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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly

January 29, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Fri., Jan. 23 - Crunch vs. Lehigh Valley - W, 4-2

Sat., Jan. 24 - Crunch vs. Hartford - W, 3-2

Mon., Jan. 26 - All-Star Game - West 14, East 12

THIS WEEK

Fri., Jan. 30 - Crunch vs. Rochester - 7 p.m.

Sat., Jan. 31 - Crunch at Hershey - 7 p.m.

NEED TO KNOW

- Syracuse claimed first place in the Northeast Division Saturday and stands second in the conference (26-11-5-0).

- Vladislav Namestnikov (2a) and Jonathan Marchessault (1g, 2a) combined for five points in Monday's All-Star Game.

- Mike Blunden has seven goals and and 10 points in January, the most productive month of his career.

Crunch stars shine in Utica

Jonathan Marchessault opened and closed the scoring in the 2015 AHL All-Star game, a 14-12 loss for the East. Marchessault's was the lone assist on the East's first goal by Portland's Brendan Shinnimin. Marchessault, a third-time All-Star, scored the game's final marker, the East's 12th, which set a record for combined goals in an AHL All-Star game, 26. Marchessault finished with three points (1g, 2a) and upped his career All-Star total to eight points (3g, 5a).

Vladislav Namestnikov joined Marchessault in Utica and posted two assists, both in the second period, setting up Springfield's Austin Madaisky and Hartford's Chris Bourque. Namestnikov started the contest for the Eastern Conference, his first AHL All-Star appearance.

Defenseman Nikita Nesterov was selected for the All-Star game but because of his promotion to the Lightning, didn't compete in the festivities.

Best in the Northeast

Following the AHL All-Star break, the Crunch- with 42 games down and 34 to go- are perched atop the Northeast Division with 57 points and rank second in the Eastern Conference. Since the calendar turned to 2015, the Crunch have points in seven of nine contests, and Saturday's win against Hartford moved them one point ahead of Springfield. Syracuse last owned the division lead Dec. 26.

The Crunch have collected 26 wins through 42 games, surpassing the success of the 2012-13 Crunch who captured their 26th victory in their 44th game.

Jonathan Marchessault and Yanni Gourde have been this season's most prolific performers with 36 and 29 points, respectively. Marchessault is tied for sixth in the AHL. Mike Angelidis (14g, 10a) is on pace to eclipse 40 points for his best AHL season, and Mike Blunden ranks third in goals (13) and has seven in January, a team high.

Nikita Nesterov, who started the first 32 games for the Crunch before being called up to Tampa is the top-scoring defenseman (14 points), while rookie defenseman Slater Koekkoek is two points behind him. Joel Vermin leads Crunch rookies with 16 points (7g, 9a) in 39 games.

Rookie goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and second-year netminder Kristers Gudlevskis have split time between the posts this season. While earning 13 wins apiece, Vasilevskiy edges Gudlevskis in goals-against average (2.41 to 2.72), save percentage (.918 to 904) and shutouts (2 to 1).

Divisional stakes

In the team's 34 remaining contests, Syracuse takes on division opponents 15 times, including six versus Bridgeport, two against Hartford, three against Springfield and four against Albany.

Syracuse has the best record against its own division of any Northeast Division team. The Crunch defeated Hartford last Saturday, 3-2, to improve to 11-3-3-0 against division foes. With one more division victory than Albany, Bridgeport, and Hartford, the Crunch have 25 points against Northeast Division teams, one point less than the Devils, but Syracuse has played six fewer division games than Albany.

The Crunch's points percentage against Northeast Division clubs (.735) is third best in the AHL behind Utica (12-2-2-0 against North Division) and San Antonio (16-3-2-0 against West Division).

Blunden catches fire

Following a two-goal performance against Hartford in Syracuse's 3-2 win Saturday at the War Memorial, Crunch forward Mike Blunden has seven goals this January, the most goals he's had in any month in his career. The veteran, who's played 410 AHL games since 2006, has three months with more than five goals, previously in October 2010 with the Springfield Falcons and in March 2009 when he was with the Crunch.

