Last Time Out
Syracuse was shut out by Binghamton, 2-0, Saturday in Ottawa. Neither side scored until the third period at Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL Senators. Kyle Flanagan, nephew of Syracuse University women's ice hockey head coach Paul Flanagan, scored on the power play with 3:25 left.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped each of the other 26 shots he faced in his first game with Syracuse since Dec. 31. He had won seven straight decisions (two in the AHL, five in the NHL) until consecutive appearances at Canadian Tire Centre, Tampa Bay's 5-1 loss Feb. 8 and Syracuse's 2-0 loss Saturday.

Tye McGinn appeared in his 300th pro game—89 in the NHL and 211 in the AHL including 48 with Syracuse. No one has appeared in more games for the Crunch this year than McGinn (48 of 50) while also playing two games for Tampa Bay. Charlie Dodero had his first AHL fight of the year in his eighth game; he had four in 36 Crunch games last season. 

Syracuse was outshot, 28-21, after outshooting St. John's, 78-38, over the previous two games.

Scouting the IceCaps
Since the IceCaps topped the Crunch twice last week, they slit a pair with Toronto and now hold a 22-19-7-3 record (.529), fourth in the North Division and ninth in the Eastern Conference. St. John's has four contests in Syracuse: Feb. 17, Feb. 27, March 19 and March 20.

Wednesday's expected starter Zachary Fucale (13-11-3, 3.05) has been named CCM/AHL Player of the Week. In three wins, including a shutout of Syracuse, he posted a 1.32 goals-against average and stopped 107 of 111 shots—including 75 of 78 in two matches with Syracuse. 

Bud Holloway, the 27-year-old winger who spent the last four seasons in Europe, leads the club at 44 points (15g, 29a), tied for fifth in the AHL. He had three assists vs. Syracuse Tuesday. Charles Hudon, 21, leads St. John's in goals with 16. Captain Gabriel Dumont leads St. John's with five points vs. Syracuse (2g, 3a) but was injured vs. Toronto and is not available Wednesday

NHL All-Star Classic MVP John Scott has played six games for St. John's since being traded from Arizona. He returned from paternity leave Saturday; he and wife Danielle had twins, Estelle and Sofia.

Tambellini's return
Crunch forward Jeff Tambellini returned to the lineup Saturday in Ottawa—skating on a line with Mike Angelidis and Tye McGinn—after missing the previous six games. Tambellini did not dress for 9 of 10 because of injury, returning briefly to post an assist in Rochester Jan. 27 before an early exit. 

Tambellini, a former Michigan Wolverine, remains Syracuse's top performer in points per game (0.70) with 28 points (16g, 12a) in 40 games. Only Tanner Richard has a greater total (31 points in 46 games), while Tye McGinn (15g, 13a) and Matt Taormina (10g, 18a) also have 28 points. Tambellini leads Syracuse with 16 goals. He had a five-game scoring streak in January with seven points (5g, 2a).

The 31-year-old's AHL career high was 38 goals and 76 points in 57 games during the 2007-08 season with Bridgeport while playing another 31 games for the New York Islanders with four points (1g, 3a).

Special Teams
Syracuse's power play was 0-for-4 Saturday vs. Binghamton and, at 17.3%, ranks 14th in the AHL. Anthony DeAngelo leads the team with 13 power-play points. Adam Erne and Tye McGinn have six man-advantage goals. The Crunch's penalty kill stopped four of five Binghamton chances Saturday and remained 25th in the league at 79.7%.

The IceCaps, who went 5-for-8 on the power play vs. Syracuse in two games last week, rank 10th in AHL at 19.0%. St. John's stopped each of 11 Toronto power plays in the last two games upping the IceCaps' penalty kill to ninth in the league at 84.9%.

Lightning Flash
Tampa Bay suffered a 4-2 loss to San Jose Tuesday at Amalie Arena which was sold out for the 46th consecutive game. Ryan Callahan and Cedric Paquette scored the Lightning goals, while Alex Killorn, Andrej Sustr and J.T. Brown had assists. Paquette's was his third of the season and first since Nov. 14. Ben Bishop stopped 27 of 31 shots while the penalty kill was perfect for the fourth consecutive game.

Slater Koekkoek played his first game since being called up Feb. 11. He posted one shot in 7:58 of ice time over 10 shifts. His last NHL game was Oct. 17. He played three games for Tampa Bay last season. 
With four losses in five games, Tampa Bay has 64 points—fourth in the Atlantic Division and tied with Pittsburgh for eighth place and the final playoff position. The Bolts host Winnipeg Thursday before visiting the Penguins Saturday and the Hurricanes Sunday.