Crunch collide with Marlies
The Crunch (7-9-1-2) look to extend their season-high three-game winning streak as they visit the Toronto Marlies (16-4-0-0) for the third time in 12 days. The match marks the start of the second quarter of the season for the Crunch, who aim to take on the role of streak busters for the second week in a row; Syracuse ended Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 12-game point streak (11-0-0-1) with consecutive regulation wins Friday and Saturday.
Last time out
The Crunch completed a weekend sweep of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with a 4-3 win at Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday.
For the third straight game, the Crunch raced out to a lead in the opening two minutes of the first.
Daniel Walcott poked home a feed from
Carter Verhaeghe at 1:39 for a 1-0 Syracuse lead. After the Penguins pushed back with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead, Verhaeghe tied the game at two with a power-play goal on a wrist shot in the slot at 17:28.
The Crunch took control in the second period with two unanswered goals.
Michael Bournival put the Crunch ahead 3-2 with a shorthanded goal—his second in as many nights—at 10:56. Six minutes later
Adam Erne sprung
Matthew Peca on a breakaway, which he promptly buried with a top-shelf backhand for a 4-2 Crunch lead. The Penguins got within one in the third, but
Connor Ingram turned aside 13 shots in the final frame and 30 in the game to preserve a 4-3 win.
Scouting the Crunch
The Crunch (7-9-1-2) climbed to sixth in the North Division with three wins in three games last week. Their offense came to life with 15 goals in those three games.
Matthew Peca posted six points (2g, 4a) in three games last week to more than double his season scoring with 11 points (2g, 9a). It matches the best three-game span of his career; he logged six assists in three games Apr. 1-3, 2016. The longest tenured active Crunch player scored his first game-winning goal Saturday and leads the team with nine assists.
Peca is one of three players with 11 points, which is second on the Crunch behind
Cory Conacher's 13.
Anthony Cirelli (3g, 8a) and
Michael Bournival (7g, 4a) also have 11 points. Bournival scored shorthanded goals in back-to-back games and he now leads the team with seven goals.
Head-to-Head
The Crunch and Marlies play at Ricoh Coliseum for the third time in 12 days; it's their fourth of eight head-to-head matches this season. Toronto has won all three games in 2017-18.
Syracuse has scored just four goals in three games against the league's top defensive team.
Adam Erne (2a) and
Dennis Yan (1g, 1a) are the top scorers for the Crunch. Andreas Johnsson leads all scorers in the series with four points (2g, 2a).
In net, Garret Sparks has two wins over the Crunch, allowing three goals with a .952 save percentage. Calvin Pickard gave up just one goal in their last meeting.
Louis Domingue started both games in Toronto Nov. 18-19 and was the tough-luck loser twice, giving up a total of four goals with a .927 save percentage in his first games with the Crunch.
Scouting the Marlies
With the aid of the Crunch's sweep of the Penguins, the Marlies (16-4-0-0) are now the top team in the AHL with an 0.800 points percentage. The Marlies have won seven straight games—the longest streak in the AHL this season—and are 10-1-0-0 in November. They've allowed just 14 goals in 11 November games, surrendering more than one goal just twice.
Andreas Johnsson (9g, 8a) and Ben Smith (9g, 8a) lead a balanced Marlies attack with 17 points apiece. Johnsson is riding a seven-game point streak (4g, 5a) since Nov. 10. Seven players have at least 10 points and 23 players have registered at least one point.
Goaltender Garret Sparks has been the backbone of the Marlies. He is tied for the AHL lead with a .947 save percentage while his 10 wins and 1.50 goals-against average rank second. His two shutouts are also tied for the AHL lead. Calvin Pickard has appeared in seven games and holds a 5-2-0 record with a 2.03 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
Special teams
The Crunch have scored shorthanded goals in four consecutive games, the longest stretch for the Crunch since at least the 2005-06 season, the year the AHL's online statistics database begins. The Crunch lead the league with seven shorthanded goals; they have five in the last four games, which alone would tie them for the most in the AHL. The Crunch's penalty kill is up to 14th at 82.9%.
Syracuse had just seven power plays in three games last week, but converted on two. With power-play goals in nine of the last 11 games, the Crunch are now 25th in the league at 13.9%.
The Marlies power play is 22nd in the AHL at 14.9% after going 3-for-12 last week. They scored in all three games and have five power-play goals in the last five games.
Toronto's penalty kill is a perfect 15-for-15 in its last four games, beginning with a 4-for-4 effort against the Crunch Nov. 19. The last goal allowed was
Adam Erne's tally Nov. 18. The Marlies are tops in the league at 89.5%.
Quarter pole
The Crunch hit the quarter pole of the season Saturday in Wilkes-Barre, playing their 19th of 76 regular season games. At 7-9-1-2, the Crunch are below .500 after 19 games for the first time since the 2010-11 season (6-9-1-3).
After a slow start, Syracuse's offense has risen to 17th in the league, averaging 2.89 goals per game a quarter of the way through the season. They are now 24th in the league, allowing 3.32 goals per game.
Last year, the Crunch went 12-5-0-2 in the first quarter of the season, averaging 3.32 goals per game. In the second quarter of last season, Syracuse posted an 8-5-3-3 record.
