Calder Cup Finals (Grand Rapids leads, 3-2)
Game 6: (E3) Syracuse Crunch vs. (W3) Grand Rapids Griffins
7 p.m. at War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.
The Syraucuse Crunch host Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals Tuesday at the War Memorial against the Grand Rapids Griffins needing a victory to keep their season alive. After losing the first three games of the Finals, Syracuse won in Grand Rapids Friday, 3-2, and Saturday, 5-2, and hopes to become the first team in AHL history to force a Game 7 after trailing the Calder Cup Finals, 3-0.
A Syracuse win Tuesday would force a winner-take-all Game 7 Thursday at the War Memorial. Three times in league history has a team won a best-of-seven series after losing its first three games, including the 2013 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Syracuse is the first team in AHL history to win two road elimination games in same Calder Cup Finals.
For aditional coverage of the Calder Cup Finals, visit The AHL's
preview.
Tickets
Tickets for Game 6 at the War Memorial are still available
online or by calling the Crunch office at 473-4444. The War Memorial "will call" windows located on the corner of Madison & Montgomery Streets open at 5:30 p.m.
Coverage
Time Warner Cable Sports Channel broadcasts tonight's game live at 7 p.m. (Ch. 19, HD 813). 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. After the game, join
Dan D'Uva and a guest in the War Memorial basement for “The Shootout Show” airing on The Score 1260. 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
In the Calder Cup Finals, Grand Rapids has been led by right wing Jan Mursak (3g-2a-5pts), left wing Jeff Hoggan (1g-4a-5pts), and Riley Sheahan (1g-3a-4pts). Hoggan and Mursak both had three-game point streaks snapped in the Griffins 5-2 loss to Syracuse in Game 5 on Saturday night.
Grand Rapids got several players from Detroit in the postseason. Since joining the Griffins after the Red Wings lost in the NHL playoffs, Gustav Nyquist has played nine games and scored five points (2g, 3a), Joakim Andersson has six points (2g, 4a) in the same span, and Danny DeKeyser has an assist in five games.
In the net, Petr Mrazek continues to lead the AHL playoffs with four shutouts. He's the only goalie in Grand Rapids history with multiple postseason shutouts. Overall, Mrazek has posted a 14-9 record with a 2.32 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. However, the rookie goalie allowed seven goals over the last two games and has an .844 save percentage in that span.
Crunch Scouting Report
Tyler Johnson had a goal and an assist in Game 5 of the Finals, his fifth multi-point game of the playoffs, and first since May 11 against Springfield, Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The AHL MVP began the playoffs with multi-point efforts in four of the first five games after turning in 19 multi-point games in 62 regular season games, a team best.
Richard Panik has goals in four straight games, one of three players who strung together goals in four games this postseason (Mark Arcobello, OKC; Trevor Smith, WBS). Panik pulled off that feat twice in the regular season, Nov. 17-24 and Dec. 31-Jan. 9. Panik's last two goals were game-winners, giving him four game-winning goals in the postseason after six during the regular season. The ten combined are most on the Crunch.
After his one goal and two assists in Game 5,
Ondrej Palat now has points in 13 playoff games this spring, including 8 multi-point performances and 4 three-point games. The Crunch are 12-1 in games when he collects a point, with the only loss coming in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals.
Cedrick Desjardins has more wins, 13, than any goalie in Crunch postseason history. Karl Goehring is the previous record holder at nine wins, though Goehring owns the Crunch record for career postseason appearances by a goalie, 18. The most career postseason wins in Crunch history include: C. Desjardins, 13-4 ('13); K. Goehring, 9-8 ('04, '08); J. Labbe, 8-7 ('01, '02); M. Fountain, 7-9 ('96, '97).
Crunch defenseman
Radko Gudas, who has missed the last five games becuase of a leg injury in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final, suited up for morning skate Tuesday. His status for Game 6 was described as "probable" by coach
Rob Zettler. Gudas led the AHL with a plus-32 during the regular season, and has two goals and one assist in 11 postseason games.
Game 5 in Review:
Cedrick Desjardins made 40 saves and the Crunch power play came to life with two goals as the Crunch beat the Griffins, 5-2, in Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals in Grand Rapids Saturday night. The Griffins still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 as it shifts back to Syracuse for Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7.
The Crunch got off to a fast start in the first period.
Ondrej Palat capitalized on a Griffins turnover to score an unassisted goal at 8:39 of the first for a 1-0 Crunch lead.
Brett Connolly helped build on the lead by converting atip-in off a feed from
Tyler Johnson for a 2-0 lead. Triston Grant got one back for the Griffins a minute and a half later, to cut the Crunch lead to 2-1 after one period.
A Tomas Tatar power-play goal early in the second tied the game at two, but the Crunch power play answered back.
Richard Panik cashed in with 8:01 left in the second to put the Crunch back in front 3-2. Then in the third,
Tyler Johnson gave the Crunch their second two-goal lead just 36 seconds into the final frame.
Dan Sexton finished it off with an empty-net goal for a 5-2 final score.
Cedrick Desjardins stopped 40 shots, including 19 in the second period, as the Crunch were outshot for the third straight game. The Crunch were 2-for-5 on the power play while the Griffins went 1-for-3.
