Admirals Game Results

Crunch Finish Sweep of Falcons With 5-2 Win

4 days 17 hours ago

By Jeremy Houghtaling

With a one goal lead and the third period winding down, Matt Taormina found the puck on his stick and looked for an open shot.

After his first attempt was blocked, the Syracuse Crunch defenseman drove toward the net wristed another toward the Springfield Falcons' net. He lost track of it there.

"I shot and I didn't hear anything until the crowd reacted," Taormina said. "I finally knew it actually went in."

The goal put the exclamation point on Syracuse's 5-2 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the Onondaga County War Memorial Friday, as the Crunch swept the Falcons 4-0 to move on to the conference finals.

"They were pressing, they could feel it," Syracuse coach Rob Zettler said of Springfield. "Then Taormina steps up and scores that goal, it's huge. It put a stamp on it for us."
AHL Playoff Game Night: 5-17-13 Falcons at Crunch

4 days 19 hours ago

Syracuse punches their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals, and they've made it look easy to this point.

SPR-2
SYR-5

Syracuse Wins the Series 4-0

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 2 goals on 30 shots for the victory.

First Period
SYR Wyman, (1) (Devos), 6:04
SYR Barberio, (3) (Namestnikov, Panik), 7:52

Second Period
SPR Craig, (2) (Savard, Jenner), 2:38 (PP)
SYR Wyman, (2) (Brown, Cote), 17:20

Third Period
SPR Joudrey, (1) (Savard, Jenner), 8:35
SYR Taormina, (1) (Connolly), 9:45
SYR Sexton, (2) (Namestnikov), 18:01 (EN)

J.T. Wyman, Mark Barberio, and Matt Taormina were the game's three stars.

You would think with the PTP line held to just 1 point that Springfield would finally get a win in the series, right? Wrong. Syracuse's second and third lines carried the mail and delivered the squad to the next round.

The core of this team that was also in Norfolk for their championship run last season, AKA SyraNo, has won 17 straight playoff games. It's a ridiculous level of success that will be difficult for the league and the media to officially recognize because of the affiliation change. But, it's one of those things that really, in my opinion, gives this group the argument to say they're one of the best in league history. In fact, if they "repeat", I'd say they probably are the best multi-season collection of players in AHL history.

Syracuse's next opponent will probably be top seeded Providence, which holds a 3-1 series lead over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after a Penguins win tonight. This is where taking care of an opponent and getting the sweep can pay dividends. Every game Wilkes-Barre/Scranton can extend that series depletes Providence's energy and possibly leads to more injuries while Syracuse can conserve theirs and stay healthy. There's the added dimension of Boston still being alive in the playoffs and injury call-ups that comes into play, too. Playoff hockey can be about attrition, and bear in mind Providence went the distance in their first round series against Hershey, too. Advantage Syracuse if Providence can't handle their business in Game Five of their series tomorrow.

Box score from TheAHL.com.
Crunch Use Shorthanded Goals to Down Falcons, 3-0

6 days 18 hours ago

By Jeremy Houghtaling

It took Ondrej Palat eight seconds to change the complexion of the game, and less than eight minutes to deal the knockout blow.

The forward scored a shorthanded goal in the opening seconds of the third period to give the Syracuse Crunch a two-goal lead, then set up Tyler Johnson for another shorthanded goal at the 7:24 mark.

The two goals on the penalty kill allowed the Crunch to cruise to a 3-0 win over the Springfield Falcons in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the Onondaga County War Memorial Wednesday. Syracuse leads the series 3-0, and can move on with a win Friday.

"He was a difference-maker in the third period," said Crunch coach Rob Zettler of Palat. "He made an unbelievable play shorthanded to make it 2-0, and followed it up with an unbelievable pass to Johnson to make it 3-0."
AHL Playoff Game Night: 5-15-13 Falcons at Crunch

6 days 19 hours ago

Springfield just has no answers for Syracuse's top line. None.

SPR-0
SYR-3

Syracuse Leads the Series 3-0

Cedrick Desjardins stopped all 25 shots he faced for his first shutout of these playoffs. Desjardins getting hot must be a terrifying prospect for the teams still alive in the AHL playoffs.

First Period
SYR Panik, (4) (Palat), 15:15

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
SYR Palat, (4) (Johnson), 0:08 (SH)
SYR Johnson, (7) (Palat, Cote), 7:24 (SH)

Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, and Desjardins were the game's three stars. Palat and Johnson are absolutely lethal as penalty killers. They were generating a couple of great chances a night in the Portland series and they haven't let up on Springfield.

Springfield has to be completely deflated with this outcome. They finally managed to get the close, low-scoring game they needed against Syracuse and they couldn't break through Desjardins. Insult to injury is their PP going -2 in the process when they have the man advantage in the Third Period which is when you want to break open a close game.

