5 p.m., War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.
The eight-game season series between Syracuse and St. John's concludes this afternoon at the War Memorial Arena. The Crunch topped the IceCaps Saturday, 3-2, and can jump them in the standings with a victory today. Utica holds the last North Division playoff spot (.573), followed by Rochester (.524), St. John's (.515) and Syracuse (.508). Four of Syracuse's last 11 games are against Utica.
Last Time OutSyracuse erased a 1-0 deficit and held on for a 3-2 victory Friday against St. John's at the War Memorial. No. 1 star
Jeff Tambellini recorded his third game-winning goal in a two-point effort (1g, 1a), his ninth multi-point performance of the year. Tambellini has four goals in three games and leads the club with 23 markers. He's the second player to reach the 40-point plateau for Syracuse.
Ryan Martindale scored the first two goals for Syracuse and assisted on the game-winner as Syracuse scored three straight.
Matt Taormina,
Henri Ikonen,
Anthony DeAngelo and
Yanni Gourde registered single assists. The IceCaps closed the margin to one goal, but could not even the score. Gabriel Dumont and Brandon McNally scored St. John's goals.
David Broll had his ninth fight of the year, dropping the mitts with Shane Bakker in the first.
Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 21 of 23 in his 10th win, his first victory since Feb. 19 vs. Utica (four appearances ago). Eddie Pasquale faced 39 shots and stopped 36 in his second straight loss.
Martindale MagicRyan Martindale's performance Friday—his first game in a Crunch uniform since upgrading from a PTO to a standard AHL contract on March 7—ranks among his best. The 24-year-old center contributed on each Syracuse score, potting two and assisting on the game-winner. In 13 Crunch games this season, Martindale has two goals and four assists. With ECHL-Florida he has 19 points (7g, 12a) in 25 games.
Despite playing only 32 of 193 career AHL games with Syracuse (16%), 10 of his 32 career goals have been for Syracuse (31%)—and 20 of his 73 points (27%). Each of Martindale's three career multi-goal games and three career 3-point games have come in his 32 Crunch games.
The Oshawa, Ontario native's first points with the Crunch were last season, March 13, 2015, vs. Adirondack, when he notched two goals and one assist. It was his first career multi-goal game and first 3-point game. He had another multi-goal game April 3 at Hartford and another three-point game (1g, 2a) April 10 vs. Bridgeport—a game that featured his first career overtime goal.
Scouting the IceCapsCaptain Gabriel Dumont leads the IceCaps against the Crunch with nine points (4g, 5a) including his 18th goal of the season Saturday. He's second on the St. John's scoring leaderboard at 43 points, tied with Charles Hudon, the team leader in goals at 20. Bud Holloway's 52 points are best on the team and tied for sixth in the AHL. NHL All-Star Game MVP John Scott has four points (2g, 2a) in 19 games.
Rookie Zachary Fucale (15-15-4, 2.98) is 3-0-1 vs. Syracuse including a 39-save shutout Feb. 9. Original IceCap Eddie Pasquale (10-7-0, 2.55) is 2-1-0 against the Crunch after losing Saturday.
Andrew Yogan, who scored two goals in four games in a Syracuse uniform this year, has five points (1g, 4a) in eight games with St. John's since signing a PTO March 4.
Special TeamsNeither side scored on the power play Friday—Syracuse was 0-for-4 and St. John's was 0-for-3—marking the 15th time the Crunch and their opponent had perfect penalty kills. Both the IceCaps and Crunch are 18.5 percent on the power play, eighth and ninth in the AHL. Syracuse has more scores (48-for-259 vs. 46-for-248). At home, Syracuse is fifth at 21.5 percent (28-for-130) while on the road St. John's is 20th at 14.5 percent (18-for-124).
IceCaps power-play producers include Bud Holloway (10g, 14a), Charles Hudon (9g, 8a) and Morgan Ellis (3g, 15a). For Syracuse, it's DeAngelo (17a), Taormina (4g, 12a) and Richard (1g, 13a).
The IceCaps penalty kill ranks fifth in the AHL at 86.4 percent compared to 27th for Syracuse at 79.7 percent. The Crunch kill has been successful on its last six chances over the last two games, while the IceCaps have stopped each of their last eight in two games.
Lightning FlashAfter losing five of the past six games, the Lightning labeled their game against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday a must-win. Goalie Ben Bishop made sure the Lightning got what they needed, and set a franchise record in the process. Bishop made 32 saves for his 15th career shutout with Tampa Bay and the Lightning moved back into second place in the Atlantic Division with a 2-0 win at Arizona. Bishop has 17 shutouts in his NHL career, including one each with the St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators.
Ondrej Palat scored in the final minute of the first period and Bishop did the rest, passing Nikolai Khabibulin on the Lightning all-time shutout list and lowering his NHL-best goals-against average to 2.02. The Lightning killed six Arizona power plays, including a lengthy 5-on-3 in the second period.
Nikita Kucherov scored an empty-net goal with 49.6 seconds left for the Lightning (41-26-5), who jumped over the Boston Bruins and pulled within two points of the Florida Panthers for the Atlantic Division lead. The Bolts next play Tuesday, hosting Detroit to begin a six-game homestand.
