AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly

April 15, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Fri., Apr. 10 - Crunch vs. Bridgeport - W, 4-3 OT

Sat., Apr. 11 - Crunch vs. Springfield - L, 3-1

Sun., Apr. 12 - Crunch at Utica - L, 2-1

THIS WEEK

Wed., Apr. 15 - Crunch at Albany - 7 p.m.

Fri., Apr. 17 - Crunch vs. Adirondack - 7 p.m.

Sat., Apr. 18 - Crunch vs. Bridgeport - 7 p.m.

NEED TO KNOW

- Syracuse has three games remaining in the regular season, its postseason seed and opponent to be determined.

- The Crunch blueline was bolstered Tuesday by the Lightning reassigning second-year pro Luke Witkowski to Syracuse.

- Jonathan Marchessault scored his first NHL points (1g, 1a) in his fourth NHL game Saturday vs. Boston.

Transactions

- 04/14/2015 Luke Witkowski (D) ADD Returned on loan from Tampa Bay (NHL)

- 04/13/2015 Bryant Molle (D) DEL Released from PTO

- 04/13/2015 Dan Milan (D) ADD Reassigned by Tampa Bay (NHL) from Wichita (ECHL)

- 04/12/2015 Jonathan Marchessault (RW) ADD Returned on loan from Tampa Bay (NHL)

- 04/11/2015 Bryant Molle (D) ADD Signed to PTO

- 04/11/2015 Jonathan Marchessault (RW) DEL Recalled from loan by Tampa Bay (NHL)

- 04/10/2015 Cameron Darcy (C) ADD Signed to ATO

Postseason scenarios

Heading into the final three games of the regular season, the Crunch have 91 points and are even with Hartford Wolf Pack for the Northeast Division lead. Hartford owns the tiebreaker over Syracuse because of its 39 non-shootout wins, compared to 38 for Syracuse.

Hartford has only lost once in its last eight contests and is on a five-game winning streak, while Syracuse has lost six of seven contests (1-5-1-0). Should the Crunch and Wolf Pack finish the regular season tied for points and non-shootout wins, Syracuse owns the next tiebreaker, head to head points, 12-6.

Syracuse is in play to finish the regular season between second and seventh in the Eastern Conference. Currently fifth in the conference, the Crunch would play four-seed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the first round if the playoffs started today. Taking the division guarantees Syracuse either the second or third seed in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Rookies paving the offensive road

Four Crunch rookies- Cody Kunyk, Dylan Blujus, Kevin Lynch and Brayden Point- combined for four of the Syracuse's six goals in Week 27's three contests, bolstering each first-year contributors' numbers.

Friday against Bridgeport, Point and Kunyk added offense to help the Crunch win. Brayden Point scored his first professional goal to help the Crunch tie the game and force overtime, while rookie Cody Kunyk reached double-digit goals, scoring his tenth of the campaign.

With a goal Sunday against Utica, Kevin Lynch has two markers in his last four games, doubling his season point total. Dylan Blujus has totaled a goal and an assist over his last three games to push to 22 points this season, two away from rookie Slater Koekkoek, who ranks best for Crunch defensemen.

Joel Vermin leads Crunch rookies with 11 goals and 31 points.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Game 71: Syracuse storms back for OT win vs. Bridgeport

The Crunch scored three unanswered goals in the third period and overtime to defeat the visiting Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 4-3, Friday. Syracuse trailed 3-1 entering the third period of play.

The Crunch opened the scoring less than a minute into the hockey game. Jonathan Marchessault took advantage of a sloppy pass by Bridgeport goalie C.J. Motte and fired the puck into an empty net 57 seconds in. Bridgeport tied the game later in the period on the power play when Alan Quine put home the rebound off an initial bid by Ryan Pulock. Quine's 21st goal of the season came just ten seconds into the man advantage.

Bridgeport scored two goals within 3:19 in the second period to grab a two-goal lead entering the third. Chris Langkow scored the first goal in the slot off a feed from Dustin Jeffrey, and Colton Gillies added the second.

Syracuse scored twice in the opening 3:43 of the third to tie up the contest. Cody Kunyk scored just 26 seconds into the period to cut the Bridgeport lead in half, and Brayden Point scored during a five-on-three power play to tie the game. The goal was Point's first as a professional; the tally also marked the 19 year-old's first professional point. Marchessault and Ryan Martindale had the helpers on both goals.

Martindale would seal the victory 3:17 into overtime on the power play off feeds from Marchessault and Blujus. Marchessault's four-point performance was the first of his career.

Kristers Gudlevskis earned the win, stopping 21 of 24 Bridgeport shots. Motte took the loss, stopping 34 of 38 shots. The Crunch have a 4-2-1-0 record against the Sound Tigers with one meeting left.

Game 72: Falcons spoil Wilcox pro debut

T.J. Tynan scored twice and Scott Munroe stopped 28 of 29 shots to propel Springfield to a 3-1 win over Syracuse at the War Memorial Saturday. Adam Wilcox took the loss in his first professional start, stopping 27 shots.

The Crunch jumped out to a 1-0 lead 11:21 into the first period on a Dylan Blujus power-play goal, his third score of the season and first since Jan. 30 (22-game span). Ryan Martindale and Yanni Gourdeadded the assists.

The Falcons scored two goals within four minutes of each other to take a one-goal lead into the first intermission. Tynan tied the game at the 14:05 mark, and Josh Anderson gave Springfield the advantage at the 18:01 mark. Rick Pinkston had an assist on Tynan's goal, his first professional point in his fifth professional game.