Blunden has totaled 10 points in January, the fifth time in his career he has had double-digit points in one month. The Toronto native has collected 12 points in a month twice in his career, once with Rockford in November 2008, and most recently with the Crunch in March 2009. Blunden and the Crunch have two games left this January.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Game 41: First meeting for Syracuse and Lehigh Valley taken by Crunch

Andrei Vasilevskiy was perfect for all but 24 seconds in Syracuse's first ever matchup against Lehigh Valley, earning the Crunch a 4-2 victory Friday at the War Memorial. After falling behind, 2-1, in the first period, Syracuse utilized three unanswered goals to move to 25-11-5-0 on the season.

Cody Kunyk's sixth goal of the season gave Syracuse an early 1-0 advantage, but Phantom forwards Kevin Goumas and Petr Straka scored 24 seconds apart to give Lehigh Valley a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

Yanni Gourde evened the score, 2-2, 3:23 into the second when Dalton Smith landed an open ice check on a Phantoms defenseman and knocked the puck loose for Gourde to scoop up and score his 14th goal of the season.

Henri Ikonen scored the game-winner late in the second when he deflected a Matt Corrente slap shot from the right point past Anthony Stolarz. Corrente and Mike Angelidis contributed the assists. The captain recorded his 10th assist of the season and Corrente registered his third.

Gourde added his second goal of the game on a rebound in the crease four minutes into the third and increased the lead to 4-2. Tanner Richard registered the primary assist, taking his season total to 15. Joel Vermin contributed the secondary assist, his ninth this season.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots, snapping his two-game skid and improving his overall mark to 12-5-5.

Game 42: Special teams vault Crunch to 3-2 victory and division lead

Mike Angelidis scored the game-winning goal on the power play Saturday against Hartford, as the Crunch (26-11-5-0) held off the surging Wolf Pack (24-13-3-2), 3-2, to move into first place in the Northeast Division.

Mike Blunden scored the first of his two goals just 1:29 into the game. Slater Koekkoek lasered a pass to Blunden's stick, who sniped a rocket over the glove of Wolf Pack goaltender Yann Danis. Matt Correnterecorded his fourth assist of the season and third in as many games. Koekkoek's assist increased his season total to 12 points (3g, 9a). Hartford responded late in the first when Conor Allen's power-play goal tied the game, 1-1.

After a scoreless second period, Wolf Pack forward Marek Hrivik gave Hartford its first lead of the game with a goal 2:31 into the final frame. Syracuse answered on special teams to claim the lead back.

Mike Blunden netted his second of the game on a shorthanded rush with Vladislav Namestnikov. The All-Star entered the zone on the left-wing side and needled a pass to Blunden closing from the right. Mike Angelidis tallied the game-winner when he poked a blocked point shot from Joey Mormina past Yann Danis five seconds into a power play, the Crunch's first power-play goal in 26 attempts. The game-winner is Angelidis's second against the Wolf Pack this season and third overall. The Crunch and Wolf Pack have decided five of their six contests this season by one goal.

Vasilevskiy recorded his 13th win of the season with 30 saves, six of which came with Hartford on a 6-on-4 advantage.

THE WEEK AHEAD

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

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

Syracuse welcomes I-90 rival Rochester to the War Memorial for third time this season on Saturday night. The Crunch and Amerks have split their four meetings so far on the campaign; they will skate against each other four more times in the regular season. Rochester and Syracuse split their eight meetings last season.

The Amerks have played .500 hockey for nearly two months, going 9-9 in 18 games dating back to Dec. 12. One of those wins was an 8-7 shootout victory in Oklahoma City on Jan. 18 that featured eighty-two shots and seven goals in the third period, including two goals in 12 seconds by the Amerks to tie the game late in the final stanza. Rochester sits last in the North Division and next to last in the Western Conference with 37 points. The Amerks haven't missed the playoffs since the 2010-11 season.

