The toughest test of three-in-three travel is March 13-20 when Syracuse plays back-to-back three game weekends. It's a light task compared to five-straight three-in-three weekends last year. In seven total three-game weekends in the 2013-14 campaign, Syracuse went 8-11-1-1.

In the 2012-13 Calder Cup run, the Crunch had eight weekends with three games and finished 13-10-0-1, with two perfect weekends early in the season.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Game 38: Senators skate away from Crunch, 5-0

The Binghamton Senators scored four times in the first period and once early in the second and coasted to a 5-0 victory over the Crunch Friday, Syracuse's largest margin of defeat this season.

Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 14 of 19 shots before giving way to Kristers Gudlevskis in the second. Gudlevskis stopped all 21 shots he faced as the Senators amassed 40 shots on goal, the second highest toal allowed by Syracuse this year. (Binghamton had 45 against Syracuse Oct. 18, but Gudlevskis made 43 saves for a 4-2 win.)

Senators goals were scored by Darren Kramer, Matt Puempel, Buddy Robinson, Shane Prince on the power play and Max McCormick. Chris Wideman and Ryan Dzingel had two assists each.

Anrew Hammond recorded his second shutout of the year stopping each of 18 Syracuse shots, the second smallest Crunch output of the year.

Game 39: Crunch start second half strong in 6-2 win over Bridgeport

Three-point performances from Mike Blunden (1g, 2a) and Jonathan Marchessault (3a) lifted Syracuse to its largest margin of victory on the road this year in a 6-2 win in Bridgeport Saturday. The Crunch took the first of eight matchups with their new division rival. Kristers Gudlevskis, who'd been perfect in relief with 21 saves Friday, made 24 saves Saturday and improved to 13-6-0.

Joey Mormina's power-play goal opened the scoring in the first and Slater Koekkoek scored 11 seconds later. Blunden and Tanner Richard goals in the second were assisted by Dylan Blujus. Vladislav Namestnikov scored shorthanded to cap the second period with a 5-1 Crunch lead. Mike Angelidis scored seven minutes into the third to extend the lead to 6-1, tying Yanni Gourde for the most goals on the team.

John Persson got one back for the Sound Tigers as a 5-on-3 power play became a 5-on-4 late in th third; the AHL's top power play was held to 1-for-5. Justin Courtnall scored the earlier goal for Bridgeport.

Game 40: Crunch can't beat Bridgeport in penalty-filled game

The Crunch finished its three-in-three weekend with a 2-1 defeat against Bridgeport in the second game of a back-to-back in Connecticut. Syracuse surrendered ten power plays to the Sound Tigers, a season high, and killed off eight. The Crunch were 0-for-5 on the man advantage.

The Sound Tigers struck late in both the first and second period. Former Crunch forward Cory Conacher set up Kael Mouillierat with six minutes left in the first period to make it 1-0. Conacher received a secondary assist on Aaron Ness's second-period tally.

Dalton Smith scored with less than five minutes to go in the third, tipping a Matt Corrente drive set up by Tanner Richard. Smith's ninth of the year cut Bridgeport lead in half, but it was the only blemish on Sound Tigers goalie Kevin Poulin's 25-save effort. Crunch netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 21 shots.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Crunch vs. Lehigh Valley- Friday, 7 p.m.

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

Syracuse and Lehigh Valley duel inside the War Memorial for the first time since Philadelphia's AHL affiliate relocated to Allentown, Pa. Last season, as the Adirondack Phantoms, Terry Murray's club faced the Crunch six times, winning twice. This year, Syracuse and Lehigh Valley meet just twice as Eastern Conference adversaries.

The Phantoms (19-15-4-1, 43pts) rank third in the East Division, but lie outside the playoff picture with the 11th-best mark in the Eastern Conference. Lehigh Valley is the most penalized team in the AHL with 997 minutes served, over 100 more than any other club.

The Phantoms were located in Glens Falls, N.Y., from 2009 to 2014, failing to reach the playoffs in each of five years. The Phantoms vacated their original home city, Philadelphia, in 2009 when the club's venue, The Spectrum, was demolished. Since its 1996 inception, the team has been the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. The Phantoms won Calder Cups in 1998 and 2005.

Lehigh Valley is led by second-year pro Nick Cousins, who's collected 29 points (13g, 16a) in 39 games. The Belleville, Ontario native has collected 12 points (6g, 6a) in eight January games. On Jan. 17 Cousins netted a hat trick in a 5-1 win over Binghamton before having his four-game point streak snapped the following night in Hershey. He had 29 points (11g, 18a) in 74 games last season as a rookie.

With veteran goalie Rob Zepp (11-5-4) in the NHL, rookies Anthony Stolarz (6-8-1) and Martin Ouellette (2-2-0) handle the netminding duties.

Lehigh Valley kicked off January with four straight road wins, outscoring opponents 16-8. When the Phantoms returned home Jan. 16, the streak ended with a 3-2 loss against Albany. They lost to Hershey Wednesday, 7-2, allowing three power-play goals and one shorthanded marker.

Crunch vs. Hartford- Saturday, 7 p.m.

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

For the third time this month, Syracuse meets Northeast Division foe Hartford. The game is the sixth of eight to be played between the squads after a 2013-14 season in which they never met.

The Wolf Pack (23-12-3-2, 51pts) rank third in the Northeast Division and trail the second-place Crunch by four points. The same holds true in the Eastern Conference standings where Syracuse ranks fourth and Hartford fifth.

Former Crunch goaltender Cedrick Desjardins (8-3-1) suffered a season-ending injury Dec. 26 leaving rookie Mackenzie Skapski (10-7-3) as the top goalie. Veteran Yann Danis has won each of three appearances since the Wolf Pack added the 33-year-old earlier this month.

Eighth-year forward Chris Bourque leads the Pack with 34 points (17g, 17a) and ranks 10th in AHL scoring. The Boston native has registered seven points (4g, 3a) in eight January games. In the season opener Oct. 12, the 28-year-old had two assists in a 4-3 win against the Crunch before posting a goal and an assist in a 6-5 losing effort on Dec. 5. Bourque was held off the score sheet in Hartford's other three matchups with Syracuse.

Hartford has won six of eight January games (6-1-1-0), while earning points in six straight. A 4-3 overtime-loss against Norfolk on Jan. 11 snapped Hartford's two-game winning streak, but the defeat was followed by three more wins.

The Wolf Pack ventured to the War Memorial for the first game of their season on Oct. 12. Behind an Oscar Lindberg overtime goal, Hartford beat Syracuse 4-3. Since that win, though, the Crunch have posted a 3-0-1-0 mark against the Wolf Pack. Syracuse's first trip to the XL Center on Nov. 19 resulted in a 5-4 victory behind a pair of multi-goal nights from Mike Angelidis and Yanni Gourde. On Dec. 5, Mike Angelidis replicated his performance, posting another two-goal game in a 6-5 win at the War Memorial before Kristers Gudlevski's shut out the Wolf Pack, 2-0, on Dec. 19.

Team Schedule

Friday Jan. 23 10 a.m. Morning skate War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

7 p.m. Game vs. Lehigh Valley War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

Saturday Jan. 24 10 a.m. Morning skate War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

7 p.m. Game vs. Hartford War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

Sunday Jan. 25 8 p.m. All-Star Skills Competition Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, N.Y.

Monday Jan. 26 7 p.m. All-Star Game Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, N.Y.

Tuesday Jan. 27 Off

Wednesday Jan. 28 Off

Thursday Jan. 29 11 a.m. Practice War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

*Subject to change.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from January 22, 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