The Albany Devils ended Syracuse's streak of standings points at four games, shutting out the Crunch, 4-0, Sunday at Times Union Center. Scott Wedgewood collected his fourth shutout and second against Syracuse with 20 saves. Charles Lavigne, making his pro debut in net for Syracuse, turned aside 16 of 20 Devils shots.

The Crunch penalty kill allowed two power-play goals for the third time in the last four games, with the Devils capitalizing on two of eight chances. Syracuse was held scoreless on the power play for the second time in 11 games (0-for-4) having entered the game 15 for their last 43 (34.9%).

With three points each, Devils Reid Boucher (2g, 1a) and Henri Pesonen (3a) led all scorers. P.C. Labrie became the seventh Crunch player to surpass 100 penalty minutes thanks to a minor and misconduct. Syracuse averages 23.19 penalty minutes per game, third most in the AHL; its 99 majors are second most in the league.

Playing at home

Leading scorer Jason Akeson, who ranked tenth in the AHL in points, recorded 64 points (24g, 40a) prior to being recalled to Philadelphia Saturday. Philadelphia has recalled Adirondack's top three scorers leaving Ben Holmstrom (12g, 19a) and Brandon Manning (8g, 23a) tied for the team lead with 31 points. Rookie Brandon Alderson leads all active Phantoms with 13 goals.

In addition to Akeson, Philadelphia recalled netminder Cal Heeter Saturday. With Yann Dannis out for the remainder of the season with an injury the Phantoms signed goaltender Tony Capobianco to an ATO Monday. Carsen Chubak has started the last two games since Heeter's recall recording wins in both. In ten games this season he is 4-2-0-0 with a 2.30 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage. Capobianco appeared in two games for the ECHL-Elmira Jackals after completing his collegiate career at Canisius College. In 30 games with the Golden Griffins he was 13-14-2 with a 2.88 goals-against average and .913 save percentage. 

The Crunch have won four of the first five against the Phantoms, outscoring Adirondack 15-11 along the way. Syracuse has two shutouts in the series, to the Phantoms' one. All three games in Glens Falls resulted in shutouts, while the two games in Syracuse have produced a combined 19 goals.

Syracuse's power play has been strong against Adirondack this season, scoring in four of the five games, going 6-for-25 (24.0%). They lost the only game they didn't score a power-play goal, March 2 in Glens Falls (0-for-4). The Phantoms power play is 3-for-24 (12.5%) against the Crunch, including two separate 0-for-7 efforts.

With Jason Akeson (5pts) and Tye McGinn (3pts) on recall with the Flyers, Brandon Manning is the leading scorer for the Phantoms in games against the Crunch with three assists in five games. Six other players for Adirondack have multiple points against the Crunch this season.

Jonathan Marchessault leads Crunch players with seven points (1g, 6a) in seven games against the Phantoms, including four points (1g, 3a) in two games with the Crunch. He also played Adirondack five times while with Springfield, producing three assists. Brett Connolly is second on the team with five points (1g, 4a) in five games. In goal, Cedrick Desjardins has won both of his starts against Adirondack, including a 1-0 shutout Nov. 30.

The Adirondack power play is 26th in the AHL (15.2%). Away from Glens Falls, however, the Phantoms have struggled converting on only 12.4% percent of opportunities (28th). In their last four road games the Phantoms have only converted on two of 15 chances with the man advantage.

Prior to killing off all three Worcester man advantages Friday Adirondack had allowed power-play goals in eight straight games (23-of-37). Despite their recent struggles the Phantoms boast the AHL's sixth ranked penalty kill (83.9%). Adirondack is tied with Bridgeport averaging the most penalty minutes per game in the AHL at 23.85. Adirondack has also drawn more penalty minutes than any other team this season.

Sunday's game in Albany marked only the second time in the last 11 games that the Syracuse power play was held scoreless. The Crunch power play is sitting at 14th (17.9%) in the AHL. They also have power-play goals in seven of their last eight home games (12-for-35, 34.3%), a span in which the Crunch have gone 5-1-0-2. Syracuse has the eighth best home power play in the league at 21.2%.

The Crunch have allowed power-play goals in four of the last five games, killing off 17-of-23 penalties (73.9%). The penalty kill is 15th in the AHL at 82.4%. With three shorthanded tallies in the last four games the Crunch have the third most shorthanded goals in the AHL (11). Only Binghamton (16) and W-B/Scranton (13) have recorded more.