Friday, Syracuse will try to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals. For those players on the team who went through the run last year in Norfolk, SyraNo has won 16 straight playoff games going back to the series against the Connecticut Whale last year. Since then they have swept the IceCaps, Marlies, Pirates, and are 1 game away from sweeping away the Falcons. When you think how it takes 15 wins to get a Calder Cup under the current format, and the core of this group's won 16 in a row, it's pretty darn impressive.

Box score from TheAHL.com.
AHL Playoff Game Night: 5-11-13 Falcons at Crunch

1 week 3 days ago

The PTP'ers put on a special teams clinic.

SYR-5
SPR-3

Syracuse Leads the Series 2-0

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 3 goals on 31 shots for the win. Luv that goal support.

First Period
SYR Panik, (3) (Palat, Johnson), 1:02 (PP)
SYR Angelidis, (2) (Brown), 1:15
SPR Russell, (1) (Audy-Marchessault, Prout), 14:40

Second Period
SYR Johnson, (4) (Connolly, Palat), 8:31 (PP)
SYR Johnson, (5) , 14:05 (SH)
SPR Vogelhuber, (2) (Goloubef, Joudrey), 14:29

Third Period
SYR Johnson, (6) (Panik, Palat), 6:47 (PP)
SPR Jenner, (2) (Holden, Audy-Marchessault), 8:04

Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat were the game's first and second stars. Johnson gets the hat trick and the PTP'er line ends up +4 in goal differential on special teams with 3 PP goals and a SH goal. No chance. Springfield's got no chance if they keep letting the Johnson line scorch them like this.

Syracuse now heads home with the 2-0 series lead and Springfield has no answers so far defensively, plus McElhinney's gotten torched through 2 games. Game Three is Wednesday night. Meanwhile, in the East's other series, Providence held serve at home and has a 2-0 series lead of the Penguins, making it look like a Syracuse/Providence matchup is on the horizon.

Box score from TheAHL.com.
AHL Playoff Game Night: 5-10-13 Falcons at Crunch

1 week 4 days ago

Syracuse draws first blood, and nearly hits an artery.

SYR-5
SPR-2

Syracuse Leads the Series 1-0

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 2 goals on 24 shots for the victory. Goal support is a beautiful thing.

First Periodd
SYR Barberio, (2) (Panik, Johnson), 8:40 (PP)
SYR Panik, (2) (Johnson, Palat), 9:00
SPR Drazenovic, (2) (Holden, Craig), 10:06 (PP)
SYR Brown, (2) (Wyman, Korobov), 11:26
SYR Connolly, (2) (Sexton, Taormina), 18:13

Second Period
SYR Johnson, (3) (Palat), 10:10

Third Period
SPR Craig, (1) (Holden, Johansen), 19:58 (PP)

Tyler Johnson, Richard Panik, and Ondrej Palat were the game's three stars. In the marquee matchup between the AHL's best line over the past 1-1/2 years and a very good goaltender, Curtis McElhinney, round one goes to the PTP'ers. Interestingly, all three of Syracuse's lines clicked in the First Period clock cleaning that ended Game One early on, but make no mistake, this series comes down to whether McElhinney can make enough saves to keep games close and allow Springfield to leverage the goaltending advantage they have on paper. And, to do that, he has to stop Palat/Johnson/Panik.

Game Two is tomorrow night, and with home ice advantage already stolen away, Syracuse is playing with house money. A Game Two victory possibly means a short series, and in the war of attrition that is playoff hockey, that can pay big dividends in future rounds.

Box score from TheAHL.com.
AHL Playoff Game Night: 5-2-13 Crunch at Pirates

2 weeks 5 days ago

Palat on the spot.

SYR-4
POR-3 (OT)

Syracuse Wins the Best-of-Five Series 3-0

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 3 goals on just 18 shots for the victory. Once again, he allowed another wraparound goal that was on the soft side and once again the team bailed him out. Mind you, he made some incredible saves in Overtime to make up for it, but as the competition level rises in the next round Desjardins has got to get better.

First Period
POR Miele, (1) (Bolduc, Brown), 15:57 (PP)

Second Period
SYR Gudas, (1) (Taormina, Sexton), 6:57 (PP)

Third Period
POR Bolduc, (1) (Miele, Lessio), 0:19
POR Johnson, (2) (Stone, Conner), 10:47 (PP)
SYR Angelidis, (1) (Wyman, Barberio), 13:59
SYR Palat, (2) (Connolly, Sustr), 18:48

Overtime
SYR Palat, (3) (Taormina, Johnson), 19:43

Ondrej Palat was the game's first star. Oddly enough, I thought his first two games of the series were better than tonight, but he was in the right places at the right times for the two biggest goals of the series.

Let me tell you a little something about Brett Connolly, who turned 21 today and celebrated by knifing Portland in the heart late in regulation. Hopping on the ice as the sixth attacker to try to tie the game late in the Third Period, the puck came to Connolly who circled through the neutral zone and cut down the left wing boards into the offensive zone. For the life of me, I thought Portland's defenseman had the angle on Connolly at the blueline and would squeeze him off, or at least get enough of him to separate the puck. Nope. Connolly has deceptive speed a la Alex Killorn and he squirted by without being touched, went to circle behind the net, and just before he went behind dished a beautiful little backhand pass to Palat for the stuff. Tie game. What an individual play by Connolly. Truly cold blooded.

