AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly

Published on March 22, 2016 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


WEEK IN REVIEW

Game 63: Sens snatch victory from Crunch in OT, 4-3

Jeff Tambellini, Matt Taormina and Jonathan Drouin goals lifted the Crunch from a 2-0 hole to a 3-2 advantage Friday in Binghamton but the Sens won in OT, 4-3. Syracuse finishes the season series at 7-1-2-0 vs. Binghamton.

Kyle Flanagan, nephew of Syracuse University women's ice hockey head coach Paul Flanagan, potted the game-winner on a one-on-none breakaway and assisted on the tying score.

After falling behind 2-0 in the second, Tambellini scored unassisted late in the frame during 4-on-4 play. In the third, Taormina's five-on-five goal (his career-high 12th of the year) tied the score with Blujus assisting. Drouin scored at 10:19, his second power-play score, with a left-circle laser, set up by Taormina and Matthew Peca.

Syracuse outshot Binghamton 17-1 in the third but Matt O'Connor finished with 34 saves.Adam Wilcox (9-10-6) took the overtime loss with 20 saves, allowing the tying goal and winning goal on the last two shots he saw.

Game 64: Syracuse holds on vs. St. John's, 3-2

Syracuse erased a 1-0 deficit and held on for a 3-2 victory Friday against St. John's at the War Memorial. No. 1 star Jeff Tambellini recorded his third game-winning goal in a two-point effort (1g, 1a).

Ryan Martindale scored the first two goals for Syracuse and assisted on the game-winner as Syracuse scored three straight. Matt Taormina, Henri Ikonen, Anthony DeAngelo andYanni Gourde registered single assists. The IceCaps closed the margin to one goal, but could not even the score. Gabriel Dumont and Brandon McNally scored St. John's goals.David Broll had his ninth fight, dropping the mitts with Shane Bakker in the first.

Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 21 of 23 in his 10th win, his first victory since Feb. 19 vs. Utica (four appearances ago). Eddie Pasquale faced 39 shots and stopped 36 in his second straight loss.

Game 65: Crunch pound IceCaps, 6-2

Yanni Gourde and Jonathan Drouin scored two goals each as the Crunch punctuated the eight-game season series vs. St. John's with a 6-2 victory. Sunday's win marks Syracuse's fourth 4-goal victory, third 4-goal period and second 6-goal total. Three power-play goals equals a season high.

Syracuse trailed 1-0 before scoring five straight. Three players had three points: Gourde (2g, 1a), Tanner Richard (1g, 2a) and Anthony DeAngelo (3a). Richard had his third game-winning goal, 15th multi-point effort and second career Gordie Howe hat trick. Richard's 48 points lead Syracuse; his 38 assists rank fifth in the AHL.

Jeff Tambellini scored his team-leading 24th goal with his 10th multi-point performance (1g, 1a). He has seven points (5g, 2a) in the last four games (the AHL's longest active goal streak) for 42 points in 54 games. Tye McGinn became the fourth Crunch player to reach 40 points with his 21st assist. Other assists went to Dylan Blujus, Slater Koekkoek and Joel Vermin. Three fights included Richard, Jake Dotchin and Phil Paradis.

Kristers Gudlevskis (11-10-6, 2.99) won his second game in as many nights with 22 saves. Charles Hudon scored both goals for the IceCaps who win the season series with Syracuse at 5-2-1-0.

WEEK AHEAD

Game 66: Wed., March 23 at Utica, 7 p.m.

The third-place Comets (31-22-6-4) have four more victories than Syracuse (27-25-10-3) and two games in hand. Utica has one win in its last six games (1-3-1-1) and lost its last match, Sunday vs. Binghamton, in a shootout, 3-2.

Utica's top three scorers-Hunter Shinkaruk (21g, 18a), Alexandre Grenier (12g, 24a) and Brendan Gaunce (15g, 18a)-are no longer on the Comets roster. Shinkaruk was traded by Vancouver to Calgary; Grenier and Gaunce are with the Canucks. Defenseman Andrey Pedan and NHL veteran Chris Higgins were recalled by Vancouver.

Rookie defenseman Jordan Subban is the most productive player left on the Comets roster. He has 33 points (10g, 23a) in 55 games, but only four points this month (1g, 3a). Five of Alex Friesen's 24 points are vs. Syracuse.

Joe Cannata (17-10-5, 2.48) has two shutouts (one vs. Syracuse) and ranks 14th in goals-against average. Richard Bachman (13-11-4) has one shutout. Both goalies are 2-1-0 vs. Syracuse, but Cannata's goals-against average is 1.01.

Game 67: Fri., March 25 vs. Albany, 7 p.m. (TV)

The Devils, 4-0 vs. Syracuse, are second in the division and conference, and third in the AHL. Only Toronto has more wins. Despite losing its last contest, 4-2 Sunday at Bridgeport, Albany has won five of seven (5-1-0-1).

The club's top scorer Mike Sislo-first in power-play goals (14), second in goals (27) and eighth in points (52)-was recalled by New Jersey March 8. Matt Lorito has 50 points (15g, 35a), two shy of the rookie scoring lead.

There's a 19-point falloff to the third leading scorer, Jim O'Brien at 31 points (15g, 16a). Paul Thompson has 28 (12g, 16a).

Yann Danis (25-9-5) has 40 appearances and six shutouts, second in the AHL, and a 2.28 goals-against average, fourth in the league and second in the conference. His current backup is rookie Ken Appleby (3-3-1, 2.71).

Game 68: Sat., March 26 vs. Rochester, 7 p.m.

Two points behind Syracuse but with two games in hand, Rochester owns fourth in the North Division (.516 vs. .515). The Amerks have won six of eight versus the Crunch, including the last three at the War Memorial. Rochester had won five of six until losing its last two, Saturday in Binghamton, 5-1, and Sunday vs. Providence, 4-1.

The team's top three scorers started this year with other North Division teams: Cole Schneider (19g, 31a) and Eric O'Dell (22g, 21a) with Binghamton, and Justin Bailey (16g, 20a) with Toronto.

Linus Ullmark (10-10-0, 3.03) has lost his last two starts, but is 4-0 vs. Syracuse despite 15 goals against. Andrey Makarov (6-7-2, 3.09), who hasn't appeared in a game since January, has been the backup since Thursday when Nathan Lieuwen (14-10-1, 2.86) was recalled by Buffalo.

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 at 800 South State Street in Syracuse or by calling the office at 315-473-4444. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.comor follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@officialsyracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch and #BelieveInBlue.

SLAST WEEK

Fri., March 18 - Crunch at Binghamton - OTL, 4-3

Sat., March 19 - Crunch vs. St. John's - W, 3-2

Sun., March 20 - Crunch vs. St. John's - W, 6-2

THIS WEEK

Wed., March 23 - Crunch at Utica - 7 p.m.

Fri., March 25 - Crunch vs. Albany - 7 p.m. (TV)

Sat., March 26 - Crunch vs. Rochester - 7 p.m.

NEED TO KNOW

- Syracuse holds a 27-25-10-3 record (.515), fifth in the North Division, four wins behind Utica for a playoff spot.

- Jeff Tambellini has the AHL's longest active goals streak with five goals and seven points in his last four games.

- Syracuse plays three division foes this week (Utica, Albany and Rochester), with 11 regular season games remaining.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from March 22, 2016


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