Game 59: Syracuse Crunch (29-19-5-5) vs. St. John's IceCaps (27-24-7-1)
7 p.m. March 8, 2017, War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.
The Syracuse Crunch (29-19-5-5) meet the St. John's Ice Caps (27-24-7-1) for the seventh time this season today at the War Memorial Arena. Syracuse is 3-1-1-1 against St. John's this year, with their lone regulation loss occurring Feb. 18 at Mile One Centre. Syracuse, the division leader, lost its last game Sunday in Binghamton 6-4. Wednesday marks the first of three straight home games.
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Scouting the Crunch
Four players recorded three points to lead the Crunch in Week 21;
Yanni Gourde and
Daniel Walcott recorded two goals and an assist.
Erik Condra and
Cory Conacher posted three assists each.
Conacher recorded his team-leading 12th multi-point game with two assists in Saturday's 4-1 win vs. Binghamton. With another helper Sunday in Sunday's 6-4 loss at Binghamton, Conacher improved his season total to 35 assists and 47 points. His assist total leads Syracuse and ranks fourth in the AHL. His point total is tied for the Crunch lead and tied for ninth in the league.
Matt Taormina, who posted one assist Friday and one assist Sunday, is tied with Conacher at 47 points. He's second in scoring among AHL defensemen and tied for the most assists at 34. Taormina has seven points (1g, 6a) in his last eight games.
Condra has 35 points (12g, 23a) in 38 games with Syracuse. His .92 points per game is surpassed only by Conacher's 1.02. In his last seven Crunch games he has  five goals and nine points, including three multi-point games for a total of eight on the season.
Scouting the IceCaps
After taking two out of three games last weekend, St. John's' points percentage sits at .525, fifth in the North Division and 10th in the conference. Utica, fourth in the Division, owns a .526 points percentage. The top four teams in each division make the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Chris Terry (22g, 30a) is second in the AHL and leads the IceCaps with 52 points. The Ontario native has skated in 14 games with the Montreal Canadiens this season, posting four points (2g, 2a). Bobby Farnham is fourth in the league with 120 penalty minutes. The Brown alum has 17 penalty minutes against the Crunch this season, including a fighting major for a bout with
Yanni Gourde Feb. 19.
Charlie Lindgren has earned the bulk of time in net for St. John's this season, posting a 2.68 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage in 38 games. The rookie netminder has lost three of his four starts against Syracuse this season, posting a 4.54 goals-against average and a .835 save percentage.
Lightning Flash
Tampa Bay fell in overtime 1-0 to the New York Rangers Monday at Amalie Arena. The Bolts picked up a point in the overtime loss, moving them two points back of the New York Islanders for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves for Tampa Bay in defeat. The former Crunch goalie had won his previous three starts, and marked the 13th time the Russian had made more than 30 saves in a start this season (36 starts).
Adam Erne led all Lightning skaters with 6 shots on goal. The former 2nd round pick scored his first career NHL goal at Pittsburgh Saturday.
Tampa Bay completes a three-game home stand with games against Minnesota and Florida Thursday and Saturday respectively. The Bolts own a 17-11-3 record at Amalie Arena this year, as opposed to a 13-15-6 record away from home.
Up Next
Syracuse's three-game homestand continues Friday vs. Springfield and Saturday vs. St. John's. Both games start at 7 p.m. and mark the end of the respective season series.
