Syracuse Crunch 3/9/2013 10:00:00 AM

Syracuse-St. John's Sequel Saturday

Preview

Game 60: Syracuse Crunch (35-17-3-4) at St. John's IceCaps (23-31-1-4)
6:00 p.m. EST at Mile One Centre, St. John's, Newfoundland

Syracuse takes on St. John's for the fourth and final time this regular season Saturday on The Rock. The Crunch have won two of the first three meetings, including a 3-2 win Friday. Brett Connolly won the game in the final round of the shootout, the only Crunch tally while Riku Helenius blanked all five Caps shooters. Tyler Johnson and Dana Tyrell scored goals in regulation to bring the Crunch back from a 2-0 hole.

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 five, but recorded a point Friday in their shootout loss to Syracuse and now have 51 points on the year, just three better than last place Adirondack. At 23-31-1-4 the 2011-12 Eastern Conference runner up is last in the Atlantic Division. The IceCaps enter the weekend with a 9-16-1-3 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 leads the AHL in points, 77, one better than the Western Conference's Texas Stars' 76 and two more than Springfield's 75, though the Falcons have three games in hand. The Crunch snapped a four-game skid Friday with their third shootout win of the year and their AHL-leading 22nd road victory of the season. Syracuse returns home after Saturday's game, next hosting Norfolk Friday.

Scouting Report
Jason Jaffray added to his team-leading total of points (34) with his 13th goal of the season Friday, an unassisted marker on a breakaway. Aaron Gagnon, who's played in the NHL for Dallas and Winnipeg, has a four game scoring streak, the longest on the team. The 26-year-old center had one assist in his first 25 games of the season, but after missing more than a month of action, he has eight points (3g, 5a) in the last 10 games. Eddie Pasquale leads the AHL in losses (14-20-4-4) and has not recorded a victory since a shutout win with 24 saves against Binghamton Feb. 2. The former fourth rounder with a 2.65 goals-against average missed six IceCaps games while on recall with parent-club Winnipeg, but did not play for the Jets.

Brett Connolly's shootout game-winning goal Friday was the first of his career, adding to his six traditiional game-winning goals this season which are most on the Crunch and tied for second most in the AHL. Tyler Johnson extended his league lead in goals Friday, potting his 30th of the season on a two-on-one with Richard Panik Friday. Matt Taormina, who had the secondary helper on the Johnson goal, has recorded assists in each of the last three games, and now was 16 on the season, along with three goals. Dana Tyrell scored his second third-period, game-tying goal of the season Friday, completing a two-goal comeback for the Crunch Friday. Riku Helenius has won both shootout contests this season, stopping all five shooters Friday and eight of ten on the year. His 33 saves Friday, in his 13th win, equal his season best, a 7-1 win at Binghamton Feb. 15.

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