Springfield scored the final goal of the game 12:05 into the second period. Tynan received a feed off a wrap-around by Sean Collins and fired it past Wilcox. Tynan's second goal of the game and 13th of the season also came on the power play. Sonny Milano had assists on Anderson's goal and Tynan's second goal; the two assist night was the first of the 18 year-old Milano's professional career.

Springfield takes the season series with 10 points (5-3-0-0) to Syracuse's eight (3-3-2-0) in the teams' first year as division rivals.

Game 73: Comets capture Galaxy Cup with comeback win vs. Crunch

A pair of power-play goals in the second period pushed Utica to a 2-1 over visiting Syracuse on Sunday afternoon. The Crunch and Comets each had three wins in the season series, but the Comets edged Syracuse in head-to-head points seven to six. Utica won last year's series with six points to Syracuse's five.

Syracuse opened the scoring 7:55 into the first period when Kevin Lynch scored right off a face-off in the Utica zone. The goal was Lynch's third of the season. The Grosse Point, Michigan native has two goals in the last four contests. Brayden Point had the lone helper for his first professional assist.

Utica tied the game 4:45 into the second period when Hunter Shinkaruk put a backhand shot past Kristers Gudlevskis on the power play. Cal O'Reilly and Bobby Sanguinetti assisted on the goal. The Comets took the lead 15:21 into the middle frame off a blast from Cory Conacher. The fourth-year pro's fifth goal since being traded to Utica on March 2nd had helpers from O'Reilly and Shinkaruk. The two-point outing was Shinkaruk's third of the year. O'Reilly has 16 multi-point games.

Jacob Markstrom earned the win for Utica, stopping 20 of 21 shots. The victory came in the lone start for Markstrom against the Crunch this season. Kristers Gudlevskis took the loss, stopping 24 of 26 shots; he finished 2-1-0 against the Comets this year with a 1.29 goals-against average.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Crunch at Albany- Wednesday, 7 p.m.

ESPN Radio 97.7 FM, Syracuse; 100.1 FM, Oswego

In the final week of the regular season, the Albany Devils face the Syracuse Crunch with playoff aspirations fading away. The Devils are 10th in the Eastern Conference and trail Portland by four points for the final spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

The chances of beating Syracuse have been slim this season for Albany, winning once in seven contests against the Crunch. Paul Thompson and Joe Whitney are tied with 53 points to lead the Devils offensively this season with inverse goal-assist totals. Thompson leads the team with 33 goals, while Whitney leads the Devils with 33 assists. Thompson leads the Devils against Syracuse with four points in seven games.

Scott Wedgewood has started all seven contests against Syracuse this season, losing six and being replaced by Maxime Clermont in the other. Clermont led the Devils back to win their only game against the Crunch this season, a 7-6 Albany victory on Feb. 27. Wedgewood has played in 36 games for the Devils, posting a 13-14-6 record with a 2.74 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. Scott Clemmensen has started 24 games with Albany this season, none against the Crunch, and boasts a 9-11-2 record with a 2.35 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.

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

ESPN Radio 97.7 FM, Syracuse; 100.1 FM, Oswego

The Adirondack Flames have held the upper-hand on the Crunch in their first this season, winning two of three contests, but face a tough road to make the playoffs in the Western Conference. The Flames are 12th in the conference and trail eighth-place Toronto by five points for the final spot.

While Adirondack handed Syracuse its worst loss of the season, 10-0, on Feb. 10, the Crunch won the most recent matchup with the Flames, 7-4, on March 13. Mark Cundari has posted six points against Syracuse this season, the most by any Flames player. Ken Agostino has five points vs. Syracuse and leads the Flames with 41 points (13g, 28a) overall.

Doug Carr has played between the pipes in the last seven games for the Flames but has split duty in three contests. In 13 games played this season, Carr has a 4-3-0 record with a 3.30 goals-against average and .900 save percentage. Joni Ortio started both of the wins against Syracuse for the Flames while Brad Thiessen started the March 13 loss. Thiessen and Ortio have evenly split time for Adirondack this season with Ortio posting the better numbers with 20 wins, a 2.64 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in 35 games, compared to Thiessen's 10 wins, 3.08 goals-against average and .903 save percentage in 33 games.

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

ESPN Radio 97.7 FM, Syracuse; 100.1 FM, Oswego

In the final game of the regular season for Syracuse, they face their most familiar opponent of the second half of the season, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Crunch and Sound Tigers have played all of the contests in their eight-game series over the past three months. Bridgeport has been eliminated from the playoffs and hold the second worst record in the Eastern Conference.

The Crunch have taken four of seven contests against the Sound Tigers and look to close out the season with a series win heading into the postseason. Kael Mouillerat has been the most productive skater against the Crunch, posting five points in seven games. Dustin Jeffrey leads the Sound Tigers in scoring with 62 points, 21 of which he's scored in 17 games since coming to Bridgeport after being traded from Vancouver to the New York Islanders at the NHL trade deadline. He's posted seven points in April, including two assists against the Crunch on April 10.

While C.J. Motte started in the April 10 overtime loss to Syracuse, the Sounds Tigers have started Stephon Williams and Kevin Poulin in their two most recent games. Williams won his first career start vs. Syracuse April 4. Poulin is 1-1-0 in two starts against the Crunch this season and has played in 44 games with the Sound Tigers this year. Poulin has served as the main starter all season as Motte, Williams and Kent Simpson have filled in since the Sound Tigers dealt David Leggio to Portland.

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