CRUNCH KEEP PACE IN PLAYOFF CHASE
The Crunch dropped a pair of games to begin Week 23, before rebounding for a win on home ice to maintain their position in the North Division.
They came up empty in a two game trip to New England to kick off the week. The Crunch lost, 4-2, against Atlantic Division leading Providence on Wednesday and then fell to the Bridgeport Islanders, 5-2, two days later. Syracuse returned home on Saturday to defeat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-3, in overtime. The Crunch are 4-0-1-0 on home ice in March, matching their longest home points streak of the season. The win was their first overtime win on home ice this season (1-5).
The Crunch are 29-22-5-3 and have 66 points, good for third place in the North Division. They are two points behind Utica and have two games in hand on the Comets.
TOP PERFORMERS
Defenseman
Trevor Carrick maintained his torrid scoring pace with goals in all three games last week. The veteran picked up a goal Wednesday at Providence, added a power-play goal Friday at Bridgeport and then capped the week with his 10th multi-point performance with one goal and one assist. Carrick is on a career-high four-game goal scoring streak, and he has six goals in the last eight games.
Carrick, 28, ranks sixth on the team, and second among defensemen, with 36 points. He has established a new career-high for goals in a season (13); he is tied with teammate
Darren Raddysh for fourth among all AHL defensemen in goals and he ranks 12th in points. Carrick has 13 points (7g, 6a) in the last 13 games since Feb. 18, tied for the team lead in that span.
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Forward
Rudolfs Balcers ranked second on the team with three points last week. Balcers netted one goal Wednesday against the Bruins, then scored again Friday versus the Islanders to run his goal-scoring streak to three games. He picked up an assist in the weekend finale against the Penguins, giving him points in four straight games for the first time this season.
Balcers, 25, has 13 points (6g, 7a) in 24 games for the Crunch this season.
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Defenseman
Declan Carlile capped the Crunch's week with an overtime game-winning goal Saturday against the Penguins. The goal gave the Crunch their first victory in overtime on home ice this season (1-5). It was also the rookie's sixth goal of the season, but his first since Dec. 30, snapping a 29-game drought.
Carlile, 22, has 19 points (6g, 13a) and has played to a plus-21 rating in 56 games this season.
UPCOMING WEEK
Tuesday, March 21 at Rochester | 7:05 p.m.
The Crunch face off against the Rochester Americans at Blue Cross Arena in the opening game of a crucial week. Tuesday marks the 10th game of the head-to-head series between the clubs; the Crunch have won two straight, but still trail the series with a 4-5-0-0 record. The Crunch lead the Amerks by four points in the North Division and both teams have 13 games remaining.
Friday, March 24 at Utica | 7 p.m.
The Crunch visit the Adirondack Bank Center Friday to face the Utica Comets. It's also the 10th meeting between the clubs this season with the Crunch holding a 6-2-1-0 record in the Galaxy Cup series. It'll be the fourth straight match in Utica; Syracuse is 3-1-0-0 this season in Utica. The Crunch are two points shy of the Comets for second place in the division.
Saturday, March 25 vs. Hershey | 7 p.m.
The middle game of the Crunch's three-in-three weekend is Saturday at home against the Hershey Bears. The Crunch lost in Hershey, 4-3, on Jan. 8 in the only previous meeting this season. The Bears have won three straight as they look to catch Providence for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Sunday, March 26 vs. Utica | 5 p.m.
The weekend ends with a second matchup with the Comets in three days. The Comets have won the last two games in Syracuse.
WEEK 23 RESULTS
Wednesday, March 15 | Game 57 at Providence | L, 4-2
Syracuse 1 0 1 - 2 Shots: 11-11-13-35 PP: 0/3
Providence 3 0 1 - 4 Shots: 11-7-7-25 PP: 2/4
1st Period-Balcers 5 (
Barré-Boulet, Dumont), 4:26. 3rd Period-Carrick 11 (
Balcers, Ryfors), 0:53. . . .
