Last Time Out
Matthew Peca posted a goal and an assist in his first game since Jan. 23, helping the Crunch to a 3-2 win over the Binghamton Senators Friday at the War Memorial. Linemate Tye McGinn notched two assists and recorded a game-high plus-3. It was McGinn's seventh multi-point game and Peca's fifth.

With his fifth goal of the year, Slater Koekkoek has three points (2g, 1a) in his last two Crunch games—with three games for Tampa Bay in between. Mike Angelidis scored his sixth goal, his second game-winner of the year. Jeff Tambellini and Tony DeAngelo registered single assists. David Broll registered two shots and his team-leading seventh fight (a rematch from Jan. 23 with Guillaume Lepine).

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 29 of 31 shots in his third start vs. Binghamton this year. He has seven wins in a Crunch uniform in 12 games with 1.94 goals-against average. Matt O'Connor stopped 21 of 24 Crunch shots in defeat. Danny Hobbs and Buddy Robinson scored for the Senators.

Hot Hands
Tye McGinn, Matthew Peca and Jeff Tambellini appeared in each of Syracuse's first 36 games, but injuries over the subsequent 17 contests kept the Crunch's top-producing line unwhole. Until Friday. They combined for five points (1g, 4a) in the 3-2 victory over St. John's. It was only the third time since Jan. 10 that all three were in the lineup. (Twenty-three games were missed among the three.)

The trio has combined for 88 points this season with McGinn and Tambellini at 32 each, two short of Tanner Richard's team lead. Tambellini's 18 goals are tops on the Crunch, while McGinn is tied with Mike Blunden for second. Peca has 24 points (5g, 19a) in 43 games; Syracuse was 1-7-2-1 without him.

"They each bring something different to the table," Rob Zettler said Friday. "Tambellini is a big time shooter, Peca brings the speed and the puck handling ability—and the ability to get it out of our end with some speed—and McGinn is a big guy who gets to the front of the net and causes some havoc. All three of those guys compliment each other well."

Scouting the IceCaps
Montreal has recalled both St. John's All-Stars, forward Michael McCarron (15g, 19a) and defenseman Morgan Ellis (12g, 19a). They were third and fifth in IceCaps scoring, respectively. Other recent call-ups to the NHL are defenseman Victor Bartley (Feb. 22) and center Jacob de la Rose (Feb. 11). 

Bud Holloway, who scored his 16th goal Friday at Utica, leads the IceCaps at 45 points, ninth in the AHL. Charles Hudon's 17 goals lead the team and his 38 points rank second. Captain Gabriel Dumont has 34 points and a team-high five points versus Syracuse (2g, 3a) in four games. 

Zachary Fucale (14-14-3, 2.98) has lost his last three starts, after winning four straight. Three of the four victories came versus Syracuse, including the rookie's first career shutout Feb. 9 with 39 saves, en route to AHL Player-of-the-Week honors. Eddie Pasquale (6-6-3, 2.88) earned an overtime win over Syracuse Nov. 20, but has one win in the last two months (1-5-1).

Special Teams
The Crunch penalty kill was 4-for-4 Friday, improving to 27th in the league (79.4%). The Crunch were 0-for-1 on the man advantage, marking the fifth time in 54 games the Crunch and their opponent combined for zero power-play goals. It was the sixth time they had less than two power plays in a game. Overall Syracuse is 13th in the league (17.8%), but seventh at home (21.9%). 

Against St. John's, the Crunch power play is 2-for-17 (11.8%) in five games, while the IceCaps power play is 8-for-21 (38.1%) against Syracuse. St. John's ranks ninth in the league (18.3%) overall and 17th on the road (14.9%). The IceCaps were 1-for-4 on the power play Friday in Utica while the penalty kill was 5-for-5, improving to seventh in the AHL (85.5%).

Lightning Flash
Ben Bishop and the Bolts shut out the Devils Friday in New Jersey, 4-0, for their fifth consecutive win. Bishop was the No. 1 star with 21 saves, while Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat each collected a goal and an assist. Alex Killorn and Matt Carle also scored goals.

Tampa Bay has 35 wins, tied for most in the Atlantic Division and second most in the Eastern Conference. At 74 points, the Bolts are three behind Florida for the division lead. The Lightning continue their four-game trip Sunday in Boston before visiting Toronto Monday and Ottawa Thursday.

Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are tied for Lightning scoring lead at 49 points. Stamkos's 27 goals lead the club while Victor Hedman owns the lead in assists with 30. The top plus-minus performers are Vladislav Namestnikov (+16) and J.T. Brown (+15).