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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly

April 2, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


LAST WEEK

Wed., March 27 - Crunch at Belleville - SOL, 2-1 Fri., March 29 - Crunch vs. Providence - L, 3-2 Sat., March 30 - Crunch vs. Utica - W, 6-2

THIS WEEK

Wed., April 3 - Crunch at Belleville - 7 p.m. Fri., April 5 - Crunch at Rochester - 7:05 p.m. Sat., April 6 - Crunch vs. Rochester - 7 p.m.

CRUNCH WIN 900TH GAME IN FRANCHISE HISTORY

The Crunch celebrated their 1994-95 inaugural season by winning their 900th game in franchise history to close out Week 26. In three games, the Crunch collected three points (1-1-0-1) to maintain their hold on first place in the North Division with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The Crunch have 93 points, putting them one point ahead of the Rochester Americans with a home-and-home series looming between the clubs this weekend.

Syracuse opened the week in Belleville against the Senators, where the Senators squeezed past the Crunch, 2-1, in a shootout; the two teams rematch in Belleville this Wednesday. The Crunch returned home Friday and suffered a 3-2 loss to the Providence Bruins. Syracuse ended the week with a 6-2 win against Utica; Syracuse has won its last four home games against the Comets by a combined score of 30-5; the win also clinched the Galaxy Cup for the third straight season.

TOP PERFORMERS

Forward Carter Verhaeghe posted his second four-point game of the season Saturday night, recording a goal and three assists against the Comets. The goal was his 30th of the season, giving the Crunch two 30-goal scorers (Alex Barré-Boulet, 32). The Crunch are the first team in the AHL with a pair of 30-goal scorers in a single season since 2013-14, when both Texas and Binghamton had two 30-goal producers.

Verhaeghe's 75 points (30g, 45a) are tied for the AHL lead with Toronto's Jeremy Bracco. No Crunch player has ever led the AHL in scoring during the regular season.

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Goaltender Atte Tolvanen earned his first career AHL victory in Saturday's win over the Comets. The 24-year-old Fin turned aside 23-of-25 shots in his second professional start to claim the win. Tolvanen made his professional debut for the Crunch March 24 at Bridgeport.

Tolvanen joined the Crunch on an amateur try-out March 23 following the conclusion of his collegiate career at Northern Michigan. The Vihti, Finland native posted a 62-58-13 record for Wildcats from 2015 to 2019. He was named WCHA Goaltender of the Year this season and was also named a nominee for the 2019 Hobey Baker Award after posting a 21-16-2 record.

TEAM NEWS

The Crunch's win over the Comets Saturday night was their 900th in franchise history. They are the eighth franchise in AHL history to accomplish 900 franchise wins. It was also the team's 43rd win of the season, which is tied for the fourth-most in a single season in franchise history; it is tied for the second-most in a 76-game season.

The Crunch have won 274 games since affiliating with the Lightning prior to the 2012-13 season. They are 274-174-45-33 in 526 games as the Lightning's top affiliate, good for a 0.595 points percentage.

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Syracuse's win over the Comets was also a milestone for Crunch head coach Ben Groulx, who earned his 200th AHL victory in his fifth year as a head coach in the league. It was his 127th win with the Crunch (127-66-14-15) since he took over as Crunch head coach prior to the 2016-17 season. Groulx coached the Rochester Americans from 2008 to 2010.

UPCOMING: BELLEVILLE, ROCHESTER

The Crunch open the final month of the regular season with three games in four days. Syracuse travels to Belleville for a Wednesday match against the Senators for the second week in a row. This past Wednesday, Belleville topped the Crunch, 2-1 in a shootout, for the Sens second straight win in the series; both wins have been at CAA Arena. The Senators enter the week with a one point lead over the Cleveland Monsters for the final playoff spot in the North Division, but the Monsters have one game in hand on the Senators.

The North Division showdown comes in a home-and-home series against the Rochester Americans Friday and Saturday night. The Crunch visit the Amerks Friday before hosting them on Saturday as the teams enter the week separated by one point for the top spot in the division. The teams play three times over the final two weeks of the season; the Amerks have won five of the first nine in the series. In their most recent meeting, the Crunch won, 4-1, at Blue Cross Arena March 3.

WEEK 26 RESULTS

Wednesday, March 27 | Game 68 at Belleville | SOL, 2-1 Syracuse 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 Shots: 7-8-6-0-0-21 PP: 0/3 Belleville 0 0 1 0 1 - 2 Shots: 10-6-6-3-1-26 PP: 0/7 2nd Period-Conacher 22 (Andreoff, Yan), 13:39. Shootout-Belleville 2 (Brown G, Batherson NG, Tambellini G) Syracuse 1 (Conacher G, Volkov NG, Valleau NG). . . . Pasquale 25-11-6 (25 shots-24 saves). A-2,578

Friday, March 29 | Game 69 vs. Providence | L, 3-2 Providence 0 1 2 - 3 Shots: 14-9-10-33 PP: 1/6 Syracuse 0 0 2 - 2 Shots: 3-6-11-20 PP: 0/3 3rd Period-Katchouk 10 (Dumont), 5:09. Dumont 12 (Verhaeghe, Andreoff), 15:03. . . . Pasquale 25-12-6 (33 shots-30 saves). A-6,129

Saturday, March 30 | Game 70 vs. Utica | W, 6-2 Utica 1 0 1 - 2 Shots: 6-13-6-25 PP: 1/8 Syracuse 3 2 1 - 6 Shots: 18-8-10-36 PP: 3/6 1st Period-Verhaeghe 30 (Foote, Masin), 6:03. Dumont 13 (Raddysh), 6:24 (PP). Volkov 19 (Verhaeghe, Yan), 16:21 (PP). 2nd Period-Volkov 20 (Verhaeghe, Foote), 17:04 (PP). Colton 14 (Verhaeghe, Raddysh), 17:49. 3rd Period-Raddysh 17 (Brassart), 19:50. . . . Tolvanen 1-1-0 (25 shots-23 saves). A-6,223

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 21.2% (62-for-293) 6th (T-5th)

Penalty Kill 84.7% (288-for-340) 4th (5th)

Goals For 3.47 GFA (243) 4th (4th)

Goals Against 2.47 GAA (173) 1st (1st)

Shots For 28.19 SF/G (1973) 25th (23rd)

Shots Against 28.59 SA/G (2001) 11th (11th)

Penalty Minutes 13.89 PIM/G (972) 7th (8th)

Category Leader

Points 75 Verhaeghe

Goals 32 Barré-Boulet

Assists 45 Verhaeghe

PIM 136 Andreoff

Plus/Minus +32 Masin

Wins 25 Pasquale

GAA 2.37 Pasquale

Save % 0.916 Pasquale

Single game tickets and packages for the 2018-19 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch.

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