Lagace 13-10-6 (11 shots-8 saves); Alnefelt ND (14 shots-13 saves) A-6,020
Friday, March 17 | Game 58 at Bridgeport | L, 5-2
Syracuse 1 0 1 - 2 Shots: 9-7-14-30 PP: 2/5
Bridgeport 0 3 2 - 5 Shots: 10-17-12-39 PP: 1/2
1st Period-Carrick 12 (
Dumont), 3:04 (PP). 3rd Period-Balcers 6 (
Dumont), 17:01. . . .
Lagace 13-11-6 (38 shots-34 saves) A-2,630
Saturday, March 18 | Game 59 vs. W-B/Scranton | W, 4-3 (OT)
W-B/Scranton 1 1 1 0 - 3 Shots: 7-10-8-1-26 PP: 0/2
Syracuse 1 0 2 1 - 4 Shots: 7-8-11-3-29 PP: 0/6
1st Period-Edmonds 12 (
Carrick, Balcers), 10:58. 3rd Period-Robert 15 (
Usau, Goncalves), 3:57. Carrick 13 (
Barré-Boulet, Myers), 4:32. Overtime-Carlile 6 (
Edmonds, Element), 4:31. . . .
Alnefelt 15-9-1 (26 shots-23 saves) A-5,978
| Category |
Average/Total |
AHL Rank (Prev) |
| Power Play |
18.6% (36-for-194) |
18th (17th) |
| Penalty Kill |
80.7% (192-for-238) |
17th (T-14th) |
| Goals For |
3.46 GFA (204) |
T-4th (5th) |
| Goals Against |
3.25 GAA (192) |
21st (21st) |
| Shots For |
31.90 SF/G (1882) |
4th (4th) |
| Shots Against |
30.03 SA/G (1772) |
12th (14th) |
| Penalty Minutes |
16.22 PIM/G (957) |
3rd (3rd) |
| Category |
|
Leader |
| Points |
69 |
Barré-Boulet |
| Goals |
20 |
Ryfors |
| Assists |
50 |
Barré-Boulet |
| PIM |
93 |
Walcott |
| Plus/Minus |
+23 |
Barré-Boulet |
| Wins |
15 |
Alnefelt |
| GAA |
2.53 |
Alnefelt |
| Save % |
.912 |
Alnefelt |
| North Division |
GP |
W |
L |
OTL |
SOL |
PTS |
PCT |
GF |
GA |
PIM |
HOME |
ROAD |
LAST 10 |
STREAK |
S/O |
| 1. x Toronto |
61 |
40 |
18 |
2 |
1 |
83 |
0.680 |
206 |
185 |
779 |
19-10-0-1 |
21-8-2-0 |
5-5-0-0 |
0-2-0-0 |
3-1 |
| 2. Utica |
61 |
30 |
23 |
6 |
2 |
68 |
0.557 |
183 |
184 |
708 |
14-9-3-2 |
16-14-3-0 |
6-3-1-0 |
0-1-0-0 |
1-2 |
| 3. Syracuse |
59 |
29 |
22 |
5 |
3 |
66 |
0.559 |
204 |
192 |
957 |
15-9-5-1 |
14-13-0-2 |
5-4-1-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
2-3 |
| 4. Rochester |
59 |
28 |
25 |
4 |
2 |
62 |
0.525 |
193 |
199 |
668 |
15-11-2-0 |
13-14-2-2 |
3-5-1-1 |
0-1-0-1 |
1-2 |
| 5. Belleville |
62 |
27 |
28 |
6 |
1 |
61 |
0.492 |
199 |
223 |
1003 |
16-13-1-1 |
11-15-5-0 |
6-2-2-0 |
0-1-0-0 |
4-1 |
| 6. Laval |
61 |
25 |
26 |
7 |
3 |
60 |
0.492 |
211 |
217 |
827 |
15-7-5-3 |
10-19-2-0 |
4-5-0-1 |
1-0-0-0 |
1-3 |
| 7. Cleveland |
59 |
26 |
26 |
5 |
2 |
59 |
0.500 |
192 |
221 |
737 |
14-13-4-0 |
12-13-1-2 |
4-5-1-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
4-2 |
