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Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Albany Devils

Syracuse Crunch

Turn Back the Clock Night Pits Syracuse vs. Albany

Game 63 vs. ALB

Game 63: Syracuse Crunch (24-28-4-6) vs. Albany Devils (33-20-3-7)
7:00 p.m., War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

The Crunch celebrate 20 years of hockey with "Turn Back the Clock Night" presented by Shapiro Motors Saturday against the Albany Devils. The Crunch hosted the Albany River Rats for their first-ever game, Sept. 30, 1994, a 7-7 tie.

After dropping the first game of the season series with Syracuse the Devils have won back-to-back meetings with the Crunch including Sunday's 3-0 blanking at Times Union Center.

The Devils have won three straight games, jumping to sixth in the Eastern Conference, just four points clear of ninth-place Hershey. Since moving from Lowell to Albany in 2010, the Devils have not made the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Despite three straight losses the Crunch remain in 13th place in the Eastern Conference with 58 points.

Broadcast Coverage
Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.
Radio: ESPN CNY 97.7 FM & 1200 AM, Syracuse; 100.1 FM & 1440 AM, Oswego | Listen Live |
Mobile: Free audio on your mobile device with the TuneIn App
Streaming: Pay-to-watch video on AHL LIve.com and on your mobile device with the AHL Live App

4. Post-Standard: Syracuse Crunch goalie Kristers Gudlevskis is a new masked man
5. Times Union: Penalty sparks Albany to win
6. Times Union: Devils rely on veteran down stretch

In the hunt | AHL Standings |
With a loss last night, Syracuse fell one point further out of a playoff spot, now trailing the Eastern Conference's eighth-place team Providence by 17 points. Syracuse (24-28-4-6), at 58 points, would have to jump five teams to secure a postseason berth: Providence (75pts), Hershey (72pts), Worcester (64pts), Hartford (61pts) and Bridgeport (60pts).

Turn Back the Clock Night
Former Crunch forward and member of the original Crunch team Lonny Bohonos will be a special guest at tonight's game as the Crunch host "Turn Back the Clock Night" against the Albany Devils. Bohonos played for the Crunch from 1994 to 1998 and ranks second on the team in goals (104) and assists (126). He scored the first goal in Crunch history, finishing with two goals in their first game.

The team will wear black throwback jerseys similar to the sweaters worn during the inagural season. The jerseys worn tonight will be auctioned off to benefit JDRF (formerly known as Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).

A live auction for select jerseys will be held on the ice near Section 2 immediately following the game. A silent action for the remaining jerseys will be held during the game at Guest Services (near office 243, behind Section 9), begining at 6 p.m and concluding at the 10-minute mark of the third period.

The starting bid for the live auction will be $300; the silent autions start at $200. The live auction features #10 Mike Angelidis, #18 Jonathan Marchessault, #20 P.C. Labrie, #29 Eric Neilson, #35 Kristers Gudlevskis and #90 Vlad Namestnikov.

In addition to Bohonos, another player from that first game will be at the War Memorial tonight. Albany assistant coach Sergei Brylin was a defenseman for the River Rats in 1994 and had an assist in the first game in Syracuse.

Last time out
The Crunch offense came up empty Friday, dropping a 2-0 decision to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the War Memorial Arena. The Pens have won six of the nine matchups this season.

Spencer Machacek took advantage of a Kristers Gudlevskis misplay to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead 7:38 into the first period. Adam Payerl doubled the lead on a power-play goal with under three minutes to play in the first period.

The Crunch generated just four shots in the first, and finished with 16 for the game, after getting just 13 Sunday in Albany. Gudlevskis stopped 26 Penguins shots, including all 16 over the final two periods. Syracuse had just one power-play chance while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had eight.

Missing Offense
The Crunch were held off the scoreboard last night, making it two straight games the Crunch have been shut out. That hadn't happened since Feb. 11-12, 2011, when the Crunch lost 3-0 and 4-0 in two games against Norfolk. Mike Smith and Dustin Tokarski were the two goaltenders who beat the Crunch in those games.

In their last two games, the Crunch have combined for 29 shots, including a season-low 13 Sunday in Albany. In four of the previous five games, the Crunch had at least 29 shots. Syracuse has potted one goal in its last three games.

Head-to-Head
Four Devils have two points against the Crunch this season: Mike Sislo (2g), Raman Hrabarenka (1g, 1a), Joe Whitney (2a), and Kelly Zajac (2a). Goaltender Scott Wedgewood has played in two games against the Crunch and Keith Kinkaid played in the other. Both have one win against Syracuse.

Vlad Namestnikov (3a), and J.P. Cote (1a) are the only players on the Crunch roster to record a point against the Devils in a Crunch uniform this season. Newcomers Jonathan Marchessault (3g, 5a) and Dalton Smith (1g) each recorded points against Albany while playing for Springfield. Cedrick Desjardins has started all three games against the Devils, going 1-1-1, with a 1.30 goals-against average and .957 save percentage.

The Crunch power play has two goals in the three games against Albany, but both came in the first match Oct. 30. In total they are 2-for-13 (15.4%). Albany's power play is 2-for-14 in the season series (14.3%). 

Scouting the Devils
Rookie Scott Wedgewood became the first Devil to record back-to-back shutouts, earning AHL player-of-the-week honors for Week 24. Including a 2-1 win Wednesday vs. Binghamton, Wedgewood has started and won the last three Devils games allowing just one goal on 54 shots. New Jersey's 2010 third-round pick has a 12-12-3 record with a 2.48 goals-against average and .896 save percentage in 29 games. Keith Kinkaid, in 36 games, is 21-10-4 and tied for the AHL's fifth-most victories. The Union College alum has a 2.37 goals-against average.

Joe Whitney leads the Devils with 48 points (21g, 27a) in 61 games. Mike Sislo, who scored twice against the Crunch Sunday, is second with 38 points (22g, 16a). He has four points (3g, 1a) in the last two games. Raman Hrabarenka (6g, 13a) also recorded a multi-point game Sunday with a goal, the game winner, and an assist. Harri Pesonen, who the Crunch held scoreless Sunday, has points in five of the last six games (3g, 2a). Rome, N.Y. native Tim Sestito was promoted to New Jersey Tuesday but was hurt Wednesday vs. Minnesota.

Special Teams
Albany has power-play goals in back-to-back games, and in three of the last four, going 3-for-12 (25.0%) in that span. Despite that, the Devils are 21st in the AHL on the power play at 16.0%.

The Devils allowed one power-play goal in six shorthanded opportunities Wednesday in Binghamton, after going a perfect 7-for-7 the previous two games. However, they were 0-for-3 on the kill March 14 at Springfield, and are 16-for-20 (80.0%) in their last six games.

The Crunch power play has been held off the board each of the last four games, going 0-for-8. They last scored a power-play goal March 9 vs. Binghamton and are 3-for-18 (16.7%) in the last six games. On the season, the Crunch are 15.4% on the man advantage, 24th in the league.

The Syracuse penalty kill has given up goals in six of the last seven games, only going perfect March 15 vs. Hamilton. In those seven games, the Crunch kill is 28-for-36 (77.8%), moving the Crunch to 15th in the AHL (82.5%).  

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