Crunch end road trip in Belleville
The Crunch (12-9-1-2) play their third road game in four nights as they visit Yardmen Arena in Belleville to face the Senators (10-11-0-3). It's the second meeting in a week between the North Division foes and the fourth of eight overall this season. The Crunch have won eight straight games after their 5-2 win in Binghamton last night while the Sens have been off since their shootout loss in Syracuse last Saturday.
Last time out
For the second game in a row the Crunch overcame an early deficit, scoring five unanswered goals to defeat the Devils, 5-2, Friday at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena.
Binghamton grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first on two goals by Nathan Bastian. His first came just 57 seconds into the game to ignite Binghamton's Teddy Bear Toss and then he doubled the advantage at 16:46. The Crunch put the breaks on the Devils momentum by scoring in the final 10 seconds of the period.
Mathieu Joseph nudged a rebound past Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 2-1 with 7.5 seconds left in the first.
The Crunch dominated in the second period and put up a four spot on the Devils to gain control. On an early power play
Carter Verhaeghe buried his third goal in two games after a quick pass play with
Adam Erne and
Mat Bodie, tying the game at two. Less than two minutes later
Alex Gallant—celebrating his 25th birthday—tipped a point shot from Dominik Masin to give Syracuse its first lead, 3-2. Later in the frame
Anthony Cirelli upped the lead to 4-2, whacking home a rebound in the slot and then he netted his second of the period on a set up by Joseph to end the scoring run and give the Crunch a 5-2 cushion.
After allowing two goals in the first period,
Louis Domingue faced just 11 Devils bids over the final two periods, denying each one for his sixth straight win.
Scouting the Crunch
The Crunch have won eight straight games, surging to third place in the North Division with a 0.563 points percentage (12-9-1-2). Their eight-game winning streak is the second-longest run in the AHL this season behind Manitoba's current nine-game streak. After starting the year 1-6-0-2 on the road, the Crunch have won four in a row away from the War Memorial Arena. The last time the Crunch won four straight road games was in the 2014-15 season; they won four straight Mar. 14-25 and five straight Nov. 29-Dec. 19.
During their eight-game winning streak, the Crunch have scored 36 goals—an average of 4.50 goals per game—while allowing 19—an average of 2.38 goals against per game. Syracuse has risen from 28th in AHL scoring (2.50 goals per game) before their winning streak up to 12th at 3.17 goals per game. They've also gone from allowing 3.38 goals per game down to 3.04 goals per game.
On the strength of consecutive three-point games, rookie
Anthony Cirelli paces the Crunch with 18 points (5g, 13a). He recorded a career-high three assists Wednesday vs. Utica then followed up with his first multi-goal game (2g, 1a) Friday vs. Binghamton. His 18 points rank sixth among AHL rookies.
Defenseman
Mat Bodie recorded his second multi-point game in less than a week. In his first season with the Crunch, Bodie has five points (1g, 4a) during a three game scoring streak and seven points (1g, 6a) in his last six games. He has played to a +8 rating in the last seven games, taking over the team lead at +10.
Scouting the Senators
The Senators (10-11-0-3) have hovered around .500 all season; they are 4-4-0-2 in their last 10 games. Their 0.473 points percentage puts them in sixth place in the North Division. While the Crunch have played twice in the past three nights, Belleville has been off since last Saturday's shootout loss in Syracuse.
Belleville's offense, which ranks 20th in the AHL with 2.83 goals per game, does not feature a player with more than 13 points through the team's first 24 games. Ethan Werek (6g, 7a) and Filip Chlapik (4g, 9a) are the two leading scorers for the Sens. Chris DiDomenico, who spent a week with the Crunch before being reclaimed on waivers by Ottawa, had two points in his return to Belleville Saturday against the Crunch. He has seven points (4g, 3a) in five games with Belleville.
The Senators feature a goaltending tandem of Andrew Hammond and Danny Taylor. Hammond has started three games against the Crunch and he is 6-2-2 with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in 12 appearances. Taylor is 3-7-1 with a 3.71 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage in 11 games.
Head-to-head
Tonight is the third of eight meetings between the Crunch and Senators this season. Syracuse has points in all three games (2-0-0-1) with the last two matches being decided in a shootout. The Crunch's two wins came in Syracuse while the Sens earned their one victory on home ice.
The first two games are the two highest penalized games in the AHL this season. The teams combined for 116 PIMs in the opening match Oct. 13 in Syracuse then 90 PIMs in the encore performance Nov. 1 in Belleville.
Matthew Peca leads the season series among active players with four points, all assists, in three games. His first multi-point game of the season came Nov. 1 in Belleville. Chris DiDomenico (2g, 1a) and Nick Paul (1g, 2a) lead the Sens scoring against the Crunch.
Special teams
The Crunch struck on the power play for a third straight game in Binghamton last night. It's the second time this season the Crunch have scored power-play goals in at least back-to-back games; Syracuse scored in seven straight games Oct. 28-Nov. 18. The Crunch are 3-for-13 (23.1%) during this three game run and 17-for-124 (13.7%) on the season, 27th in the AHL.
Belleville's power play was 2-for-5 against the Crunch last Saturday and is 3-for-18 (16.7%) in the season series. That's ahead of the Sens season average of 12.6% (14-for-111) with the man advantage.
The Crunch penalty kill is 10-for-10 in the last two games, their best two-game stretch of the season. Syracuse is 15th in the AHL with an 83.1% penalty kill.
Belleville's penalty kill is one of five in the league below 80.0%, coming in at 79.% on the season.
