Calder Cup Finals (Grand Rapids leads, 3-0)
Game 4: (E3) Syracuse Crunch vs. (W3) Grand Rapids Griffins
7 p.m. at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich.
The Crunch try to keep their season alive Friday, trailing the Griffins three games to none in the Calder Cup Finals. Grand Rapids won Game 3, 4-2, in front of 10,102 fans Wednesday at Van Andel Arena, the largest postseason crowd in the team's AHL playoff history. The loss was Syracuse's third straight, just the second time the Crunch have dropped three consecutive games in regulation all season. Three times in AHL postseason history has a club trailed a series 3-0 and won the last four including this year's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
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
Captain Jeff Hoggan posted two points in Game 4 of the Calder Cup finals, setting up the game-winning marker and scoring an insurance tally. The only player on the Grffins roster with Calder Cup Finals experience (2003, Houston) now has five goals and six assists in the postseason.The Griffins are led by left wing Tomas Tatar (13g-5a-17pts) and right wing Jan Mursak (10g-6a-16pts); both scored goals in Game 3.. 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 seven 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 seven playoff games for Grand Rapids.
In goal, Petr Mrazek has played in all 21 games for the Griffins, posting an 14-7 record with a 2.20 goals against average and a .922 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 84 of 91 Crunch shots so far in the Cup Finals.
Crunch Scouting Report
J.P. Cote notched two assists in Game 3 Wednesday, his first postseason multi-point effort. He now has a goal and four assists in the Calder Cup Playoffs, including three points( 1g, 2a) in the Finals. His plus-14 is second only to
Matt Taormina's league-leading plus-16. Taormina has two goals and eight assists in the playoffs, with only
Mark Barberio registering more points among Syracuse defenseman. Barberio has the most points by a defenseman in the Calder Cup Playoffs at 13 (3g, 9a).
Richard Panik has goals in each of the last two games, the only Crunch player with more than one goal in the Calder Cup Finals. Linemantes
Tyler Johnson and
Ondrej Palat, two of the postseason's leading scorers, have combined for no goals and three assists in the first the games of the Calder Cup FInals.
Cedrick Desjardins has suffered each loss in the Calder Cup Finals for Syracuse (11-5), while his goals-against average has jumped from 1.86 to 2.29 in the last three games.
