CRUNCH OPEN SERIES WITH MARLIES
The Crunch and Toronto Marlies begin a home-and-home series tonight at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
It's the first of six scheduled matches in the regular season series between the clubs; the Crunch went 2-0-1-1 against the Marlies last season. After an off day tomorrow, the teams rematch in Syracuse Friday night.
The Crunch (1-1-0-2) earned their first win of the season in their last outing while the Marlies (2-2-0-0) enter following a home loss to Grand Rapids.
LAST TIME OUT
Felix Robert potted a hat trick and the Crunch scored four goals in the third period to pull away from the Rochester Americans, 6-2, at Upstate Medical University Arena Saturday.
Robert opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period; he was the beneficiary of a quick pass sequence with
Trevor Carrick and
Gage Goncalves. After Sean Malone tied the game in the second period, Robert deposited his second of the night off a pass from
Simon Ryfors to put the Crunch up 2-1.
Daniel Walcott scored twice in a four-minute span early in the third to grow the lead to 4-1. A Mitch Eliot goal briefly made it a two-goal margin, but Carrick struck 23 seconds later for a 5-2 Crunch lead. Robert iced it with his hat trick goal with just over a minute remaining for the 6-2 final score.
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
The Crunch snapped a three-game winless streak (0-1-0-2) to start the season, and in the process played their first game that was decided by more than one goal in Saturday's win. In fact, Saturday was the first time all season the Crunch grabbed a lead of more than one goal.
Defenseman
Darren Raddysh extended his season-opening scoring streak to four games by producing three points (1g, 2a) in Week 2. He is one of two Crunch players (
Gemel Smith) with at least one point in all four games this season.
Raddysh, who re-signed with the Lightning this summer, leads AHL defensemen in scoring with seven points (2g, 5a) through four games. Last season, Raddysh produced 25 points (7g, 18a) in 61 games for the Crunch.
Max Lagace started both games last week and earned his first win of the season with a 32-save performace against the Amerks. Last season, Lagace played in all four games against the Marlies, posting a 2-0-2 record with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE MARLIES
The Marlies have opened the season with a 2-2-0-0 record. They split a home-and-home series with Rochester on opening weekend before another series split of two games at home against Grand Rapids last week. After tonight, the Marlies spend the next three weeks on the road; they next play at Coca-Cola Coliseum Nov. 19.
The Marlies have allowed just two goals total in their two wins, but they have given up nine in their two losses. Alex Steeves has netted both game-winning goals and he leads the team in both goals (4) and points (6). As a rookie last season, Steeves finished third on the Marlies in scoring with 46 points (23g, 23a).
Rookies Keith Petruzzelli and Dylan Ferguson have split action in the first four games of the season. Petruzzelli has earned both wins, stopping 41 of 43 shots against for a .953 save percentage.
The Marlies lineup will be bolstered by the additions of defensemen Jordie Benn and Timothy Liljegren—both down on conditioning assignments after missing the start of the season with injuries. Benn last played an AHL game in 2012-13 with Texas; he has 595 NHL games to his name.
MR. 315
Saturday against Rochester, forward
Daniel Walcott moved into a tie with Jeremy Reich for the second-most games played in Crunch history at 315. He needs 19 more games played to tie Brad Moran for the most in franchise history (334).
Walcott also had a productive week, netting four points (2g, 2a) in two games to tie with Felix Robert for the most on the team in Week 2. Walcott logged an assist in Friday's loss to Rochester and then helped power the Crunch to a win Saturday with his first career three-point game (2g, 1a). He notched two goals—including what stood as the game-winning goal—in the third period for his second ever two-goal game (also Jan. 31, 2020 at Rochester).
RARIFIED AIR
Felix Robert tied for the team lead with four more points in Week 2. They all came in the Crunch's home opener, where he recorded his first career hat trick and four-point game. Robert became the first Crunch player to record a home opening hat trick since Nikita Kucherov in 2013-14.
In his first season in the organization, Robert is tied for the AHL lead in scoring with nine points (5g, 4a) in four games.
POWER PLAY HUMMING
The Crunch have scored a power-play goal in each of their first four games of the season. It's the first time they've done that since the 2016-17 season, when they scored a power-play goal in the first five games of the regular season.
Syracuse has the AHL's top ranked man advantage at 46.2% (6-for-13). The Crunch are 5-for-10 (50.0%) in their three road games to begin the season.
Felix Robert not only leads the AHL in overall scoring, but he also leads the league with three power-play goals. That has doubled the total he produced in his first 90 career AHL games.
LAST YEAR'S SERIES
The Crunch earned points in all four meeting versus the Marlies in 2021-22, posting a 2-0-1-1 record. The teams split the games on their respective home ices; the Marlies home win against the Crunch came in overtime on April 6.
Alex Barré-Boulet led all players with six points, all assists, while Joey Anderson paced the Marlies with three points in only two games played.
