AHL Syracuse Crunch

Week Fifteen: Palmieri Back on Pace

Published on January 17, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Crunch right wing Kyle Palmieri had been struggling to re-gain his early-season offensive form recently, but got back on track this past weekend.

Palmieri appeared in all three games for the Crunch this past week and led the club in scoring with three points (1g, 2a) while showing a plus-1 rating. After being held off the score sheet in a 1-0 shootout loss to Hamilton on Friday, Palmieri picked up an assist by setting up Mark Mitera's first period goal in a 2-1 win over Rochester on Saturday. The assist broke a six-game pointless streak for Palmieri dating back to December 6, which was interrupted by the 19-year old rookie's participation with Team USA at the World Junior Championship from December 26 - January 5.

Palmieri broke out on Sunday despite a 5-2 loss to Adirondack, figuring in on both Crunch goals. His wrist shot helped set up the Crunch's first goal when the puck hit off the glove of Johan Backlund, nicked the post and fell into the crease where Nick Bonino crashed the net and stuffed it in on the doorstep to give the Crunch a 1-0 lead. He then scored his first goal in eight games when he found the puck after Mat Clark's shot sailed wide and banked it in off Backlund from behind the goal line to cut the Crunch deficit to 3-2.

A native of Smithtown, New York, Palmieri was recently selected to represent the Crunch at the 2011 AHL All-Star Classic, to be held on January 30 and 31 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Despite playing in only 25 of the Crunch's 41 games this year, Palmieri leads all active players in goals (10) and ranks third on the team in points (16).

BONINO BREAKING OUT: Similar to Palmieri, another important Crunch player that was recently struggling to re-gain his offensive form was fellow rookie forward Nick Bonino. Prior to picking up an assist in Saturday night's contest vs. Rochester, Bonino had been held without a point in three straight games since being reassigned by Anaheim on January 3.

Prior to being recalled by the Ducks on October 31 and consequently appearing in 26 games with the big club, Bonino was riding a six-game point streak, recording nine points (2g, 7a) from October 16 - 30. After failing to record a point on Friday in Hamilton, Bonino was one of the best players on the ice on Saturday, picking up an assist on Patrick Maroon's game-winner with 49 seconds left in regulation while notching seven shots on goal. In addition, Bonino scored one of the Crunch's two tallies in a 5-2 loss to Adirondack on Sunday, registering three shots on goal and a plus-1 rating.

A native of Hartford, Connecticut, Bonino has appeared in 13 games for the Crunch this season, totaling 11 points (3g, 8a) and 16 penalty minutes. He was acquired by Anaheim along with Timo Pielmeier from San Jose in exchange for Kent Huskins and Travis Moen on March 4, 2009.

UPCOMING GAMES:

NORFOLK ADMIRALS (TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING): The Crunch head south for a Tuesday, January 18 meeting against division-rival Norfolk. The Crunch boast a 2-0-0-0 record against the Admirals so far this year, taking a 3-1 decision on October 22 at The Oncenter War Memorial Arena and winning 4-3 in overtime on a goal from Josh Green at The Scope back on December 8. David Laliberte scored twice for the Crunch in that game and has four points (3g, 1a) in three games overall vs. Norfolk this season, including two games against the Admirals when Laliberte was with Adirondack. In addition, Nicolas Deschamps has three points (2g, 1a) in the season series, while J.P. Levasseur and Timo Pielmeier have combined to go 2-0-0 with a 1.95 goals against average and .953 save percentage against Norfolk this year. For the Admirals, Marc-Antoine Pouliot (3g, 0a) and Blair Jones (0g, 3a) lead the way in scoring for their club in the season series.

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS (PITTSBURGH PENGUINS): The Crunch will head up to Wilkes-Barre from Norfolk to take on the league-leading Penguins on Wednesday, January 19. In three meetings so far this season, the Crunch have beaten Wilkes-Barre/Scranton twice. Syracuse won at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by a 4-3 score on November 6 and defeated the Penguins at home by a 3-1 final on December 18. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took the most recent meeting between the two clubs by a 5-0 count on December 29. J.P. Levasseur has started all three games for the Crunch against the Penguins this year, going 2-1-0 with a 3.00 goals against average and .925 save percentage. For Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Nick Johnson (3g, 0a) and Tim Wallace (1g, 2a) have each tallied three points in the season series.

ROCHESTER AMERICANS (FLORIDA PANTHERS): The Crunch return home on Friday, January 21 to face Rochester for the sixth of 10 overall meetings and second of five contests against their long-standing rivals at The Oncenter War Memorial Arena. After dropping the first three games of the season series, the Crunch have stormed back to win the last two, with the most recent win coming this past Saturday, January 15 by 2-1 score. Former Amerk Nathan Paetsch has put up six points (4g, 2a) in five games against his old team this season, while Josh Green (2g, 2a) and Maxime Macenauer (2g, 2a) have each put up four points. In three appearances vs. Rochester this year, Timo Pielmeier is 2-0-0 with a 2.16 goals against average and .911 save percentage. Rochester's Chris Taylor leads his club and all players in the season series with seven points (1g, 6a), while Scott Timmins has recorded six points (4g, 2a) against the Crunch in 2010-11.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

CRUNCH TO HOST 'SINGLES NIGHT' THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 21: The Syracuse Crunch will host 'Singles Night', at their game this Friday, January 21 vs. Rochester. 'Singles Night', organized by the matchmaking service Lunch Appeal, will provide Crunch fans with an opportunity to meet and greet other single fans during a pre-game mingle that will include a cash bar. Tickets for 'Singles Night' are $18 and must be purchased by calling Lunch Appeal at (315) 453-5600 or emailing pam@lunchappeal.com by Wednesday, January 19.

CRUNCHABLES: With their loss to Adirondack on Sunday, the Crunch are now 0-4-0-0 against the Phantoms this season.The Crunch are 12-5-1-2 when scoring a power play goal and 3-16-0-2 when not scoring on the man-advantage.Josh Green is four games away from appearing in his 300th AHL game and two points shy of his 200th AHL point.With his shutout Friday, J.P. Levasseur moved into a tie for sixth place on the Crunch's all-time list (3).The Crunch debuted two (2) alternate jerseys at home games this past Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2011


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