Game Night Results

Shootout in Syracuse.

NOR-4
SYR-3 (SO)

Cedrick Desjardins was back with the Crunch tonight and stopped 34 of 37 before allowing 1 of 4 to convert in the shootout session to take the SO Loss.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
SYR Namestnikov, (4) (Devos, Barberio), 1:43
NOR Wilson, (6) (Brittain, Guenin), 5:55
NOR Wagner, (5) , 11:14

Third Period
NOR Brittain, (10) (Clark, Lindholm), 6:23
SYR Nightingale, (2) (Angelidis, Namestnikov), 7:19
SYR Angelidis, (10) (Taormina, Barberio), 19:40

Overtime
NO SCORING

Shootout
NOR- Brittain
SYR- NONE

Mike Angelidis and Vladislav Namestnikov were the game's first and second stars.

I guess tonight was the first time you could honestly say this Syracuse roster was nearly unrecognizable compared to the team the organization has iced much of the last 2 years. No more Conacher or Johnson or Palat. No more Gudas on the backline. Tokarski traded.

All that said, it's a hopeful sign the team was competitive tonight and that one of the next wave, Vlad Namestnikov, stepped up in an expanded role. That's the way it's going to have to be the rest of the way with the Lightning floundering and so many of the veteran prospects getting their chance in Tampa Bay.

The Crunch face Albany tomorrow. Syracuse holds a 3 point edge in the Eastern Conference with the Crunch holding a 2 point edge of Binghamton and a 3 point edge on Springfield and Providence.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Lindback deserved a better fate.

NYI-2
TB-0

Anders Lindback allowed 1 goal on 28 shots for the loss. He's starting to play his best hockey of the season now. If the Lightning salvage anything from this awful campaign, it might be Lindback surfacing as a more legitimate number one with work in the second half of the shortened season.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
10:22 NYI Tavares (17), (Moulsen, Boyes)(PP)

Third Period
19:20 NYI Boyes (7), (Macdonald)(EN)

Lindback was the game's third star.

The Lightning slowly started to get their feet under them as the game progressed and didn't play all that poorly, but couldn't get pucks through a collapsing Islanders d, and when they did Nabokov was there. The only point of emphasis for improvement needs to be actually hitting the net when the Lightning shoot, particularly the big guy wearing #77.

Alex Killorn was -1 with 2 penalty minutes, 1 shot, 1 hit, and 1 blocked shot in 18:10.

Tyler Johnson was 33% on draws in 11:39. He was a bit of a non-factor.

Ondrej Palat had 2 hits in 9:05. Also a bit of a non-factor.

Radko Gudas had 2 shots, 6 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 18:56. Stud. He played like a flat out bona fide stud. He was sawing people in half and showing off some of those offensive abilities that he occasionally brings to bear, like his puck lugging skills, for instance. He looked darn good, which is reflected in the fact he got 50% more ice time than Keith Aulie. Two games and he already zipped by him on the depth chart. Not the first time Aulie has been pylonized, I reckon.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie had 1 shot and 3 hits in 8:37.

Cory Conacher had 1 hit in 14:45. He's become a chronic non-factor at this point in the season. Sad but true.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

Florida Everblades 2 @ South Carolina Stingrays 1

W Danick Gauthier, FLA: 0-1-1, E, 5 SOG, 0 PIM
Season totals: 5 GP, 3-3-6, +1, 0 PIM

W Alex Hutchings, FLA: 0-0-0, -1, 5 SOG, 2 PIM (hooking)
Season totals: 38 GP, 13-19-32, -2, 30 PIM

D Charles Landry, FLA: 0-0-0, -1, 1 SOG, 0 PIM
Season totals: 43 GP, 3-11-14, +5, 27 PIM

F Maxime Langelier-Parent, FLA: Did not play
Season totals: 3 GP, 2-1-3, -3, 5 PIM
(Syracuse Crunch contract)

D Daniel Milan, FLA: 0-0-0, E, 0 SOG, 0 PIM
Season totals: 40 GP, 2-6-8, +4, 54 PIM

D Pat Nagle, FLA: W, 1.00 GAA, 29 S / 30 SA (.967 SV%)
Season totals: 30 GP, 14-8-3, 3.02 GAA, 775 S / 857 SA (.904 SV%)

Florida gave up a first period lead within a couple minutes of earning it but eventually took advantage of a late even-strength tally to down divisional rival South Carolina. The win put Florida into a first-place tie with Gwinnett for the South Division lead. The Everblades, who ratcheted up the offense a notch in hitting 40 shots on goal against the Stingrays, also hold a game in hand on the Gladiators. Danick Gauthier notched his third assist, a primary dish on the power play approaching the midpoint of the first, of the season. It was Gauthier's third-straight game with a point and the fourth time in five games he registered at least a goal or an assist. Though he wasn't credited as being one of the stars of the game, Pat Nagle, back in net for Florida after being assigned from AHL Syracuse following the return of Cedrick Desjardins to the Crunch, turned in a stellar performance with 29 stops on 30 shots against. Alex Hutchings also was back in the lineup for the Everblades after being returned by AHL Syracuse. Florida (33-20-11, 77 PTS) continues its five-game home stand Friday night when it squares of against South Carolina(34-25-7, 75 PTS) in the second of three consecutive matches the two teams will play against each other.

Official Recap | Box Score

Elitserien Playoffs (Sweden)
Quarterfinals
Brynas 0 @ Skelleftea 5
Skelleftea leads the series 1-0

Johan Harju, Brynas, 0-0-0, E, 2 SOG, 0 PIM
Playoff totals: 1 GP, 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM
Season totals: 55 GP, 18-10-28, -9, 16 PIM

Eighth-seed Brynas managed to hang with the league's top club for the better part of two periods but Skelleftea struck twice within a minute shortly before the second intermission and then piled on three more goals in the final frame to complete what amounted to a thorough rout of the visitors. Brynas, which allowed Skelleftea 62 attempted shots, spent a lot of time defending and, not surprisingly, thus had difficulty mounting much of an attack at the other end, only managing to attempt 22 shots, of which only 14 made it on goal. Former Lightning netminder Johan Holmqvist stopped 36 of the 41 shots he faced in the loss. Brynas hosts Skelleftea on Thursday for the second match of the best-of-seven series.

Official Recap | Box Score | Highlights