Let me also tell you a little something about faceoffs. Gudas' power play goal came directly from a bang-bang play off a faceoff win by Dan Sexton. And then, with just 17 seconds left in Overtime, Palat's second goal came off a faceoff win by Tyler Johnson that led to a Taormina shot that gave Palat the rebound he needed to send the Crunch to the first round pay window. Those quick plays off clean faceoff wins in the offensive zone are instant scoring chances, and almost as valuable as forcing turnovers out of your opponent.

It's not all good news, though. Although Syracuse outshot Portland 45-18, I suspect the scoring chances don't reflect the disparity. There was a distinct lack of GMT in this game for the Crunch. GMT = goal mouth thrills. Syracuse got a lot of traffic and a lot of greasy chances in the first two games of the series and they were absent tonight, with the exception of a few shifts by the Angelidis line. As the level of competition goes up in the next round, more GMT is required. If you don't muck it up in the high traffic areas, you invite a night like tonight where Portland's goaltender gobbled up a lot of clean, unscreened, undeflected shots.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference tonight, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton finished off their own sweep of Binghamton and Manchester won their first game of their series. Springfield still holds a 2-1 edge, but the series continues on. Top seed Providence is down 2-0 to Hershey. If either Providence or Springfield get upset (and Providence going down looks distinctly possible right now) Syracuse will get home ice for a second round series against the Penguins. Tough opponent. It'll be a great series.

Box score from TheAHL.com.
Crunch Win 4-2, Push Pirates to Brink

3 weeks 2 days ago

By Jeremy Houghtaling

It all started with the physical play.

Coming off a come-from-behind overtime win one night earlier, the Syracuse Crunch made a point to continue pounding the Portland Pirates.

It didn't take long -- less than 10 minutes -- for the results to show up on the scoreboard. Ondrej Palat's wrister beat Pirates goalie Chad Johnson, giving the Crunch an early lead.

"He's finishing checks and hammering guys, then he goes and scores the first goal for us," said Syracuse coach Rob Zettler of Palat.

Palat and Tyler Johnson each provided a goal and an assist, leading the Crunch to a 4-2 win over the Pirates in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at the Onondaga County War Memorial Sunday. Syracuse leads the best-of-five series 2-0, with the teams meeting again in Portland Thursday.
AHL Playoff Game Night: 4-28-13 Pirates at Crunch

3 weeks 2 days ago

Game Two goes according to plan.

POR-2
SYR-4

Syracuse Leads the Best-of-Five Series 2-0

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 2 goals on 20 shots for the victory. He looked much more solid tonight in net. The team needs him to play like that moving forward if they want to reach their ultimate goal.

First Period
SYR Palat, (1) (Johnson, Taormina), 9:33
SYR Brown, (1) (Angelidis, Wyman), 10:41

Second Period
SYR Johnson, (2) (Palat), 0:49 (SH)
SYR Connolly, (1) (Sexton, Devos), 14:36
POR Gormley, (1) (Shinnimin, Johnson), 16:50

Third Period
POR Johnson, (1) (Lessio, Gormley), 9:40

Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Matt Taormina were the game's three stars.

I continue to be extremely impressed by Palat. He's been the complete package through 2 games in this series. Just like last season, good things happen when the man has the puck. I was also impressed with Vladislav Namestnikov, who got a lot more ice time with Richard Panik getting kicked out after a secondary altercation. Portland tried targeting Namestnikov, and Vladdy rose to the challenge. He was feisty and he landed some good hits in the Third Period, to go along with his usual puckhandling and playmaking.

Game Three is Thursday in Portland. This is where Zettler's going to earn his big boy coaching pants. Portland's going to throw everything they have left at Syracuse in the First Period, and if Syracuse is complacent, bad things will happen. Playoffs are about attrition as much as anything, and if you have a chance to finish an opponent off, you do it. Anything that extends a series is another set of shifts where one of your key players can get hurt, so you have to finish the drill ASAP, and with Providence falling behind 2-0 in their series and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton up 2-0 in theirs, it's looking like a very good Pens team is lurking on the horizon. Syracuse wants to be healthy and rested for that potential opponent.

Box score from TheAHL.com.
Panik Scores OT Goal, Crunch Win Game 1

3 weeks 3 days ago

By Jeremy Houghtaling

After two potential game-winning goals were waved off in overtime, Richard Panik provided one that left little doubt.

The Syracuse Crunch forward accepted the pass from Ondrej Palat, spun to the left across the crease, and put the puck over Portland Pirates goalie Chad Johnson. No stranger to overtime goals, Panik was nonchalant about the play.

"Just a good move I guess," he said with a smile.

The goal capped a come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win for the No. 3 Crunch over the No. 6 Portland Pirates in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at the Onondaga County War Memorial Saturday. Syracuse hosts Game 2 Sunday.