Game 32: Syracuse Crunch (13-14-1-3) at Toronto Marlies (18-10-2-1)
7 p.m., Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto, Ontario
The historic Ricoh Coliseum, opened in 1921 and rennovated in 2003, hosts the Crunch and Marlies Friday in Toronto. The Crunch, fifth in the East Division, have lost their last two, both by three-goal deficits. The Marlies, first in the Western Conference's North Division, have won their last two, both in Michigan against Grand Rapids. Toronto's 4-3 shootout win Dec. 30 spoiled the Griffins' first outdoor game at Comerica Park in Detroit. The following night at Van Andel Arena, the Marlies won, 3-1.
Broadcast Coverage
Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.
Radio: ESPN Radio 97.7 FM & 1200 AM, Syracuse; 100.1 FM & 1440 AM, Oswego |
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Streaming: Pay-to-watch video on
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Press Clips
1. Post-Standard:Â
Syracuse Crunch penalty kill has a split personality this season
2. Post-Standard:Â
East Division an unfriendly neighborhood for Syracuse Crunch this season
3. Post-Standard:
Crunch players Witkowski and Olson have a chilly relationship
4. Post-Standard:Â
Crunch rookie center Richard gets a unique perspective on AHL
5. Post-Standard:Â
AHL teams governed by specific NHL transaction rules during Olympic break
Calder Cup reminiscing
The Crunch lost its lone game at Ricoh Colisuem last season, but the Tampa Bay Lightning's former affiliate, Norfolk, hoisted the 2012 Calder Cup at Ricoh Coliseum. Players on the current Syracuse roster from that championship team are captain
Mike Angelidis, P.C. Labrie,
Charles Landry and
Eric Neilson. The Admirals won 43 of their last 46 games, including a pro-hockey record 28 consecutively to conclude the regular season, and swept the Marlies in the Finals to capture the Calder Cup.
Last time out
The Crunch took a 2-1 lead to the first intermission New Year's Eve in Wilkes-Barre, but the Penguins potted two in the second to take the lead and sealed the come-from-behind win with two insurance goals in the third for a 5-2 final, the Pens' fourth win versus Syracuse in five games.Â
Matt Taormina and
Mike Angelidis scored four minutes apart to rescuse the Crunch from an early deficity. Taormina's power-play goal lifted his power play point total to nine (2g, 7a), and stopped a drought of 11 games without a marker (Oct. 26). Angelidis has scored goals in consecutive games, the first time he's done so since the first three games on the 2012-13 season.
Brett Connolly assisted on Taormina's goal to give the third-year pro a five-game scoring streak, his longest since a career-best, nine-game streak last February.
Jon DiSalvatore had another assist, his third in five games since joining Syracuse.
Cedric Paquette improved to 19 points with his 11th assist.Â
Syracuse's
Cedrick Desjardins dropped to 5-8-2 with four goals allowed on 27 shots faced. Pens' Starter Eric Hartzell was pulled after 13 minutes and two goals on three shots; Jeff Deslauriers stopped all 21 shots he faced in relief.
Toronto (18-10-2-1) leads the North Division and is third in the Western Conference. The Marlies dropped back-to-back games to the Hamilton Bulldogs last weekend, but topped Grand Rapids in a shootout, 4-3, Monday in the SiriusXM Hockeytown Winter Festival at Comerica Park in Detroit and 3-1 at Van Andel Arena Tuesday, 3-1.
The Marlies have played two games against Eastern Conference clubs, twice defeating the St. John's IceCaps at Ricoh Coliseum. St. John's was the home to the Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate from 1991 to 2005 before shifting to Toronto.
The Marlies' top two scorers rank eighth and ninth in the AHL. Defenseman T.J. Brennan had a goal and an assist Tuesday and leads Toronto at 31 points (14g, 17a). With two helpers Monday, right wing Spencer Abbott is second with 30 points (5g, 25a) and his 13-game scoring streak earlier this season is tied with Vlad Namestnikov for the longest in the AHL. The next highest scorer on the Toronto roster has half as many points: Greg McKegg (6-9-15).
Four players are tied at 13 points including former Tampa Bay first-round pick Carter Ashton (9-4-13) who was acquired by Toronto in a trade for defenseman
Keith Aulie in late February, 2012, just as the Norfolk Admirals were beginning their historic streak.
In net, veteran Drew MacIntyre has started 24 of 31 games with a league-high 1458:53 minutes. He's posted a 15-8-1 record (tied for the league lead in wins) with a 2.22 goals-against average (sixth in the AHL) and a .921 save percentage. Rookies Christopher Gibson (2-1-0) and Garret Sparks (1-3-0) have each appeared in three games for the Marlies; Sparks, a teammate of
Tanner Richard in the OHL, picked up his AHL win of the season Tuesday in Grand Rapids.
Special Teams
Syracuse remains 18th in the AHL on the power play (16.2%), but has two goals in its last nine chances of the last two games. Syracuse had not scored power-play goals in consecutive games since Nov. 29 and 30, both victories.Â
The Crunch penalty kill has allowed two power-play goals in the last two games and ranks 19th in the AHL at 81.8%. Only Springfield's road penalty kill is better than Syracuse's (89.3%). T.J. Brennan's 17 power-play points are second in the league.Â
The Marlies are also a middle-third club on special teams, but a track better than Syracuse in both penalty killing and man-up scoring. Toronto is 15th on the power play (17.4%) with just two more goals than Syracuse.Â
The Toronoto penalty kill is 11th in the league (84.3%) with four fewer goals allowed than the Crunch.
