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Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch

Crunch IceCaps

Syracuse Crunch

On the line on The Rock

Preview

Game 59: Syracuse Crunch (34-17-3-4) at St. John's IceCaps (23-31-1-3)
6:00 p.m. EST at Mile One Centre, St. John's, Newfoundland

Syracuse visits St. John's Friday for the first of two games against the IceCaps. Friday's game at Mike One Center is the first Crunch game in Newfoundland since training camp when Syracuse played preseason games in three different towns, winning all three. In the regular season, the Crunch and IceCaps have split two matches, both in Syracuse. St. John's erased a 4-0 deficit in a 5-4 OT win Dec. 29 and the Crunch won 6-3 Jan. 26, a contest featuring a fight between the starting goaltenders Dustin Tokarski and Eddie Pasquale;Syracuse outscored St. John's 4-0 after the fight.

Coverage
Listen to live play-by-play on The Score 1260 and iHeartRadio with pregame coverage starting at 5:45 p.m. EST. Pay-to-watch video is available on AHL Live. For in-game updates on Twitter, follow @SyracuseCrunch and broadcaster @Dan_Duva. For post-game recap, visit SyracuseCrunch.com and join the conversation on Facebook.

Where They Stand
The IceCaps are winless in their last four contests (0-3-0-1) and are 2-7-0-1 in their last ten.  With just 50 points, the IceCaps are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and 14th in the Eastern Conference. The IceCaps enter the weekend with a 9-16-1-2 record at home, tied with the Albany Devils for the fewest home wins in the AHL. (St. John's has played three more home games than have the Devils.) St. John's is in the midst of a six-game home stand, but their only contests this week are the two against Syracuse.

Syracuse has one point in the last four games, matching its worst skid of the season. The Crunch began Week 22 with a 6-3 loss in Toronto, but has not lossed any ground in the standings, still tied with Springfield for first place in the Eastern Conference with 75 points at 34-17-3-4. The AHL's best road team (21-8-0-2) has not lost three consecutive away games all year. 

Scouting Report
St. John's is led by left wing Jason Jaffray (12g-21a-33pts), center Eric O'Dell (18g-14a-32pts), and center Kael Mouillierat (7g-21a-28pts).  Eddie Pasquale has played 38 games in goal for the IceCaps.  On the season, he's 14-20-3 with a 2.68 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. The Caps's penalty kill is ranked next to last in the AHL at 79.2%.

Among active Crunch players, Richard Panik and Mark Barberio both have the most points vs. St. John's, three.  Riku Helenius was involved in both decisions, earning a win in relief allowing no goals, and surrendering all five goals in a loss.  Philip-Michael Devos posted his fourth multi-point game Wednesday in Toronto (1g, 1a), with his first goal since Nov. 30. 
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