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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly

November 24, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


NEED TO KNOW

- Syracuse was 1-1-1-0 in Week 7 and ranks fourth in the division and seventh in the conference at 8-5-1-1 (.600).

- Matt Taormina provided the overtime winning goal Saturday in St. John's, Syracuse's second OT win this year.

- Joel Vermin made his Lightning debut Thursday and notched his first NHL point Saturday with an assist vs. Anaheim.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Game 13: Crunch homestand capped by loss to Portland

Philippe Paradis scored his third goal of the season in the third period, assisted by Tanner Richard and Yanni Gourde, but the Pirates added an empty net goal for a 4-1 win Wednesday at the War Memorial to give Syracuse a 4-2-0-0 homestand.

Kristers Gudlevskis suffered the loss with 21 saves on 24 shots while Mike McKenna stopped 20 of Syracuse's 21 shots, the team's season low. Fulton, New York native Rob Schremp scored for Portland.

Game 14: IceCaps survive Crunch barrage in OT win

Syracuse battled back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2, but fell to the IceCaps, 4-3 in overtime, Friday in St. John's. Sven Andrighetto scored two for the home team, including the game-winner, while netminder Eddie Pasquale stopped 44 of 47 shots, the largest Crunch shot total of the Syracuse-Tampa Bay era.

Henri Ikonen and Tye McGinn provided the offense for the first Syracuse comeback, andYanni Gourde provided the power-play goal at 16:33 of the third to force overtime. David Broll, Slater Koekkoek, Daniel Walcott, Dylan Blujus and Anthony DeAngelo all registered assists. Adam Wilcox (2-2-2, 2.94) made 24 stops in defeat.

Ikonen's goal and Broll's assist were their firsts of the season; Walcott's assist was the first point of his pro career.

Game 15: Syracuse sinks St. John's in overtime

Matt Taormina scored 3:03 into overtime, his third goal of the season, for a 2-1 Crunch win Saturday in St. John's. Kristers Gudlevskis (4-2-0, 2.16) made 29 saves opposite Zachary Fucale's 32 stops. Jeff Tambellini scored Syracuse's first goal, his fifth of the season, five minutes into the second, erasing Gabriel Dumont's marker a minute earlier. Matthew Pecaand Slater Koekkoek assisted on the first Crunch score, and Tye McGinn and Cam Darcy helped set up the overtime goal. Darcy's point was the first of his career. Both sides were 0-for-2 on the power play, combining for eight penalty minutes, a Crunch season low. Syracuse has two wins in its four overtime games.

Overtime

Matt Taormina's overtime winner Saturday is the seventh game-winner of his career and first with Syracuse. Three of his game-winners have come in overtime, including both last year-one vs. St. John's March 28. His first career goal was the game-winner in his AHL debut March 10 , 2009, with Binghamton at Portland.

Jeff Tambellini scored Syracuse's only other overtime goal this season, Nov. 13 vs. Binghamton. Six overtime goals for last year's Crunch came from six players: Jonathan Marchessault, Yanni Gourde, Vladislav Namestnikov, Ryan Martindale, Slater Koekkoekand Nikita Nesterov. In 2013-14, Brett Connolly, Jon DiSalvatore and Richard Panik scored the team's three overtime goals. During the 2012-13 regular season, Connolly, Panik and Mark Barberio scored OT markers. Panik and Ondrej Palat had one overtime goal each in the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs.

WEEK AHEAD

Game 16: Wed., Nov. 25 - Crunch at Rochester - 7:05 p.m.

The Crunch visit the Amerks Wednesday for the teams' second of 10 matchups. Rochester captured a shootout win over Syracuse Oct. 25, 4-3. The Amerks have one win in their last six games (Nov. 20 vs. Bridgeport in overtime, 3-2) and own a fifth-place record of 7-9-1-0 (.441), 12th in the Eastern Conference.

Phil Varone tops the Rochester leaderboard with 11 points and seven goals. He and two other Amerks, Jason Akeson and Colby Robak, are minus-12, tied for the fifth-worst mark in the AHL out of 899 players. Captain Cal O'Reilly leads the team in assists, six, including two vs. Syracuse. He totaled 51 for Utica last year, second most in the AHL.

Andrey Makarov (2-4-1, 3.37), who earned the shootout win vs. Syracuse, earned his only other win Nov. 20 vs. Bridgeport with 23 saves on 25 shots. Nathan Lieuwen (4-3-0, 3.72), who has allowed seven goals in a game twice this year, vs. Toronto and at Lehigh Valley, suffered losses in his last two starts Nov. 13 and Nov. 15.

Game 17: Fri., Nov. 27 - Crunch vs. Toronto - 7 p.m.

The Marlies visit Syracuse Friday for the first time since April 12, 2014, a 6-3 drubbing by the Crunch. Toronto leads the North Division at 14-3-1-0 and ranks second in the Eastern Conference (.806). The team suffered one of its regulation losses Oct. 28 vs. Syracuse, 3-1. The Marlies are 9-0-1-0 in their last ten, tied for the second-longest point streak in the AHL this season. Their 74 goals are the AHL's most and their 4.11 goals per game rank second.

William Nylander leads the Marlies and the AHL with 23 points (10g, 13a) while rookie Justin Holl owns the league's second-best plus-minus at plus-12. Former Crunch forward Richard Panik also ranks among AHL leaders with 16 points (4g, 12a). T.J. Brennan is the conference's top-scoring defenseman at 15 points (7g, 8a).

Garret Sparks (8-2-1, 1.90) owns the Eastern Conference's top goals-against average and save percentage (.938) with two shutouts. Antoine Bibeau (6-1-0, 3.26) suffered his only loss vs. Syracuse with 26 saves on 29 shots.

Game 18: Sun., Nov. 29 - Crunch at Bridgeport - 5 p.m.

The Crunch and Sound Tigers clash for the first of two meetings this season Sunday in Bridgeport. The former division foes meet at the War Memorial Arena March 11. Each side was 4-3-1-0 versus the other in 2014-15. This season's Bridgeport team holds the Atlantic Division's second spot-third in the Eastern Conference-at 13-5-1-0 (.711) having won five of their last seven (5-1-1-0). They were shut out for the first time Sunday by Springfield.

Former Devils forward Joe Whitney leads the Sound Tigers with 20 points (5g, 15a) while former Sharks winger Bracken Kearns has the most goals (10g, 8a). They rank second and fourth in AHL scoring, respectively.

Former Marlies netminder Chris Gibson (7-3-1, 2.12) has appeared in 13 of Bridgeport's 19 games, and has taken five of the last six decisions (3-1-1) with two shutout wins. Rookie Stephon Williams (6-2-0, 2.48) has won three straight (four goals against) including a shutout. He won two starts vs. Syracuse last April.

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

Wed., Nov. 18 - Crunch vs. Portland - L, 4-1

Fri., Nov. 20 - Crunch at St. John's - OTL, 4-3

Sat., Nov. 21 - Crunch at St. John's - W, 2-1 OT

THIS WEEK

Wed., Nov. 25 - Crunch at Rochester - 7:05 p.m.

Fri., Nov. 27 - Crunch vs. Toronto - 7 p.m.

Sun., Nov. 29 - Crunch at Bridgeport - 5 p.m.

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