Syracuse Crunch

Beasts of the East.

SPR-0
SYR-3

Cedrick Desjardin (pictured) raised shields for a 26 save shutout.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
SYR Barberio, (8) (Labrie, Connolly), 4:37
SYR Labrie, (10) (Cote, Wyman), 12:35
SYR Brown, (7) (Tyrell, Cote), 19:33 (EN)

Desjardins, Mark Barberio, and Pierre-Cedric Labrie were the game's three stars. J.T. Brown returned from injury and had an empty net goal in his first game back.

Syracuse came into this game 1 point ahead of Springfield for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. This was a battle of titans with a lot on the line, and ultimately Syracuse smoked the Falcons like a fine cigar. Mind you, Springfield netminder Allen York made it interesting, but Syracuse outshot Springfield 46-26 in this game, including 17-8 in the decisive final frame. That was a 1 versus 2 game. Think on that. Then think on the fact that the Crunch have won 6 in a row.

Uh oh, rest of the AHL. Jon Cooper sorted out the post-lockout madness. Jon Cooper has started to tune up the machine again. We've seen this movie before, folks, and we all remember how it ends.

Syracuse draws Connecticut next tomorrow afternoon.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

By Jeremy Houghtaling

Dana Tyrell believes it was a bit of hockey karma.

His team trailing 3-2 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, the Syracuse Crunch forward caught a break. The puck bounced behind the net, and despite many of the Toronto Marlies looking for the puck in the corner, Tyrell found it on his stick.

"I think it went up my pants. To be honest, I'm not really sure what happened," Tyrell said. "I was forechecking the puck down - hunting it down - and it bounced up somewhere. I think it got caught up in my gear somewhere. As I was coming around the net, it dropped down in front of me and I had an open net.

"If we work hard as a team, we're going to get bounces like that," he added.

Tyrell's goal sent the game to overtime and the Crunch completed the comeback in the shootout, topping the Marlies 4-3 at the Onondaga County War Memorial Wednesday night. Syracuse has shrugged its slump that lasted from late January into early February, winning its last five games.

5 in a row.

TOR-3
SYR-4 (SO)

Riku Helenius allowed 3 goals on 31 shots before stopping 3 of 5 in the penalty shot session for the win. Riku is now on a personal 4 game winning streak.

First Period
TOR Colborne, (8) (Zigomanis, Hamilton), 19:59 (PP)

Second Period
SYR Angelidis, (9) (Palat, Hutchings), 2:46
TOR Colborne, (9) (Abbott, Mottau), 5:43
SYR Palat, (7) (Barberio, Helenius), 6:51 (PP)

Third Period
TOR Hamilton, (21) (Yeo, Colborne), 6:50
SYR Tyrell, (4) (Korobov), 18:26

Overtime
NO SCORING

Shootout
TOR- Colborne, Connolly
SYR- Palat, Connolly, Gudas

Dana Tyrell and Ondrej Palat were named the game's first and third stars. Palat has 1 goal and 6 points in his last 3 games, all multi-point efforts.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

By Pete Choquette

It's been a long, strange trip for Bolt Prospects to arrive at this year's Midterm Prospect Rankings. Between the end of the NHL lockout and an abbreviated training camp, call-ups, graduations, and trades, there's been a lot of movement in the rankings. One lesson learned from the first half of this season: no more standing still for Lightning prospects. Even first and second round picks can't afford to stagnate in their development with so much quality depth within the organization. More than that, the youth movement is already beginning in Tampa Bay with three prospects currently up with the Lightning and recently graduated Keith Aulie also with the NHL club.

The return of The Entertainer.

SYR-5
ALB-3

Cedrick "The Entertainer" Desjardins made his Crunch debut stopping 23 of 26 for the win. Riku Helenius, who was named the AHL Player of the Week, got the night off.

First Period
SYR Tyrell, (3) (Hutchings, Angelidis), 9:40
SYR Johnson, (24) (Palat, Cote), 10:14
ALB Sislo, (3) (Zalewski, Urbom), 14:32 (PP)

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
SYR Johnson, (25) (Wyman), 3:45
ALB Zalewski, (9) (DeSimone, Urbom), 7:26
SYR Johnson, (26) (Palat, Korobov), 14:27 (PP)
ALB Josefson, (9) (Gelinas, Anderson), 18:28
SYR Connolly, (22) , 19:57 (EN)

Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat (pictured) were the game's first and third stars. Palat's 29 assists are tied for 6th most in the league while Johnson is now tied for the lead in goals.

So, after a month of struggling to regain their equilibrium, lookee at the standings and Syracuse is right back on top of the Eastern Conference standings, moving 1 point ahead of Bingo and Springfield. Jon Cooper = Jedi. Syracuse draws the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday.

Box score from TheAHL.com.