Game 66: Syracuse Crunch (26-29-4-6) vs. Adirondack Phantoms (25-35-1-4)
7:00 p.m., War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.
The Crunch play the second of three-straight home games as the Adirondack Phantoms come to the War Memorial Arena tonight. It's the fifth of six matches in the season series, but only the second of three in Syracuse. The Crunch have won three of four against the Phantoms.
Adirondack has lost three straight games, including back-to-back shutouts to Syracuse and Springfield. With 55 points, the Phantoms have the fewest points in the AHL.
On the strength of two straight wins, the Crunch have climbed up to 12th in the Eastern Conference, but they remain 15 points behind eighth place Hershey.
Broadcast Coverage
Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.
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Syracuse is 12th in the Eastern Conference after two-straight wins. With a 26-29-4-6 record, the Crunch are at 62 points. Eighth-place Norfolk, keeper of the last playoff spot, has 77 points. Between the clubs lie Hershey (72pts), Worcester (68pts), and Hartford (63pts). Only Bridgeport (61pts), Portland (56pts) and Adirondack (55pts) are behind Syracuse in the conference.
Sustr expected to return, Henry to ECHL
Crunch defenseman
Andrej Sustr is expected to return to the lineup tonight after missing the last 15 games with an upper-body injury. The Plzen, Czech Republic native has played in nine games with the Crunch this season, tallying one goal and one assist. Sustr started the season in Tampa Bay, appearing in 38 games, collecting seven assists and a plus-4 rating before being assigned to the Crunch Jan. 17.
With Sustr expected to return, Syracuse reassigned defenseman
Jordan Henry to ECHL-Florida. Henry, 28, has played in 19 Crunch games this season, recording one assist and 16 penalty minutes. He has played in 27 games with the Everblades this season, recording 22 points (8g, 14a). The Milo, Alberta native is a veteran of 301 AHL games.
Last time out
The Crunch overcame a 2-0 deficit, rallying to beat the St. John's IceCaps, 3-2, Wednesday at the War Memorial Arena. Syracuse won for the third time this season when trailing after two periods, while St. John's lost in regulation for only the second time in 35 games when leading after two.
Despite only seven first-period shots, the IceCaps took a 2-0 lead in the opening stanza on goals by John Albert and Ben Chiarot.
Brett Connolly jolted the energy back into the Crunch with a goal 32 seconds into the second period, jamming home a loose puck on a feed from
Dalton Smith.
Mike Angelidis knotted the game at two with a power-play goal, knocking in a rebound 2:32 into the period.
Artem Sergeev gave the Crunch their first lead, finishing off a pass from Vlad Namestnikov for a shorthanded goal, the Crunch's eighth of the season.
Kristers Gudlevskis made 26 saves, including 21 over the final two periods.
Counting the penalty minutes
Sunday in Glens Falls the Crunch and Phantoms combined for 34 penalties (6 majors, 8 misconducts and 20 minors) totaling 150 penalty minutes, the largest amount in a Crunch game this year. The game also set season highs for penalty minutes taken by the Crunch, 77, and by a Crunch opponent, 73. Adirondack and Syracuse are the first and third most penalized teams in the AHL, respectively, at 1,634 and 1,497 minutes.
The last time Syracuse spent so much time in the box was Dec. 12, 2009, when 81 minutes served hampered the Crunch in a 6-3 loss to Binghamton.
Sunday's combined 150 minutes is the highest for a Crunch game since Oct. 20, 2012, when Syracuse (72) and Binghamton (80) had 152 in a 6-5 Crunch overtime win, incidentally the biggest comeback in franchise history.
This season's most penalty-filled game had been Oct. 12, a 5-1 Syracuse win in Rochester, when the Crunch and Amerks combined for 121 penalty minutes. The Amerks' 72 penalty minutes in that game had been most for a Crunch opponent this year. Syracuse's most penalty minutes had been 63 in a 6-2 loss Dec. 10 in St. John's.
The AHL's highest single-game penalty-minute total this year was 329 Feb. 16 with Adirondack (194) falling to Portland (135), 2-0.
Scouting the Phantoms
Cal Heeter, who made 25 saves Sunday in the loss to Syracuse, has split time with Yann Danis when not on recall with Philadelphia. In 39 games Heeter is 15-23-0 with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. Danis has posted a 3.01 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage with a 9-11-4 record in 31 games. Both goaltenders have appeared in two games against the Crunch with Danis recording the lone victory.
Jason Akeson leads the Phantoms with 57 points (20g, 37a) in 64 games. Tye McGinn, who was promoted to the Flyers Sunday, is second with 36 points (14g, 22a) in 46 games. Both Akeson (3a) and McGinn (2g, 1a) have tallied three points against Syracuse in the season series.
Head-to-Head
Three of the four previous matches have ended in shutouts, including Sunday's 3-0 Crunch win in Glens Falls. The current goaltenders on the Crunch roster are 3-0 against the Phantoms, and both have one shutout. The lone loss in net was charged to Anders Lindback March 2.
With the benefit of five games against Adirondack with Springfield, Jonathan Machessault leads Crunch scorers with four points against the Phantoms, although he has just one assist in one game with Syracuse.
The Crunch power play is 4-for-21 (19.0%) against the Phantoms, including 2-for-5 Sunday. The Phantoms are 2-for-21 (9.5%) on the power play, with both goals coming in a 2-for-4 effort March 1.
Special Teams
After scoring multiple power-play goals in three straight games the Phantoms are scoreless with the man advantage in their last two (0-for-12). The Phantoms are ranked 25th on the power play converting on 15.3% of chances.
In each of the last three games the Phantoms have allowed at least one power-play goal. Over that time the Phantoms are killing off 73.1% of power plays (19-of-26). Despite the recent struggles the Phantoms are ranked sixth on the penalty kill (85.2%). They take more penalty minutes on average than any team in the AHL averaging 25.14 per game.
Syracuse has scored power-play goals in three games straight for the first time since Dec. 28-Jan. 8 when they tallied in five straight. In the past three games the Crunch have converted on 29.4% of power plays (5-for-17). Â
Brett Connolly has factored in on three of the five goals during that span for the Crunch. The team is ranked 20th with the man advantage this season (16.3%).
The Crunch have killed off each of the last 15 opponent power plays including seven last Sunday against Adirondack. Before the game against Adirondack the Crunch had allowed a power-play goal in four of the previous five. Syracuse's penalty kill is ranked 11th in the AHL at 83.4%.
