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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly

October 27, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


NEED TO KNOW

- The Crunch salvaged one point in its three-in-three weekend with a shootout loss Sunday in Rochester.

- Saturday Kristers Gudlevskis played his first NHL game since April 11, 2014, a 1-0 overtime loss.

- Syracuse has a division matchup with the Marlies Wednesday in Toronto before hosting Hershey Friday.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Game 4: Wolf Pack survive late push from Crunch, 4-3

The Crunch scored their first two power-play goals of the season, but the Hartford Wolf Pack held off a Syracuse comeback for a 4-3 win Friday at the War Memorial. The teams traded goals early in the first, including Jonathan Marchessault's team-leading third score. Rookie Adam Tambellini potted the next two goals for the Pack and Chad Nehring made it 4-1 with an empty-net goal in the third. Dylan Blujus and Matthew Peca scored in the final moments to pull Syracuse within one. Adam Wilcox took the loss with 30 saves while Magnus Hellberg stopped 33 shots in the win. Adam Erne was injured in the game and is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Game 5: Comets blank Crunch, 4-0, in first of 10 meetings

Joe Cannata posted his first career AHL shutout Saturday in Utica as the Comets beat the Crunch, 4-0. Brendan Gaunce, Blair Jones, Linden Vey and Hunter Shinkaruk provided the Utica offense, potting two in the first, one in the second and one early in the third. Jordan Subban had two assists. Allen York suffered the loss for Syracuse, stopping 22 shots in his first AHL game of the season; he was called up from ECHL-Greenville Friday.

The Crunch and Comets combined for 70 penalty minutes in the game, including 41 for Syracuse. Jake Dotchin, Philippe Paradis and Alex Friesen each took 10-minute misconducts in the game's final seconds. Yanni Gourde fought Wacey Hamilton earlier in the game.

Game 6: Syracuse comebacks not enough in Rochester

Sunday in Rochester, Syracuse suffered its first shootout loss since April 16, 2014. The Amerks had leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 in regulation but needed a shootout to defeat the Crunch, 4-3. Despite gaining one standings point, the Crunch slipped below Rochester in the North Division to sixth (.417).

Yanni Gourde, Mike Blunden and Anthony DeAngelo scored the Syracuse goals. Gourde's was his first of the year and DeAngelo's was the first of his professional career. Blunden and DeAngelo are tied with Jonathan Marchessault and Jeff Tambellini for the Syracuse scoring lead at four points each.

Slater Koekkoek and Luke Witkowski earned their first points of the year with assists on Gourde's goal. Marchessault and Tambellini had helpers on Blunden's score. Mike Angelidis and Henri Ikonen set up DeAngelo's game-tying marker in the third. Adam Wilcox made a career high 37 saves in the loss.

Shuffling Goalies

Kristers Gudlevskis was promoted to Tampa Bay Friday and started Saturday in Chicago, his first NHL start since his Lightning debut April 11, 2014, a 3-2 win vs. Columbus. Saturday against the Blackhawks, Gudlevskis suffered an overtime loss, 1-0, with 31 saves. With Gudlevskis in the NHL, Allen York was promoted from ECHL Greenville. The RPI alumnus backed up Adam Wilcox Friday and started Saturday's loss at Utica.

Kevin Poulin, who has served as Ben Bishop's backup with Tampa Bay, cleared waivers Sunday and was assigned to the Crunch. York was reassigned to Greenville Tuesday, leaving Wilcox and Poulin as Syracuse's active goalies.

WEEK AHEAD

Game 7: Wed., Oct. 28 - Crunch at Toronto - 7 p.m.

Syracuse and Toronto meet Wednesday at Ricoh Coliseum, the first of eight matchups for the new North Division foes. The teams did not meet last season, but the Crunch took both meetings in 2013-14 by a margin of 6-3 each time. The Marlies have five wins in their first seven games, a .714 points percentage for fifth in the Eastern Conference. They finished last season seventh in the Western Conference and lost a first-round series to the Grand Rapids Griffins in five games. The Marlies new head coach is former Lightning winger Sheldon Keefe.

Connor Brown, the AHL's top-scoring rookie last year (21g, 40a), has four assists in six games this year. T.J. Brennan ranks in the league's top-10 scoring defensemen with a goal and four assists. The Marlies leading scorer is William Nylander, a 19-year-old center from Sweden, who has three goals and three assists. The eighth overall pick in 2014 collected 32 points (14g, 18a) in 37 Marlies games last year.

Goaltender Antoine Bibeau, who was 15-10-5 as a rookie last year, has a 1.97 goals-against average in four games-all wins. Garrett Sparks, a fourth-year pro who's mostly played in the ECHL, is 1-2-0 with a 3.27 goals-against average.

Game 8: Fri., Oct. 30 - Crunch vs. Hershey - 7 p.m.

Hershey, the winner of the East Division last year, has started its 80th season 3-2-0-1, fifth in the Atlantic Division. Its Eastern Conference playoff run last year was ended in the second round by Hartford in six games.

The Washington Capitals affiliate is led by Chris Bourque (2g, 4a) who won three Calder Cups with Hershey earlier in his 11-year career. The next three scoring leaders are rookies: Jakub Vrana (2g, 4a), Riley Barber (3g, 2a) and Travis Boyd (1g, 3a).

Veterans Justin Peters (1-1-1) and Dan Ellis (2-1-0) have split Hershey's first six games in goal. Peters was 3-6-1 with the Caps last year and 1-1-0 with the Bears; he was teammates with Mike Angelidis in Albany during the Carolina Hurricanes affiliation. Ellis, Tampa Bay's goalie during the 2010-11 season, was with the Florida Panthers organization last year (4-3-1), mostly in San Antonio (22-12-3).

Syracuse Crunch single game and season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch Box Office located in the War Memorial on 800 South State Street in Syracuse or by calling the office at 315-473-4444. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@officialsyracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch and #BelieveInBlue.

LAST WEEK

Fri., Oct. 23 - Crunch vs. Hartford - L, 4-3

Sat., Oct. 24 - Crunch at Utica - L, 4-0

Sun., Oct. 25 - Crunch at Rochester - SOL, 4-3

THIS WEEK

Wed., Oct. 28 - Crunch at Toronto - 7 p.m.

Fri., Oct. 30 - Crunch vs. Hershey - 7 p.m.

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