Syracuse Crunch

Palat x3!

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Cedrick Desjardins allowed 1 goal on 27 shots for the win. He came within 1:35 of his third straight shutout when Bolt Prospects Alumni Nick Tarnasky stuck the shiv in his former organization's farm team.

First Period
SYR Palat, (8) (Johnson, Korobov), 10:17
SYR Palat, (9) (Connolly, Oberg), 14:20 (PP)

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
SYR Palat, (10) (Wyman, Johnson), 15:35
RCH Tarnasky, (12) (Rissmiller, Ellis), 18:25 (PP)
SYR Wilson, (4) (Brown, Mikkelson), 18:53 (EN)

Ondrej Palat, Desjardins, and Tyler Johnson were the game's three stars. Palat's hat trick moved him into the top-20 in the AHL in scoring, tied with 2 others for 16th at 43 points. Johnson's 53 points are now tops in the league and Brett Connolly is tied for 4th at 49 points.

The scoring is nice, and it makes everyone feel good, but the defense and goaltending is what really should scare every other team in the AHL. Syracuse has run their winning streak out to 8 games now, and when this organization went on the tear it did last year in Norfolk, it was just as much about stifling defense and solid goaltending as it was about glitzy scoring. Syracuse's 190 goals lead the AHL pretty comfortably, but the big thing to watch now is whether they can start to catch up to teams like Bingo and Springfield in goals against. History tells us that when Coach Cooper has it all in place, his teams are extremely stingy.

Syracuse draws Albany on Friday as they go for #9.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

We continue our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their recent contributions on and off the ice.

The Prospect of the Week for February 25 is … Ondrej Palat, W, Syracuse (AHL – USA)

Ondrej Palat doesn’t make headlines.

The Syracuse Crunch forward is a complimentary winger, usually photographed in the background of a dramatic goal or its celebration. But without him, that play probably doesn’t happen.

Palat gives a scoring line 2-way ability or playmaking, whichever is needed the most. Like Martin St. Louis with the Lightning, if a coach adds him to a line, that line gets better.

The Entertainer, en fuego.

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Cedrick "The Entertainer" Desjardins stopped all 29 shots he faced for his second consecutive shutout. Nothing wrong with that.

First Period
SYR Labrie, (11) (Namestnikov, Connolly), 9:11
SYR Johnson, (27) (Palat, Barberio), 14:29 (PP)

Second Period
SYR Johnson, (28) (Barberio, Palat), 18:16 (PP)

Third Period
SYR Wyman, (10) (Palat), 7:34

Desjardins, Tyler Johnson (pictured), and Ondrej Palat were the game's three stars. Johnson currently sits 1 point behind Grover Nyquist of Grand Rapids for the top spot in the league in scoring and Brett Connolly is 4 back of Nyqvist in a tie for 5th in the league. Johnson also leads the league in goals and Palat is tied for 2nd in the league in assists, 2 back of leader Jeff Taffe of Hershey.

After scoring just 2 points in the entire month of January, Mark Barberio has 11 so far in February.

With Springfield getting thumped by Worcester today, Syracuse extends their Eastern Conference lead to 5 points over the Falcons and Senators with the Falcons hold 2 games in hand. Syracuse will go for 8 straight on Tuesday against Rochester.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

By Jeremy Houghtaling

Not even 24 hours after notching his first shutout in a Syracuse Crunch sweater, Cedrick Desjardins was back at it.

The netminder kept his streak going, stopping all 29 shots and leading the Crunch to a 4-0 win over the Connecticut Whale at the Onondaga County War Memorial Sunday afternoon.

"You never expect that," Desjardins said of his back-to-back whitewashes. "Those were two big games for us and teams we don't see a lot. We need to step up against those teams."

By Jeremy Houghtaling

Most first impressions take all of a few seconds.

For the first 13-plus minutes in front of his new home crowd at the Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse Crunch goalie Cedrick Desjardins waited for his opportunity.

When the shots finally came - 26 in total - the New Brunswick native had an answer, notching his first shutout in a Crunch uniform and third of the season in a 3-0 win over the Springfield Falcons Saturday night.

"You want a good first impression at home," Desjardins said. "I don't think it gets better than that."