Syracuse Crunch Weekly

October 30, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release

LAST WEEK

Fri., Oct. 26 - Crunch at Toronto - L, 4-1

Sat., Oct. 27 - Crunch vs. Charlotte - L, 6-3

THIS WEEK

Fri., Nov. 2 - Crunch vs. Belleville - 7 p.m.

Sat., Nov. 3 - Crunch vs. Belleville - 7 p.m.

CRUNCH'S SKID HITS THREE WITH TWO LOSSES IN WEEK 4

The Crunch dropped their two games in Week 4 as their losing streak hit three. Syracuse moved to 2-5-0-0 through its seven games and remained in eighth place in the North Division and 16th place in the Eastern Conference. The Crunch have still played the fewest games (7) in the conference and they have at least two games in hand on every team in the North Division.

Syracuse opened Week 4 in Toronto Friday night, dropping a 4-1 game to the Marlies. The Crunch traveled back home Saturday night to host the Charlotte Checkers; Syracuse lost 6-3 for their third-straight home loss to begin the season.

The Crunch continue their Friday-Saturday schedule early in the season with two home games against the Belleville Senators.

TOP PERFORMERS

Rookie forward Taylor Raddysh paced the Crunch in Week 4 with a pair of goals. The 20-year-old forward scored the Crunch's only goal Friday in Toronto, potting a loose puck near the crease on a centering pass from Mitchell Stephens. He followed that up with a power-play strike from the top of the crease for the Crunch's first goal Saturday against Charlotte.

The Caldeon, Ontario native's two goals last week give him three in seven games this season. The first-year-pro is tied for the team lead with Andy Andreoff. The 58th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft is coming off a prolific junior career in the Ontario Hockey League; he finished with 292 career points (120g, 172a) in 241 OHL games with the Erie Otters and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

***

Carter Verhaeghe logged his first multi-point performance of the season Saturday against the Checkers. The 23-year-old recorded assists on the Crunch's second and third goals to leave him with four points (1g, 3a) in seven games this season.

Last season, in his first year in the Tampa Bay organization, Verhaeghe finished second on the team with 48 points (17g, 31a) in 58 games played. He added eight points (1g, 7a) in seven Calder Cup Playoffs games during the Crunch's run to the North Division Finals.

STEPHENS, CERNAK JOIN LIST OF INJURED CRUNCH

The Crunch's injury list continues to grow, with forward Mitchell Stephens and defenseman Erik Cernak the latest players to suffer injuries. Through seven games, the Crunch have 46 games missed due to injury.

Stephens left Saturday's game early in the second period and did not return. Monday, General Manager Julien BriseBois announced that Stephens will miss around six weeks with an upper-body injury. He joins fellow forwards Kevin Lynch, Otto Somppi, Gabriel Dumont, Michael Bournival, Daniel Walcott and Olivier Archambault who are all out with injuries.

Cernak left midway through the second period Saturday and is considered "day-to-day" by head coach Ben Groulx. He has four points (1g, 3a) in seven games this season.

UPCOMING: BELLEVILLE

The Crunch host the Belleville Senators twice in Week 5, beginning Friday at the War Memorial Arena.

This weekend marks the first two of six head-to-head matches between the Crunch and Senators this season. Belleville's only other trip to Syracuse is Jan. 18. The Senators enter the week in fifth place in the North Division with eight points (4-5-0-0). They begin the week Wednesday in Laval before traveling to Syracuse for the weekend.

Rookie forward Drake Batherson leads the Senators in scoring with 11 points (3g, 8a) in nine games. He has recorded at least one point in six of the nine games this season and notched a four-point performance (2g, 2a) in only his third pro game Oct. 13 at Manitoba. Batherson finished last season as a teammate with current Crunch forward Alex Barré-Boulet for Blainville-Boisbriand.

Former Crunch goaltender Mike McKenna is in his second stint with the Senators organization. The journeyman netminder has appeared in six games this season and is 3-3-0 with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. McKenna joined the Crunch in the 2016-17 season and helped lead Syracuse to the Calder Cup Finals.

Last season, the Crunch posted a 6-0-1-1 record against Belleville. Alex Volkov was the most prolific scorer in the series with 10 points (4g, 6a) in eight games.

WEEK 4 RESULTS

Friday, October 26 | Game 6 at Toronto | L, 4-1

Syracuse 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 4-5-10-19 PP: 0/2

Toronto 2 1 1 - 4 Shots: 9-10-12-31 PP: 0/5

1st Period-Raddysh 2 (Stephens), 18:15. . . . Pasquale 1-2-0 (31 shots-27 saves). A-4,417

Saturday, October 27 | Game 7 vs. Charlotte | L, 6-3

Charlotte 2 2 2 - 6 Shots: 9-14-10-33 PP: 2/7

Syracuse 1 1 1 - 3 Shots: 11-8-8-27 PP: 2/7

1st Period-Raddysh 3 (Stephens, Volkov), 12:40 (PP). 2nd Period-Cernak 1 (Conacher, Verhaeghe), 0:29 (PP). 3rd Period-Colton 1 (Verhaeghe), 3:50. . . . Ingram 1-3-0 (32 shots-27 saves). A-4,627

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