SYRACUSE CRUNCH WEEKLY RELEASE
Presented by Penske Truck Rental

LAST WEEK
 
Tue., Feb. 26 – Crunch at Binghamton – W, 4-0
Fri., March 1 – Crunch vs. Lehigh Valley – W, 4-0
Sat., March 2 – Crunch vs. Rochester – L, 5-3
Sun., March 3 – Crunch at Rochester – W, 4-1
 
THIS WEEK
 
Wed., March 6 – Crunch at Utica – 7 p.m.
Fri., March 8 – Crunch vs. Utica – 7 p.m.
Sat., March 9 – Crunch at W-B/Scranton – 7:05 p.m.
 
CRUNCH IN FIRST PLACE TIE AT THREE QUARTER POLE
 
The Crunch gained ground in the North Division playoff race, moving into a tie with the Rochester Americans for first place with one quarter of the season left to be played. The Crunch (35-17-3-2) are tied for first place for the ninth day this season; they have yet to hold sole possession of the top slot in the North.
 
Syracuse collected three wins in four games in Week 22. The Crunch opened the week with back-to-back shutouts; they blanked Binghamton 4-0 last Tuesday and followed that with an identical 4-0 win over Lehigh Valley at home on Friday. It was the first time since last Jan. 13-15 that Syracuse posted two straight shutouts and it gave the Crunch a league-leading 10 clean sheets this season. They then split a home-and-home series with the Amerks, starting with a 5-3 home loss Saturday night and ending with a 4-1 win the next afternoon in Rochester to wrap up their first three-in-three weekend of the season.
 
Syracuse has another chance to claim sole possession of first in the division with three games in Week 23.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
 
Forward Mitchell Stephens scored goals in three of four games and has a four-game points streak after Week 22; the 22-year-old recorded six points (4g, 2a) in four games last week. In his second pro season, Stephens has logged 18 points (9g, 9a) in 22 games.
 
He missed 35 of 37 Crunch games between Nov. 2 and Feb. 6, but in 13 games since returning to the lineup, Stephens has posted 10 points (7g, 3a). His seven goals in that span lead the Crunch while his 10 points are tied with Carter Verhaeghe for second-most on the team since Feb. 8.  
 
***
 
Carter Verhaeghe also rides a scoring streak entering Week 23; his five-game streak is the longest-active streak on the Crunch. In that span, the Crunch's leading scorer has logged six points (2g, 4a) and he has recorded at least one point in eight of the last nine games with 10 points (3g, 7a).
 
The 23-year-old leads the Eastern Conference and ranks second in the AHL with 64 points (25g, 39a) in 57 games. It is the third-highest total in a single season by a Crunch skater during the Lightning affiliation, which started prior to the 2012-13 season. Tyler Johnson had 65 points during his MVP season in 2012-13 and Jonathan Marchessault had 67 points in 2014-15.
 
***
 
Rookie Alex Barré-Boulet continued his assault on the Crunch rookie record book with four points (1g, 3a) in four games last week. The 21-year-old is the top scoring rookie in the AHL with 52 points (27g, 25a) in 57 games. 
 
His power-play goal Sunday in Rochester was his 27th tally of the season, which ranks fourth by a Crunch rookie in franchise history. He also moved past Derick Brassard and Kyle Palmieri for rookie scoring in team history; his 52 points rank seventh in franchise history and he trails Mathieu Joseph by one point for the most by a Lightning-era Crunch rookie.
 
His 14 power-play goals lead the AHL and are tied with Reggie Savage (1999-00) and Dane Jackson (2004-05) for the sixth-most in a single season in franchise history. Savage holds the single-season franchise record with 20 power-play goals in 2000-01. Since Feb. 18, Barré-Boulet is tied for the AHL lead with 11 points (6g, 5a) in eight games.
 
UPCOMING: UTICA, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON
 
The Crunch open a three-game week with two matches against the Utica Comets in the Galaxy Cup Series. Syracuse goes to Utica Wednesday and hosts the Comets Friday; Utica leads the series with four wins in seven games, but the teams haven't squared off since Feb. 1, a 4-0 Crunch win.
 
The Crunch wrap up the week with their final Saturday road game of the season in Wilkes-Barre against the Penguins. In their first match of the season, Syracuse rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Pens, 4-3, in overtime Dec. 22.
 
WEEK 22 RESULTS
 
Tuesday, February 26 | Game 54 at Binghamton | W, 4-0
Syracuse            2 2 0 - 4     Shots: 12-9-5-26     PP: 0/3
Binghamton      0 0 0 - 0     Shots: 9-7-6-22        PP: 0/5
1st Period-Verhaeghe 24 (Brassart), 13:25. Stephens 6 (Valleau, Andreoff), 14:12. 2nd Period-Andreoff 19 (Unassisted). 2:58. Katchouk 8 (Unassisted), 17:54. . . . Pasquale 18-9-5 (5 shots-5 saves), Ingram ND (17 shots-17 saves). A-2,578 
 
Friday, March 1 | Game 55 vs. Lehigh Valley | W, 4-0
Lehigh Valley    0 0 0 - 0               Shots: 12-9-8-29    PP: 0/2
Syracuse            0 2 2 - 4               Shots: 9-10-6-25    PP: 0/2
2nd Period-Verhaeghe 25 (Barré-Boulet, Thomas), 0:48. Andreoff 20 (Barré-Boulet), 7:48. 3rd Period-Conacher 19 (Gaunce, Stephens). 14:29. Andreoff 21 (Unassisted), 19:39 (EN). . . . Pasquale 19-9-5 (29 shots-29 saves). A-5,417
 
Saturday, March 2 | Game 56 vs. Rochester | L, 5-3
Rochester     1 2 2 - 5     Shots: 10-21-11-42     PP: 0/4
Syracuse        0 1 2 - 3     Shots: 8-5-13-26          PP: 2/7
2nd Period-Stephens 7 (Colton, Raddysh), 11:53 (PP). 3rd Period-Stephens 8 (Verhaeghe, Barré-Boulet), 9:37. Colton 10 (Rutta, Foote), 18:44 (PP). . . . Pasquale 19-10-5 (42 shots-37 saves). A-6,053
 
Sunday, March 3 | Game 57 at Rochester | W, 4-1
Syracuse        1 2 1 - 4     Shots: 10-8-9-27          PP: 3/8
Rochester     0 1 0 - 1     Shots: 9-11-17-37       PP: 0/5
1st Period-Andreoff 22 (Verhaeghe, Conacher), 7:24 (PP). 2nd Period-Barré-Boulet 27 (Verhaeghe, Conacher), 6:38. Stephens 9 (Colton, Raddysh), 12:00 (PP). 3rd Period-Katchouk 9 (Stephens, Foote), 18:51 (EN). . . . Ouellette 2-0-0 (37 shots-36 saves). A-5,094
 

Category	Average/Total	AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play	21.5% (53-for-246)	5th (6th)
Penalty Kill	84.7% (227-for-268)	4th (5th)
Goals For	3.51 GFA (200)	2nd (4th)
Goals Against	2.51 GAA (143)	1st (1st)
Shots For	28.81 SF/G (1642)	21st (19th)
Shots Against	28.56 SA/G (1628)	9th (8th)
Penalty Minutes	13.84 PIM/G (789)	8th (7th)

 

Category		Leader
Points	64	Verhaeghe
Goals	27	Barré-Boulet
Assists	39	Verhaeghe
PIM	112	Andreoff
Plus/Minus	+20	Verhaeghe
Wins	19	Pasquale
GAA	2.26	Ingram
Save %	0.922	Ingram