Game 70: Syracuse Crunch (39-21-4-5) at Hershey Bears (33-26-3-6)
7:00 p.m. at Giant Center, Hershey, Pa.
After a 4-1 home loss to the Bears Friday, the Crunch travel to Chocolate Town to wrap up the season series with Hershey. Syracuse won the first three matchups of the season (in the first two months of the season), while the Bears have taken the last two meetings. Syracuse has lost four consecutive games for the second time this season, but clinched a playoff berth by virtue of Albany and Manchester losses. The Bears have won consecutive games, taking down division leaders Providence and Syracuse.
Coverage
Listen to live play-by-play on
The Score 1260 and
iHeartRadio with pregame coverage starting at 6:45 p.m. 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 Bears' Friday victory ensured sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference, keeping pace with the victorious, ninth-place Norfolk Admirals. Hershey is one point behind seventh-place Connecticut and five points back of sixth-place W-B/Scranton. The Bears have won three of their last four, posting at least three goals in each of the four. At home this season, Hershey is 17-14-3-2 and has won six of their last seven contests at Giant Center.
Syracuse was one of four teams to clinch a playoff berth Friday, along with Binghamton, Springfield and Providence. The Bruins were the only club of the four to win Friday and have the highest point total in the Eastern Conference, 89, with the other three stuck at 87. Syracuse is 39-21-4-5 and ranked third in the Eastern Conference with Springfield in second (one game in hand) and Binghamton in fourth (head-to-head).The Crunch have lost their last three road games, but are 23-10-1-2 away from home this year, the most road wins in the AHL.
A full breakdown of playoff-clinching scenarios is available at
The AHL Playoff Primer.
Scouting Report
Against Syracuse Friday, Tomas Kundratek scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season while Boyd Kane notched a goal (14) and an assist (18). The Bears are led by center Jeff Taffe, who leads the AHL in points (62) and is second in assists (44), and center Casey Wellman (15g-32a-47pts), who had an assist last night and 24 points in 25 games since coming to Hershey. A veteran scratch Friday, right wing Jon DiSalvatore is the team's third-leading scorer (16g-27a-43pts). Philipp Grubauer stopped 22 of 23 shots Friday for his second win against Syracuse in as many matchups and is now 12-6-2 with a 2.13 goals-against average. Dany Sabourin is 9-11-3 with a 2.69 goals-against average, but has seen the ice only twice in the last nine games.
Philippe Paradis,
Tanner Richard and
Andrej Sustr made their Crunch debuts Friday, but did not factor in the scoring.
Mike Angelidis snapped a six-game scoring drought with an assist on Syracuse's lone goal scored by J.F. Jacque, his first goal with the Crunch this season after five goals with San Antonio to begin the year.
Cedrick Desjardins suffered his third loss in his ninth game with Syracuse, following three losses in three games with Tampa Bay.
Riku Helenius has a victory in his only appearance of the season vs. Hershey.
Mark Barberio, who leads Syracuse with 23 power-play points, has a goal and three assists vs. Hershey, but has no points in the last eight games.
