When: Friday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: War Memorial Arena
Radio: The Score 1260
Watch: AHL Live
 
Season Series: This is the fourth and final meeting between the St. John's IceCaps and the Syracuse Crunch this season. The Crunch lead the season series, 2-1-0, and have won two straight. Syracuse won the most recent meeting, 6-4, March 3 at the War Memorial. Down by two goals after forty minutes, the Crunch responded with four goals in the third period for the comeback victory. Dan Sexton recorded his first career AHL hat trick to lead Syracuse. Kyle Cumiskey finished with three assists, and both Patrick Maroon (2a) and Brandon McMillan (1g, 1a) picked up two points. Jason DeSantis, Alex Gagnon and Patrice Cormier recorded two points for the IceCaps.
 
Maroon is the team's active leader in points, entering tonight's contest with five assists against St. John's. He leads the team in assists and is tied with Gagnon for most assists in the series. Sexton and McMillan both have three goals in three games. Iiro Tarkki has started two of three games in the series, going 1-1-0 with a 4.05 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage.
 
Gagnon leads all St. John's skaters with five points (2g, 3a) against Syracuse. He's tied with DeSantis for the team lead in assists. Thirteen IceCaps skaters have recorded at least one point against the Crunch. David Aebischer started two game against Syracuse, going 1-1-0 with a 4.05 goals-against average and a .862 save percentage.
 
Crunch At A Glance: Syracuse enters tonight's game eighth in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Worcester Sharks and the Albany Devils. The Crunch defeated the Rochester Americans, 4-3, in a shootout Wednesday night at the Blue Cross Arena. Dan Sexton scored the only goal in the shootout, beating David Leggio in the fourth round. Iiro Tarkki stopped all five shooters for his 19th win of the season. J.F. Jacques and Peter Holland finished with two points. The win stretched the Crunch's season-high win streak to five games.
 
Maroon enters tonight's game leading the Crunch with 68 points (28g, 40a). He's fourth in the league in points. Peter Holland has 55 points (22g, 33a), and is tied for fourth among all rookie skaters in points. Tarkki enters tonight with a 2.53 goals-against average, ranked 19th among all goalies in that category.
 
Crunch Leaders
Goals: Kyle Palmieri - 32
Assists: Patrick Maroon - 40
Points: Patrick Maroon - 68
Plus/Minus: Patrick Maroon - +18
PIM: Troy Bodie - 112
Wins: Iiro Tarkki - 19
GAA: Iiro Tarkki - 2.53
Save %: Iiro Tarkki - .923
Shutouts: Iiro Tarkki - 2
 
Recent Crunch Transactions
3/20/2012 Igor Bobkov (G) Syracuse ADD Reassigned by Anaheim (AHL) from Kingston (OHL)
3/17/2012 Gabe Guentzel (D) Syracuse ADD Signed to ATO
3/14/2012 Ryan O'Marra (C) Syracuse ADD Returned on loan from Anaheim (NHL)
3/11/2012 John Kurtz (RW) Syracuse ADD Recalled from loan to Elmira (ECHL)
3/11/2012 Kyle Palmieri (RW) Syracuse DEL Recalled from loan by Anaheim (NHL)
 
Who's Hot
J.F. Jacques - Six points (2g, 4a) in his last three games
Patrick Maroon - 10 points (2g, 8a) in his last seven games
Peter Holland - 13 points (4g, 9a) in his last seven games
 
IceCaps At a Glance: The IceCaps enter tonight's game second in the Eastern Conference, ten points behind the league-leading Norfolk Admirals. The Hershey Bears defeated St. John's, 3-2, Wednesday night at the Giant Center. Aaron Gagnon and Jason King scored goals for the IceCaps. Four different skaters finished with an assist. Rookie Eddie Pasquale stopped 18 of 21 shots in the loss.
 
Paul Postma is the team's active leading scorer, totaling 44 points (13g, 31a) in 55 games. His 31 assists are tied with the recalled Spencer Machacek for tops on the team. Postma is tied for second among league defensemen in points. He's also in the top five in goals and assists. King leads St. John's with 19 goals. 
 
IceCaps Leaders:
Goals: Jason King - 19
Assists: Spencer Machacek and Paul Postma - 27
Points: Spencer Machacek - 48
Plus/Minus: Artus Kuluda - +20
PIM: Garth Murray - 96
Wins: Eddie Pasquale - 20
GAA: Eddie Pasquale - 2.50
Save %: Peter Mannino - .909
Shutouts: Eddie Pasquale - 3
 
Recent IceCaps Transactions
3/21/2012 Danny Dries (LW) St. John's ADD Signed to ATO
3/20/2012 Ben Chiarot (D) St. John's ADD Reassigned by Winnipeg (NHL) from Colorado (ECHL)
3/20/2012 Ben Maxwell (C) St. John's DEL Recalled from loan by Winnipeg (NHL)
3/20/2012 Josh Lunden (LW) St. John's ADD Signed to PTO
3/19/2012 Chris Carrozzi (G) St. John's DEL Reassigned by Winnipeg (NHL) to Ontario (ECHL)
 
Who's Hot
Jason Gregoire - Three points (1g, 2a) in his last four games
Zach Redmond - Four points (2g, 2a) in his last seven games
Kevin Clark - Two points (1g, 1a) in his last four games