Syracuse Crunch

By Jeremy Houghtaling

The Syracuse Crunch’s 2013-2014 season was defined by hills and valleys.

The proverbial wheels fell off after a fast start, and by the time the Crunch recovered it was too late for a playoff push, leaving lofty pre-season expectations unfulfilled.

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2012 American Hockey League affiliate, Norfolk, hoisted the Calder Cup, and the Crunch won the Eastern Conference championship in 2013 but fell in Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals last June.

“You have to keep the bar that high,” said Syracuse coach Rob Zettler. “As soon as you lower the bar or lower the standard, everybody takes their foot off the gas. That standard has been set here the past couple years. But more than that is the process, the effort, and the commitment level that it took to get to those places – those are the standards you have to keep in place and the winning takes care of itself.”

Montreal defense throws the net over the Lightning.

MTL-4
TB-1

Montreal Leads the Series 2-0

Anders Lindback allowed 3 goals on 23 shots for the loss before giving way to Kristers Gudlevskis, who allowed 1 on 4 shots the rest of the way. If Cooper had a wild hair to put Gudlevskis in for Game Three, the wraparound goal Gudlevskis allowed might've quieted that thought down. As for Lindback, the third goal went through him on a greasy little bounce back to Gallagher off the blocked shot and he whiffed on the poke check on Bourque's goal, but on balance he played reasonably well and kept the Lightning around for most of the game. Goaltending isn't the reason the Lightning are losing this series so far.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
2:34 MTL Desharnais (1), (Subban, Pacioretty)(PP)
10:35 MTL Bourque (1), (Vanek, Subban)

Third Period
11:46 MTL Gallagher (1), (unassisted)
14:39 MTL Bourque (2), (Eller)
18:01 TB Purcell (1), (Hedman, Filppula)(PP)

The first 10 minutes of the game took on the dimension of a lot of the regular season games between Tampa Bay and Montreal with the Lightning dominating possession and the Canadiens getting a few counter attacks in. That's where the Lightning need to get this series to get back into it. If possession is even or tilted in favor of Montreal, Price is probably too good to overcome. Unfortunately, in the second half of the First Period, a 4-minute minor on Stamkos started to take the starch out of the Lightning's offensive flow and when Desharnais scored the PP goal early in the Second Period after a ticky tack call on Panik, the offensive flow completely dissipated altogether. There's just too much inconsistency moving up the ice as a unit. Passing is off. Guys aren't consistently supporting their linemates. It wasn't as lopsided as the score indicates (shots were 27-26), but the Lightning need to get better within their structure to defeat Montreal's. It's a process, and they were certainly more together and composed than in Game One, and this series is nowhere near over. I reiterate the lesson of the 2003 series against Washington, when a young, talented Lightning team really looked terrible against a veteran Caps team in Game One and Game Two. Once they figured it out in Game Three, they swept the rest of that series. I have a feeling the Lightning may be capable of a similar breakout, but getting that first win is going to be the toughest. Hopefully the Lightning realize that and also realize the worst thing they can do at this moment is panic. Just win one game. That's all they need to worry about right now.

Mike Kostka had 1 shot, 1 hit, and 2 blocked shots in 13:13. His lack of speed and strength and decision making with the puck were a bit of an issue again tonight. At this stage, if I'm Cooper, I'm going to try to spark something by throwing Mark Barberio in against his hometown team for Game Three in lieu of Kostka, but we'll see how he plays it.

Cedric Paquette was -1 with 12 penalty minutes, 2 shots, and 2 hits in 10:18. He certainly wasn't at fault for the minus in the first Bourque goal where Salo was turned the wrong way, and he had a pretty glorious chance on Price in tight off a nice setup by Purcell. I like what Paquette brings, and on paper he's a playoff-style performer. But, needing a spark, again, if I'm Cooper I'm going in with Pyatt in Game Three.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

It's officially a losing season for Syracuse.

SYR-1
RCH-5

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 5 goals on 24 shots for the loss.

First Period
RCH Schaller, (9) (Gillies, Irwin), 7:44
RCH Adam, (29) , 11:04
RCH Irwin, (7) (Varone, Ruhwedel), 12:42 (PP)

Second Period
RCH Deslauriers, (19) (Sundher, Porter), 2:49

Third Period
SYR Marchessault, (22) (Connolly), 3:33
RCH Varone, (18) (Larsson, Hutchings), 15:27

Syracuse falls to 2 games under .500 with 1 game left to play. It's disappointing the team didn't finish stronger to set up what you hope is a rebound year next season.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

By Jeremy Houghtaling

There were a few firsts in the last Syracuse Crunch home game of the season.

Adam Erne registered his first professional goal and Joel Vermin recorded his first goal in North America, but the Crunch ultimately fell in a shootout to the Adirondack Phantoms, 5-4, at the Onondaga County War Memorial Wednesday.

"That was the positive from tonight, those guys scoring a goal and getting their first professional goals," said Crunch coach Rob Zettler. "Joel, I thought it was a great shot -- on and off the stick real quick. And for Adam, it was the same thing. That was the positive tonight."

The score of the night, evidently.

ADK-5
SYR-4 (SO)

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 4 goals on 26 shots and 5 of 9 to convert in the penalty shot session for the Shootout Loss. Ugly stat lines all around.

First Period
SYR Vermin, (1), (unassisted) 6:27
ADK Bordson, (11) (Brown, Hagg), 8:54
ADK Holmstrom, (13) (Lauridsen), 19:46

Second Period
SYR Erne, (1) (Rankin), 3:25
ADK Serratore, (1) (Goumas, Alt), 7:16

Third Period
SYR Connolly, (21) (Marchessault, Erne), 8:20
SYR Rankin, (15) (Angelidis, Cote), 9:16
ADK Hagg, (1) (Alt, Cousins), 13:05 (PP)

Overtime
NO SCORING

Shootout
ADK- Cousins, Bordson, Noebels, Whitmore, Holmstrom
SYR- Rankin, Connolly, Richard, Gourde

Evan Rankin and Adam Erne were the game's first and third stars. Erne had an assist to go with his first AHL goal and Joel Vermin also scored his first AHL goal in the contest.

Syracuse remains at 1 game under .500 with 2 games remaining in the regular season.

Box score from TheAHL.com.