Calder Cup Finals (Grand Rapids leads, 2-0)
Game 3: (E3) Syracuse Crunch vs. (W3) Grand Rapids Griffins
7 p.m. at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich.
The Calder Cup Finals shifts to Grand Rapids, Mich., this week, beginning Wednesday for Game 3 at Van Andel Arena. After home losses on consecutive nights for the first time in 2012-13, Syracuse takes it's conference-best road record to western Michigan where the Griffins are 6-4 in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Half of their 42 regular season wins were earned on home ice (21-12-3-2). The Crunch are 5-0 on the road this postseason and haven't suffered a road loss in regulation since Mar. 30 in Norfolk, a 2-0 shutout at the hands of the Admirals. The Crunch were 24-10-2-2 on the road in the regular season, including a franchise record nine straight victories away from home Oct. 19-Nov. 25. Overall, the Griffins are 13-7 this postseason, while Syracuse is 11-3.
For aditional coverage of the Calder Cup Finals, visit The AHL's
preview.
Coverage
Time Warner Cable Sports Channel broadcasts tonight's game live at 7 p.m. (Ch. 19, HD 813).
Click Here to learn more about the viewing party at Tully's. Online video is available for free on
AHL Live for every game of the Calder Cup Finals. Register for free access by using the promo code CALDER2013. Listen to live play-by-play on
The Score 1260 and
iHeartRadio with pregame coverage starting at 6:45 p.m. 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.
Griffins Scouting Report
The Griffins are led by left wing Tomas Tatar (12g-5a-17pts), right wing Jan Mursak (9g-5a-14pts), right wing Tomas Jurco (8g-6a-14pts) each of whom scored a goal in Game 2. Riley Sheahan had three assists in Game 2 and now has 15 points (3g, 12a) in the playoffs. Gustav Nyquist rejoined the Griffins after a playoff stint with the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL. He has four points in six playoff games with the Griffins.
Grand Rapids also got Joakim Andersson and Danny DeKeyser from the Red Wings. DeKeyser made his AHL debut in Game 1, after playing in 11 regular season and two playoff games with the Red Wings. Andersson has 43 regular season games of NHL experience under his belt over two seasons. He had eight points (3g, 5a) in 38 games with Detroit this season, along with five points in 14 Stanley Cup playoff games. He has five points six playoff games for Grand Rapids.
In goal, Petr Mrazek has played in all 20 games for the Griffins, posting an 13-7 record with a 2.21 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. The rookie has four shutouts, including a pair in the Western Conference Final against the Barons. No other goaltender in Griffins history has more than one shutout in the playoffs. Mrazek has stopped 58 of 63 Crunch shots so far in the Cup Finals.
Crunch Scouting Report
With an assist in Game 2,
Ondrej Palat regained sole possession of AHL postseason scoring lead, now at 21 points (5g, 16a) in 14 games. Palat is still third on the Crunch all-time postseason scoring list.
Andrej Sustr's goal in Game 2 was the first of his AHL playoff career. He has six points in the playoffs this season following two goals and one assist in eight regular season games with Syracuse. With an assist in Game 2,
Matt Taormina became the sixth player on the Crunch with at least ten points during the playoffs. That ties him with
Mark Barberio and the Griffins' Adam Almquist for second in playoff scoring by a defenseman, behind Grand Rapids' Chad Billins. Taormina leads the AHL playoffs with a plus-17.
J.P. Cote is second on the Crunch at plus-13, improving his career AHL postseason mark to plus-26 in 54 games.
With a goal in Game 2,
J.T. Brown has a threep-game scoring streak for the first time in the playoffs. He had three different three-game scoring streaks during the regular season.
Evan Oberg returned to the Crunch lineup Sunday for the first time since April 5 against the Hershey Bears. He didn't play in the final seven regular season games or the first 13 playoff games. He was a minus-1 in Game 2. With a goal and an assist in Game 2,
Brett Connolly had his first multi-point performance in this postseason. He is one of four Crunch players with ten or more points in the playoffs and trails only Odrej Palat and
Tyler Johnson for the top scoring totals on the team. After being held scoreless during the first 11 playoff games,
Philippe Paradis's assist in Game 2 gives him four points (3g, 1a) in the last three games. With Phil Paradis' assist, every Crunch forward (except
Cedric Paquette, who has only played three games in the playoffs) has at least one assist.
By the Numbers
The Crunch were 2-for-8 on the power play in Game 2 (goals from
Richard Panik and
Brett Connolly) after a 1-for-19 stretch. They are now ninth in the league on the power play in the AHL playoffs at 16.9%. The Crunch surrendered two power-play goals in Game 2, including an empty netter. The team's penalty kill was 3-for-5 in Game 2 and is eighth in the AHL during the playoffs at 84%.
Grand Rapids now has scored power-play goals in six straight games, after going 1-for-4 in Game 1 and 2-for-5 in Game 2 The Griffins are sixth in the playoffs on the man advantage at 20%. After going 28-for-30 on the penalty kill in the Western Conference Finals, the Griffins have stopped 8-of-10 Crunch power plays. They are now at 86.2% on the PK in the playoffs, fourth in the AHL.
The Grand Rapids Griffins outslugged the Crunch 6-4 in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals Sunday night at the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse, the highest combined score for a Crunch game since an Oct. 20 6-5 ovetime win at Binghamton. The road victory gives the Griffins a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Calder Cup Finals, eliminating Syracuse's home ice advantage.
For the second straight game, the Griffins jumped out to a quick lead on the Crunch. Tomas Tatar slid the puck past
Cedrick Desjardins just 4:29 into the opening period for a 1-0 Griffins lead. Triston Grant made it 2-0 later in the first period before
Andrej Sustr finally got the Crunch on the scoreboard with his first goal of the playoffs, the first goal of his AHL playoff career.
The two sides continued trading tallies in a six-goal second period. Landon Ferraro started the middle frame's scoring, potting a rebound off a Jeff Hoggan breakaway chance at 6:23.
Richard Panik pulled the Crunch within 3-2, cashing in on a power-play opportunity at 10:06. After Tomas Jurco made it 4-2 Griffins the Crunch scored back-to-back goals.
Brett Connolly banged in a power-play goal to make it 4-3 then
J.T. Brown rifled a shot past Petr Mrazek that was initially not awarded, but later ruled a goal upon video review, making it 4-4. The wild period finished with a power-play goal Francis Pare, just five seconds into a
Tyler Johnson delay of game penalty.
In the third period, the Crunch outshot Grand Rapids 13-4, but the Griffins would score the only goal as Jan Mursak finished off a breakaway to make the final score 6-4. The Crunch finished 2-for-8 on the power play, improving on their previous 1-for-19 troubles, but failed to convert on a four minute high-sticking double minor while it was still a 5-4 game in the third period.
