Syracuse Crunch Weekly Release
Presented by Penske Truck Rental
LAST WEEK
Sat., Oct. 26 – Crunch vs. Rochester – OTL, 7-6
Sun., Oct. 27 – Crunch vs. Toronto – W, 4-3 (OT)
THIS WEEK
Fri., Nov. 1 – Crunch vs. Bridgeport – 7 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 2 – Crunch vs. Binghamton – 7 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 3 – Crunch at Hershey – 5 p.m.
CRUNCH END OCTOBER WITH WIN
The Crunch played a pair of overtime games in Week 4, capturing one win and one loss on home ice. Through October, the Crunch have collected points in five of their seven games (3-2-2-0), an improvement over their previous two October records of 3-5-0-1 and 2-5-0-0. Although the Crunch finished the month with a 0.571 points percentage, October remains the only month in team history with a below 0.500 points percentage all-time (0.496).
Syracuse opened the week with its third consecutive loss, losing a 7-6 overtime game at home against the Rochester Americans. It was the highest scoring game for the Crunch since Game 2 of the 2017 North Division Finals against Toronto, an 8-5 win for the Crunch. The group recovered on Sunday with a 4-3 overtime win over the Marlies to earn their first home win of the season.
Week 5 presents the Crunch their first of five three-in-three weekends; they finish a five-game homestand with two home games to begin the weekend before heading to Hershey Sunday evening.
TOP PERFORMERS
Gemel Smith paced the Crunch in scoring during Week 4, compiling five points (3g, 2a) in two games. He was one of eight AHL players to register five points last week, but only he and AHL Player of the Week Nathan Walker (San Antonio) did so in fewer than three games.
Smith’s week began with a three-point outing (2g, 1a), his sixth career game with three points and his first since Jan. 26, 2019. It included his first two goals of the season and marked his second multi-point game of the year. The next night, Smith recorded another multi-point game while scoring his second career overtime game-winning goal (Feb. 2, 2019 vs. Charlotte). The Toronto native leads the Crunch in scoring with seven points (3g, 4a) in six games.
Third-year forward Alexander Volkov collected his first points of the season in Week 4. He logged one assist in Saturday’s game against Rochester and another two Sunday versus Toronto for three points in two games.
After missing the start of the season with an injury, Volkov has three points in three games this year, giving him 50 career assists in the AHL. The Russian winger is four points shy of 100 in his AHL career; he stands at 96 points (46g, 50a) in 152 AHL games.
WORKING OVERTIME
The Crunch played back-to-back overtime games over the weekend, giving them three overtime games played in October. It’s the first time since 2012-13 that Syracuse participated in three overtime games in October.
This weekend’s back-to-back overtime affairs became the third instance of consecutive overtime Crunch games in the last two seasons. Last season, the Crunch played back-to-back overtime games Dec. 21-22 and Feb. 22-23; the latter was a two-game split with the Marlies.
UPCOMING: BRIDGEPORT, BINGHAMTON, HERSHEY
The Crunch prepare for their first three-in-three of the season in Week 5.
First up is a match with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who currently reside in the cellar of the Atlantic Division with just one win in their first nine games (1-5-2-1). They enter the week without a win in their last six games (0-4-1-1) and their five points are the fewest in the Eastern Conference. The Crunch and Sound Tigers square off four times this season with Bridgeport making a return visit to Syracuse Dec. 7.
The Crunch end their five-game homestand with the first of 10 meetings this season against the Binghamton Devils. The teams enter Week 5 tied with eight points apiece, but Binghamton (3-4-2-0) has played two more games than the Crunch. Over the last two seasons the Crunch are 16-3-0-1 head-to-head against the Devils.
The three-in-three concludes in Hershey with the first of two meetings against the Bears. The Bears are 4-3-1-1 through their first nine games and are currently in fourth in the Atlantic Division with 10 points. The teams will conclude their series in Syracuse March 27. Prior to facing the Crunch, Hershey plays in Springfield Friday and hosts Providence Saturday.
WEEK 4 RESULTS
Saturday, Oct. 26 | Game 6 vs. Rochester | OTL, 7-6
Rochester 1 2 3 1 – 7 Shots: 5-7-15-1-28 PP: 2/5
Syracuse 1 3 2 0 – 6 Shots: 8-6-7-3-24 PP: 2/3
1st Period-Smith 1 (Foote, Wedgewood), 6:33 (PP). 2nd Period-Katchouk 1 (Colton, Schenn), 4:51. Thomas 1 (Volkov, Smith), 13:20. Conacher 3 (Gaunce, Schenn), 14:25. 3rd Period-Barré-Boulet 4 (Gaunce, Mueller), 6:11 (PP). Smith 2 (Valleau), 7:28. . . . Wedgewood 1-1-1 (28 shots-21 saves). A-5,428
Sunday, Oct. 27 | Game 7 vs. Toronto | W, 4-3 (OT)
Toronto 1 0 2 0 – 3 Shots: 7-5-5-1-18 PP: 0/2
Syracuse 0 3 0 1 – 4 Shots: 13-14-7-1-35 PP: 1/7
2nd Period-Foote 1 (Somppi), 7:47. Colton 1 (Stephens, Katchouk), 16:28. Raddysh 1 (Smith, Volkov), 18:38 (PP). Overtime-Smith 3 (Schenn, Volkov), 0:39. . . . Domingue 2-1-1 (18 shots-15 saves). A-4,688
Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play 23.5% (8-for-34) 5th (T-10th)
Penalty Kill 86.7% (26-for-30) T-8th (5th)
Goals For 3.57 GFA (25) T-5th (13th)
Goals Against 4.29 GAA (30) 30th (29th)
Shots For 28.71 SF/G (201) 22nd (23rd)
Shots Against 30.29 SA/G (166) 23rd (23rd)
Penalty Minutes 10.86 PIM/G (76) 25th (21st)
Category Leader
Points 7 Smith
Goals 4 Barré-Boulet
Assists 6 Schenn
PIM 8 Valleau
Plus/Minus +3 Yan
Wins 2 Domingue
GAA 3.81 Domingue
Save % 0.863 Domingue
