Game 37: Syracuse Crunch (16-14-2-4) at Hershey Bears (17-13-3-3)
7 p.m., War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.
The Hershey Bears (#HBH) and Syracuse Crunch (#SyrCrunch) face off for the third time this season and the first time at the War Memorial on
Social Media Night. Hershey (17-13-3-3) sits two points ahead of Syracuse (16-14-2-4) in the East Division and Eastern Conference. Syracuse has taken three out of four possible points from the Bears (1-0-0-1). The Crunch held a 3-1 lead Dec. 18 before Hershey stormed back for a 4-3 shootout win. Syracuse held on to its lead Dec. 27 at Giant Center to secure a 3-2 victory.
Friday's match is the second of four consecutive home games for Syracuse, having defeated Providence, 1-0, Saturday. After topping the Devils, 4-1, in Atlantic City Sunday, Hershey begins a three-in-three tonight in Syracuse, then returning home for Bridgeport and Albany. The Bears and Crunch have a home-and-home next weekend.
The Tampa Bay Lightning reassigned defenseman
Andrej Sustr to Syracuse Friday. Sustr has played 38 games for Tampa Bay this season, recording seven assists and a plus-4 rating prior to being reassigned.
He played for the University of Nebraska-Omaha before joining the Crunch at the end of last season. His plus-11 rating in 18 games was the fourth highest on the team during the run to the Calder Cup Finals.
Last season, the Plzen, Czech Republic native made his Crunch debut April 5 against the Hershey Bears at the War Memorial. In eight regular season games he recorded three points (2g, 1a).
Gudlevskis honored
Kristers Gudlevskis was 2-0-1 in Syracuse's three games last week, posting two shutouts, a 0.65 goals-against average and .973 save percentage. For his effort, the rookie netminder was recognized as CCM/AHL Player of the Week, joining
Nikita Kucherov as the two Crunch players (both rookies) so honored this season. The last Crunch goaltender to win the award was
Riku Helenius in Week 19 last season.
Back-to-back shutouts vs. Providence lands Gudlevskis (9-5-2, 2.37, .915) in a tie wih Albany's Keith Kinkaid and Adirondack's Cal Heeter for most in the league at four each. Gudlevskis' shutout pace (4 shutouts in 16 appearances) exceeds that of Kinkaid (22 games played) and Heeter (24 games played). Another shutout for Gudlevskis would set the Crunch rookie record; he's tied Tomas Popperle's mark of four shutouts set in the 2006-07 season.
Gudlevskis is the first Crunch rookie to record back-to-back shutouts since February, 2007, when Dan LaCosta recorded 53 saves in victories over Rochester and Springfield and took the league's Player of the Week award.
Last time out
After being blanked by the Bruins the night before Syracuse needed less than a minute to get on the board Saturday night.
Cedric Paquette tied
Vladislav Namestnikov for the team lead with his 11th goal of the season 42 seconds into the first period, the fastest start for the Crunch this year. Neither team was able to score the rest of the way.
Kristers Gudlevskis made 27 saves for his second shutout in as many nights, and this time earned the victory.
Dmitry Korobov picked up his 14th assist on Paquette's goal tying him with
Brett Connolly and Namestnikov for the team lead.
The Syracuse penalty kill was perfect against the league's fifth-ranked power play, stopping each of three Providence opportunities. Syracuse has silenced opposing power plays in the last three games, going 10-for-10 in that stretch. Syracuse was held scoreless on its lone power-play opportunity of the night. Providence's two penalty minutes are the fewest for a Syracuse opponent this season.
The Crunch's last home victory (three home games previous) was also a 1-0 shutout, Dec. 14 against Rochester.
Scouting the Bears
The Bears are fourth in the East Division with 40 points, two ahead of the Crunch. Hershey has won four of their last five outscoring opponents 22-12 over that span. The Bears 15 road games to date are fewest in the league.
Brandon Segal leads the Bears with 29 points (11g, 18a) in 31 games. Segal, riding the longest active scoring streak in the AHL, has 12 points (7g, 5a) in five games with at least one goal in each. The Bears' second-leading scorer is Nicolas Deschamps with 22 points (11g, 11a) in 29 games. Ryan Stoa leads the AHL with five shootout goals.
David Leggio has appeared in 24 of 36 Bears games posting an 11-11-2 record with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Leggio has made the third-most saves (700) in the league despite having played about 200 minutes fewer than the two goalies ahead of him. Riley Gill has appeared in two games since being recalled from Reading on Dec. 30. Gill has posted a 1-1 record with a 0.99 goals-against average and 0.969 save percentage.
Special Teams
After scoring power-play goals in four consecutive games the Syracuse power play was held off the board in back-to-back games by Providence (0-for-4). Despite being blanked, the Syracuse power play has risen two spots to 16th overall in the AHL (16.9%).
The Syracuse penalty kill held an opponent's power play off the board for the only the fourth time in 15 games at home this season. The Crunch kill 81.2% of man advantages overall (19th in the AHL), but struggle at home killing off 74.6% (last in the AHL).
Over the last five games, the Bears have scored multiple power-play goals three times. Over that stretch, the Bears are 8-for-21 (38.1%) including 2-for-4 Sunday against the Devils. That has pushed the Bears to 18th in the AHL on the man advantage (16.6%). They have allowed seven shorthanded goals, with only three teams (Bridgeport, Milwaukee, and St. John's) allowing more.
Hershey has the 14th ranked penalty kill (82.7%) and has stifled 13 of the last 15 opposing power plays in five games (86.7%). The Bears' seven shorthanded goals scored are second most in the AHL. Only Binghamton (12) has scored more shorthanded goals this season.
Team Point Streaks
Syracuse has recorded at least a point in each of the last five games, tying a season high. In the last five games, Syracuse has posted a 3-0-1-1 record, with
Kristers Gudlevskis earning each decision. The last time the Crunch recorded points in five straight was Oct. 19-Nov. 1. They recorded five straight wins during that span. Syracuse has recorded points in three consecutive games twice since the five-game win streak earlier this season.
