Game 30: Syracuse Crunch (12-12-4-1) at Hershey Bears (16-9-1-5)7 p.m., Giant Center, Hershey, Pa.
Ten days after a 5-4 overtime loss at Giant Center, the Crunch visit Hershey again Tuesday. Syracuse's roster has four additional forwards since the last meeting:
Mike Angelidis, Mike Blunden,
Yanni Gourde and
Luke Pither.
The Crunch are .500, sixth in the North Division, while the Bears are .613, second in the Atlantic. Both clubs are coming off losses. The season series is even, 1-1, with the Crunch victory coming Oct. 30, 4-1.
Broadcast Coverage | Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.Radio: ESPN | 97.7FM & 1200AM Syracuse | 100.1FM & 1440AM Oswego |
Listen Live |
Mobile: Free audio on your mobile device with the
TuneIn App Streaming Video: Pay-to-watch on
AHL LIve.com and mobile devices via
AHL Live AppSocial: @SyracuseCrunch for in-game updates and @Dan_DUva for insights from the broadcast booth. | #BelieveInBlueLast Time Out Dylan Blujus and
Slater Koekkoek scored power-play goals for Syracuse, but the Comets scored the last three unanswered for a 4-2 win Sunday at the Aud. The Comets lead the 10-game season series, 3-1.
Both Crunch goals were power-play scores: Blujus from
Anthony DeAngelo and Cam Darcy in the first and Koekkoek from
Matt Taormina and
Tanner Richard in the second. Blujus's third goal gives him nine points while Koekkoek's first bumps him to six points. Syracuse was held to under 25 shots (22) for the third straight game.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves, slipping to 4-3-1 in eight games with the Crunch, as his goals-against average jumped to 2.15. Three of four Comets scorers potted their first of the year including No. 1 star David Shields.
Scouting the BearsThe Bears are fifth in the Eastern Conference at 16-9-1-5 (.613). Their 25 points at home are most in the league (tied with W-B/Scranton). Hershey had won nine of its last 10 home games until a 5-3 setback Sunday vs. Binghamton. They had the fewest regulation home losses in the AHL last year, seven.
Chris Bourque, the team's leading scorer and 11th in the AHL with 26 points, has been out since a Dec. 19 injury. The next three leaders are Paul Carey (12g, 9a), Carter Camper 4g, 16a) and Sean Collins (5g, 12a).
Veteran goalies Dan Ellis and Justin Peters have split time and have nearly identical stats. They both own 8-4-3 records with 2.74 and 2.76 goals-against averages, respectively, plus one shutout each.
Special TeamsOver the last eight games (dating to Dec. 9) the Crunch power-play has rocketed from 21st in the AHL (15.1%) to seventh (19.2%). In the same span the club's penalty kill has surged from 19th in the league (81.3%) to 13th (84.9%). The Crunch had four special teams goals against Hershey last time they met.
The Bears are 22nd on the power play (14.0%) and 20th on the penalty kill (82.4%). They've allowed six power-play goals in the last four games while scoring two.
Lightning FlashThe Lightning lost to Montreal in a shootout Monday, 4-3, and are next in action Wednesday vs. the New York Rangers. Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov scored his 13th goal of the season on a second-period power play. Kucherov ranks second on the Bolts for goals and power-play goals (6).
