Syracuse Crunch

Comeback Crunch start a positive streak for a change.

STJ-2
SYR-3

Kristers Gudlevskis allowed 2 goals on 28 shots for the victory. Since returning from the Olympics, Gudlevskis is 4-2-1 with 1 SO, a 1.97 GAA, and a .934 save percentage. Suffice it to say he's really taken off since that amazing performance against Canada in Sochi.

First Period
STJ Albert, (20) (MacKinnon), 4:14
STJ Chiarot, (5) (Gordon, Samson), 16:23

Second Period
SYR Connolly, (18) (Smith, Angelidis), 0:32

Third Period
SYR Angelidis, (11) (Paquette, Namestnikov), 2:43 (PP)
SYR Sergeev, (3) (Namestnikov), 17:28 (SH)

Artem Sergeev, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Mike Angelidis were the game's three stars. Now at 42 points in 46 games, Namestnikov has doubled his point production from a season ago when he had 21 points in 44 games. As with Gudlevskis' numbers, his continued production is impressive given how the rest of the roster has obviously labored a bit this season.

This was a far more impressive result than the 3-0 shutout of Adirondack given the IceCaps reside in 4th in the Eastern Conference at 20 games over .500 for the season. This is a result that gives you far more hope that this winning streak can actually be sustained.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Crunch pass a gut check.

SYR-3
ADK-0

Kristers Gudlevskis stopped all 31 shots he faced for the shutout victory. That's the 5th shutout of his rookie campaign and he's 4 games above .500 with a save percentage than has risen to .909. Those are especially impressive numbers given where the Crunch currently are in the standings.

First Period
SYR Rankin, (13) (Korobov, Marchessault), 6:25 (PP)

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
SYR Connolly, (17) (Nesterov, Paradis), 2:34 (PP)
SYR Paradis, (4) (Angelidis), 4:24

Gudlevskis, Philippe Paradis, and Brett Connolly were the game's three stars.

After an embarrassing 4-game losing streak where the Crunch hardly looked like a competitive AHL team, they showed some pride today to strike back for the 3-0 victory. Now, granted Adirondack is in dead last in the Eastern Conference. But, this is a team the Crunch should beat if they apply themselves and they applied themselves to the task today. That's something they definitely needed.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Has this team given up?

ALB-6
SYR-2

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 6 goals on 28 shots for the loss. Ugly all around.

First Period
ALB Hrabarenka, (7) , 3:28
ALB Larsson, (2) (Zajac, Janssen), 8:34
ALB Urbom, (1) (Hrabarenka, Zajac), 18:23

Second Period
ALB Boucher, (18) (Larsson, Whitney), 1:36
SYR Connolly, (16) (Paquette, Namestnikov), 2:56 (PP)
ALB Zajac, (9) (Wohlberg), 9:56

Third Period
ALB Sislo, (23) (Timmins, Whitney), 1:07 (PP)
SYR Marchessault, (15) (DiSalvatore, Connolly), 16:14 (PP)

There is A LOT wrong in Syracuse right now. A LOT. And although some tweaks have already been made with a view toward next season, I don't think Julien BriseBois was in Syracuse this weekend just to take in the scenery. As the second half of this season has unfolded, it's become clear changes need to be made, but this last stretch of the year may mean bigger changes. This team is fast sinking to the bottom of the conference, and it's got to be an embarrassment to the Lightning organization at this point.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

By Jeremy Houghtaling

After putting the Syracuse Crunch on the board with a power play goal early in the second period, Brett Connolly celebrated with an unenthusiastic fist pump.

The goal brought the Crunch back to within three, but the Albany Devils continued to pour on the pressure to hand Syracuse its fourth-straight loss, 6-2, at the Onondaga County War Memorial Saturday.

"It's a moral victory that we played better tonight than we did last night," Connolly said. "But it's still not good enough."

By Jeremy Houghtaling

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins scored twice in the first period, and held on to hand the Syracuse Crunch their second straight shutout loss, 2-0, at the Onondaga County War Memorial Friday.

Syracuse had trouble creating sustained pressure, and was held to four shots in the first period and 16 overall.

"For whatever reason -- it's hard to explain -- we came out flat tonight," said Syracuse forward Jon DiSalvatore. "You've got to be ready to battle, you've got to be ready for the pressure."