Game 64: Syracuse Crunch (31-21-6-5) vs. Albany Devils (34-25-1-2)
7 p.m. March 18, 2017, War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.
The winner of Saturday's game between Syracuse and Albany will determine the North Division lead with 12 regular season games remaining. Syracuse (31-21-6-5, .579) has held first place since Thanksgiving, but the Devils (34-25-1-2, .573) are two points behind with a game in hand.
Albany, 3-2-0-0 against Syracuse this season, lost in a shootout to Springfield Friday, 2-1. The Crunch dropped a 4-3 decision in Utica.
Broadcast Coverage | Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.
Radio: ESPN 97.7 FM & 1200 AM Syracuse | 100.1 FM & 1440 AM Oswego |
Listen |
Mobile: Free audio on your mobile device with the
TuneIn App
Streaming Video: Pay-to-watch on
AHL LIve.com and mobile devices via
AHL Live App
Social: @SyracuseCrunch for in-game updates and @Dan_DUva for insights from the broadcast booth.
Last Time out
Syracuse rallied back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1, but lost Friday in Utica, 4-3.
Tye McGinn extended his goal-scoring streak to five games,
Michael Bournival returned to the Crunch lineup after missing 13 games, and
Henri Ikonen (3) posted his first multi-point game the year.
Borna Rendulic in the first and Pascal Pelletier in the second put the Comets up 2-0.
Henri Ikonen scored his first career power-play goal (170 AHL games) at 6:31 of the second, assisted by
Adam Comrie and
Tye McGinn.
Darren Archibald pushed Utica ahead by two again in the third, 3-1, but
Mike Halmo (16) and McGinn (7) scored in a 30-second span to tie the game. Ikonen,
Slater Koekkoek and
Erik Condra recorded assists. Utica broke the tie at 8:15 of the third when Mike Zalewski tipped in a point shot from defenseman Jordan Subban.
Mike McKenna made 21 saves in the loss, while Thatcher Demko recorded 34 saves in his eighth straight win. The Comets have a 12-9 points lead in the 12-game season series.
Condra named captain
Friday the Crunch named
Erik Condra team captain, the 20th in franchise history, second of the year and third of the Lightning era. Condra replaces
Luke Witkowski who was named captain Oct. 19 but has been with Tampa Bay since Jan. 6.
Condra, a captain at Notre Dame, has played 366 NHL games and 178 AHL games. He won the Calder Cup with Binghamton in 2011.
"A captain does the right thing on and off the ice," Condra said Friday. "I've been through a lot and being a captain is about keeping your emotions not too high and not too low. It's about calming at the right time and getting excited and pumped up at the right time."
In addition, defenseman
Matt Taormina has been named a permanent alternate captain.
Player Moves
Kevin Lynch and
John Kurtz signed AHL contracts with Syracuse today. They joined the Crunch on professional tryout contracts Jan. 21 and March 4, respectively.
Joel Vermin was recalled by Tampa Bay today. He was scratched for Friday's Crunch game in Utica. Vermin has three assists in 11 NHL games this year, plus 28 points (12g, 16a) in 43 AHL games.
Stefan Fournier was reassigned by the Lightning to Syracuse Friday. He scored a goal in his Kalamazoo debut Wednesday.
Syracuse signed forward Daniel Doremus to a P.T.O. Friday. The University of Denver alum has 41 points (8g, 33a) in 50 ECHL games with Manchester this season. He's played 25 career AHL games with Worcester and San Jose since turning pro in the spring of 2015.
Scouting the Crunch
Tye McGinn recorded his seventh goal in 10 games Friday. He scored 20 goals in 72 games for Syracuse last season. With five goals in five games, McGinn has a new season-high goal-scoring streak for Syracuse;
Tanner Richard and
Mike Halmo each had four-game goal-scoring streaks.
Matt Taormina was held scoreless Friday, halting a scoring streak at five games. He and
Cory Conacher, who missed his third straight game Friday, have 52 points to lead the Crunch, tied for fifth in the AHL.
With his first multi-point game Friday,
Henri Ikonen has four points in five games (1g, 3a).
Slater Koekkoek has two points (1g, 1a) in two games.
Scouting the Devils
Albany's top two scorers, John Quenneville (12g, 29a) and Blake Coleman (18g, 16a), are currently with the New Jersey Devils. Blake Pietila, who ranks fourth on Albany's roster with 29 points (15g, 14a), is also with New Jersey. Ben Sexton (19g, 12a) is Albany's top scorer currently with the team. He was in Providence the last three years.
Rookie goaltenders Ken Appleby and Mackenzie Blackwood have each appeared in 27 games this season. Blackwood (13-10-3, 2.74, .902) has started each of the team's last four games, allowing seven goals on 98 shots (.928). Appleby's last start came March 3 at Providence, where the Ontario native saved 36-of-39 shots and earned the win (16-11-0).
Special Teams
Henri Ikonen scored Syracuse's lone man-up tally on three chances Friday. The team is 7-for-24 (29.2%) over the last five games and 48-for-295 (16.2%) for the season, fourth-best in the division and 10th conference. The Crunch's 295 opportunities rank second in the AHL behind the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (300).
Syracuse stifled three of the Comets' four power play chances Friday, bringing the Crunch's penalty kill total to 229-of-279 (82.1%) this season. The only North division team with a better penalty kill is Albany, which has fended off 219-of-258 (84.1%) penalties this season. The Devils have capitalized on 46-of-254 (18.1%) power play chances, fifth in the conference and 13th in the league.
Lightning Flash
The Lightning fell 5-0 to the Maple Leafs Thursday. The Leafs jumped the Lightning and climbed to the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning take on the NHL-leading Capitals Saturday at Amalie Arena.
Up Next
The Crunch begin Week 24 at home Friday vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Saturday vs. Utica. Syracuse caps the weekend Sunday in Toronto.