Friday's game will be Rochester's first with Evan Rankin in its lineup since the end of the 2013 season. Rankin, who totaled 30 points in 62 games for Syracuse last year, began this season with Kolner Haie of the DEL (Germany), recording three points in 18 games. He signed an AHL pact with the Amerks Monday.

Centers Phil Varone (9g, 21a) and Mikhail Grigorenko (10g, 20a) are tied for the team lead in points with 30 a piece. Grigorenko has been up and down with the Sabres this season; the Russian has a goal and an assist in 12 NHL games. Grigorenko won AHL Player of the Week honors for Jan. 11-18 after being returned from Buffalo Jan. 10. Varone was Rochester's lone representative at the AHL All-Star Game, assisting on two of the West's goals Monday. It was the first appearance in the AHL All-Star Game for the fourth-year pro. The Vaughan, Ontario native spent most of this month going back and forth between Buffalo and Rochester; he potted two goals for the Sabres in their Jan. 8 game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Andrey Makarov (13-12-1) has been the mainstay in the Amerks' cage, posting a 2.84 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage in 27 starts. The 21-year-old Kazan, Russia native has started all four games against the Crunch this season, giving up six goals on 132 shots. Makarov shut out Syracuse in the teams' first meeting on Halloween at the War Memorial. After a shutout against Iowa to begin the month, Makarov has given up 21 goals in his games since.

Top prospect Nathan Lieuwen served as Makarov's backup to begin the year, but issues stemming from April concussion sidelined him earlier this month. Matt Hackett, who'd been out since knee surgery last April, has made three starts for Rochester this month, going 1-2-0 with nine goals against. Hackett was recalled to Buffalo on Monday because of an injury to Sabres netminder Michal Neuvirth.

Crunch at Hershey- Saturday, 7 p.m.

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

Syracuse travels to Hershey Saturday for the teams' final meeting of the regular season. The Crunch have won the first three matchups by at least three goals. The Bears are 3-8 against the Crunch dating back to the beginning of the 2013-14 season, and haven't beaten the Crunch since Jan. 25, 2014.

The Bears come into the weekend among the hottest teams in the AHL. Hershey has won its last four games and eight out of its last ten. The Bears have scored at least five goals in three of their last four games. Hershey scored five or more goals in a game just three times in its first 37 games. Both of the Bears' special teams units are among the league leaders; Hershey's penalty kill is third in the league (87.3%), while its power play ranks seventh (20.2%). The win streak has catapulted the Bears into first place in the East Division (51 points). Hershey sits six points back of Syracuse in the Eastern Conference Standings.

The Bears had three representatives at the AHL All-Star Classic Sunday and Monday. Defenseman Connor Carrick, center Tim Kennedy, and goalie Philipp Grubauer all saw action in Utica; Grubauer won the top goaltender award at the skills Competition on Sunday night, while Carrick registered an assist during the All-Star Game on Monday night.

Kennedy leads Hershey with 35 points (4g, 31a); his 31 helpers are second most in the AHL. The Buffalo native has spent parts of six seasons in the NHL, registering 15 goals and 39 points in 162 career games. Carrick ranks third on the Bears and fifth among AHL defensemen with 27 points (6g, 21a). His 21 assists rank third among AHL blue-liners. The Illinois native has also seen time in the NHL; he played 34 games for the Washington Capitals last season, totaling six points (1g, 5a).

Hershey's goaltending situation was in flux throughout January. All-Star Philipp Grubauer was knocked out until the middle of the month after suffering an injury on New Year's Eve, and backup Pheonix Copley was called up to Washington after starting just one game in Grubauer's place. Justin Peters and Brandon Anderson filled in until Grubauer and Copley returned, winning two of their four starts. The usual tandem's return on Jan. 17 has resulted in four straight wins. Grubauer ranks 10th in the league with a 2.15 goals-against-average, while Copley has given up two or more goals just once in his last seven starts.

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