Game 36: Syracuse Crunch (22-9-4-0) at Hartford Wolf Pack (18-12-2-2)
7 p.m., XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
The Crunch play their fifth consecutive road game Friday at XL Center in Hartford. Winning their last two—at Albany, 2-1 in a shootout, and at Binghamton, 5-4 in overtime—makes Syracuse 12-5-2-0 on the road. The Wolf Pack are playing their third consecutive home game, beating St. John's Friday, 4-2, and falling to the IceCaps Saturday, 7-3, for a home record of 11-6-2-2. No Eastern Conference team has played more home games, 21, than Hartord.
Overall, Syracuse is second in the Northeast Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. The Crunch's 48 points are eight more than Hartford, third in the division and sixth in the conference. The Crunch are one of four teams in the AHL with fewer than 10 regulation losses (Manchester, Oklahoma City and Utica).
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 | Listen Live |
Mobile: Free audio on your mobile device with the TuneIn App
Streaming Video: Pay-to-watch video on AHL LIve.com and on mobile devices with the AHL Live App
Last Time Out
Jonathan Marchessault scored the game-winning goal in overtime Saturday in Binghamton as Syracuse survived a late rally by the Senators in a 5-4 victory.
Alongside Vladislav Namestnikov during three-on-three play, Marchessault charged end-to-end and unleashed the decisive bid from the right-wing circle with 12 seconds left in extra time. Marchessault's ninth goal-his first marker since Nov. 29 in Hershey-is his first game-winning score of the year, the 11th of his career and first in overtime. He last scored a game winner Apr. 12 vs. Toronto, his fifth of the 2013-14 season and first with Syracuse.
Mike Blunden recorded his first AHL hat trick, scoring two power-play goals, and drawing the hats on a game-tying goal with 1:10 remaining in regulation. Cody Kunyk opened the scoring with his fifth of the season.
The Senators started chipping away at Syracuse's 3-0 lead in the second and rallied for a temporary 4-3 lead at the 16:45 mark of the third with goals from Max McCormick, Cole Schneider, Matt Puempel and Carter Camper.
Kristers Gudlevskis' 24 saves, including two in overtime, were enough for his 12th win of the season. The Crunch offense fired a season-high 46 shots on Peter Mannino, topping their previous best, 44, Oct. 18 vs. Binghamton. Joey Mormina had two assists, his second multi-point game of the year.
Scouting the Senators
Former Crunch goaltender Cedrick Desjardins (8-3-1) suffered a season-ending injury Dec. 26 leaving rookie Mackenzie Skapski (8-7-2) as the top goalie. Yann Danis has been picked up to replace Desjardins. The 33-year-old veteran is 5-6-0 with a 2.72 goals-against average for Norfolk.
Hartford won six of 11 December games including a four-game win streak that was ultimately snapped by the Crunch on Dec. 19. The Wolf Pack were victorious in their first January game, skating past St. Johns, 4-2. But one day later, the Ice Caps earned revenge with a 7-3 win.
Eighth-year forward Chris Bourque leads the Pack with 30 points (14g, 16a) and ranks 11th in AHL scoring. The Boston native tallied at least one point in nine of 13 November games, scoring a goal in six of those contests. In the season opener Oct. 12, the 28-year-old had two assists in a 4-3 win against the Crunch, before posting a goal and an assist in a 6-5 losing effort Dec. 5. Bourque was held off the score sheet in Hartford's other two matchups with Syracuse.
Head to Head
The Wolf Pack ventured to the War Memorial for the first game of their season on Oct. 12. Behind an Oscar Lindberg overtime goal, Hartford beat Syracuse, 4-3. Since that win, though, the Crunch have posted a perfect 3-0-0-0 mark against the Wolf Pack. Syracuse's first trip to the XL Center on Nov. 19 resulted in a 5-4 victory behind a pair of multi-goal nights from Mike Angelidis and Yanni Gourde. On Dec. 5, Mike Angelidis replicated his performance, posting another two-goal game in a 6-5 win at the War Memorial before Kristers Gudlevskis shut out the Wolf Pack, 2-0, Dec. 19.
Conner Allen and Chris Bourque lead the Wolf Pack with four points each against Syracuse, while Tanner Richard and Jonathan Marchessault have six points against Hartford; Mike Angelidis has four of his 12 goals against the Pack. Friday's starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is 1-0-1 against the Pack with eight goals against.
Special teams
Two of Mike Blunden's three goals Saturday in Binghamton were power-play scores and the team was 2-for-4. While posting multiple power-play goals in the same game for the third time this year, Syracuse improved to 13.1% (20-for-153) and 27th in the league. The power play allowed a shorthanded goal to the Sens, the seventh of the year, a league worst.
Syracuse's penalty kill allowed one goal in four times shorthanded Saturday and slipped to 20th in the AHL, 81.6%.
Hartford surrendered three power play goals Saturday against St. John's (3-for-6) and has allowed the same number of power-play goals as Syracuse, 28, but in two more times shorthanded. So their percentage, 81.8%, and standing, 19th, are slightly ahead of Syracuse.
The Wolf Pack power play is 17th in the league, 15.9%. Chris Bourque is top power-play performer with six goals and six assists.
