LAST WEEK
Fri., Dec. 27 – Crunch vs. Binghamton – SOL, 2-1
Sat., Dec. 28 – Crunch at Belleville – L, 8-2
THIS WEEK
Tue., Dec. 30 – Crunch at Binghamton – 6:05 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 3 – Crunch vs. Toronto – 7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 4 – Crunch at Laval – 7 p.m.
CRUNCH STUMBLE OUT OF HOLIDAY BREAK
The Crunch went winless in a pair of post-holiday break games in Week 13.
They came out of the break with a home match against the Binghamton Devils, dropping a 2-1 game in a shootout. The teams were scoreless after two periods before they traded goals in the third, bringing the game into overtime and giving the Crunch a valuable standings point. The next night in Belleville, the Crunch fell behind 6-0 before losing, 8-2, for their second loss to the Senators in just over a week.
The Crunch aim to get back on track with their final game of 2019, plus their first two matches of the new year, in Week 14.
TOP PERFORMERS
Defenseman Cal Foote logged his second multi-point game of the season in the Crunch’s loss against Belleville Saturday night. He scored the Crunch’s first goal with a power-play blast-his second man-up goal this season. Just over a minute after his goal, Foote collected an assist when his shot was deflected in by Danick Martel.
The second-year-pro has notched 15 points (3g, 12a) in 32 games to rank second on the team in scoring among defensemen.
Danick Martel snapped a 10-game goal drought with a tally in Saturday’s match against the Senators. The goal gave him two points over the two-game weekend after he collected an assist on Alex Barré-Boulet’s marker Friday night. Martel ranks second on the team with 11 goals, and he has 17 points in 30 games.
2,000 GAMES
The Crunch became the eighth AHL franchise to reach 2,000 regular-season games when they hit the ice Saturday in Belleville. They were the first team to hit the milestone since the Providence Bruins in December 2017. The Crunch rank fourth among active franchises in games played behind Hershey, Rochester and Providence.
Through 2,000 games, the Crunch maintain an all-time record of 920-797-116-71 with 96 ties. They reached 900 wins March 30, 2019 against the Utica Comets, and the Crunch also rank eighth all-time in the American Hockey League in wins.
END OF A DECADE
Tuesday’s game in Binghamton will mark the end of the most successful decade in franchise history. The decade saw the Crunch usher in their affiliation with the Tampa Bay Lightning prior to the 2012-13 season. That sparked a pair of runs to the Calder Cup Finals in 2013 and 2017-their first two in franchise history.
To date, the Crunch have posted a 389-275-56-45 record in the 2010’s, good for a 0.575 points percentage. In the 2000’s, Syracuse was 370-310-48-26 (with 46 ties), giving the Crunch a 0.538 points percentage. In the 90’s, the Crunch were 161-212-12-0 (with 50 ties) for a 0.441 points percentage.
UPCOMING: BINGHAMTON, TORONTO, LAVAL
The Crunch continue their North Division matches as they take on Binghamton, Toronto and Laval in Week 14.
The Crunch and Devils play for the third time in a four-game span to wrap up the 2019 portion of the schedule. Their Tuesday evening showdown marks the second time in the last three seasons that Syracuse has visited Binghamton on New Year’s Eve; the Crunch won, 5-0, on New Year’s Eve in 2017. The Devils defeated the Crunch, 2-1 in a shootout, Friday in Syracuse for their first win in four meetings this season.
Syracuse hosts Toronto for the Crunch’s first home game of 2020 Friday night. It’s the second meeting of the season between the teams and the first since Sheldon Keefe was pulled up from the Marlies to become the Maple Leafs head coach. The Crunch won the first match, 4-3, in overtime Oct. 27 in Syracuse. The Marlies are 4-6-0-0 in their last 10 games and are in third place in the North Division with 41 points.
The Crunch travel to Laval Saturday for their third meeting with the Laval Rocket—the first at Place Bell. The teams have split the first two matches of their six-game season series. After splitting a two-game set with the Marlies, Laval (16-14-3-1) leapfrogged the Crunch into fifth place in the division with 36 points.
WEEK 13 RESULTS
Friday, Dec. 27 | Game 31 vs. Binghamton | SOL, 2-1
BNG 0 0 1 0 1 – 2 Shots: 8-13-9-0-1-31 PP: 0/4
SYR 0 0 1 0 0 – 1 Shots: 14-10-13-3-0-40 PP: 0/3
3rd Period-Barré-Boulet 12 (Smith, Martel), 8:50. Shootout-Binghamton 1 (Schmelzer NG, Maltsev G), Syracuse 0 (Somppi NG, Conacher NG, Mueller NG). . . . Martin 5-7-1 (30 shots-29 saves). A-6,146
Saturday, Dec. 28 | Game 32 at Belleville | L, 8-2
Syracuse 0 2 0 – 2 Shots: 6-12-6-24 PP: 1/3
Belleville 3 3 2 – 8 Shots: 19-8-21-48 PP: 4/7
2nd Period-Foote 3 (Volkov, Colton), 13:21 (PP). Martel 11 (Foote, Smith), 14:35. . . . Condon 2-1-0 (22 shots-18 saves), Martin ND (26 shots-22 saves). A-3,038
Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play 19.9% (28-for-141) T-9th (10th)
Penalty Kill 84.8% (117-for-138) 7th (3rd)
Goals For 3.19 GFA (102) T-11th (T-9th)
Goals Against 3.38 GAA (108) 26th (24th)
Shots For 27.56 SF/G (882) 28th (29th)
Shots Against 28.81 SA/G (922) 10th (5th)
Penalty Minutes 14.22 PIM/G (455) 8th (10th)
Category Leader
Points 27 Barré-Boulet
Goals 12 Barré-Boulet
Assists 19 Gaunce
PIM 47 Masin
Plus/Minus +9 Witkowski
Wins 7 Wedgewood
GAA 2.94 Martin
Save % .897 Martin
