Crunch bounce back with sweep of Sens

LAST WEEK
Fri., Nov. 2 - Crunch vs. Belleville - W, 5-4
Sat., Nov. 3 - Crunch vs. Belleville - W, 6-1

THIS WEEK
Fri., Nov. 9 - Crunch at Rochester - 7:05 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 11 - Crunch vs. Hershey - 5 p.m.
CRUNCH BOUNCE BACK WITH SWEEP OF SENS
The Crunch earned two wins in Week 4, sweeping a two-game series with the Belleville Senators. The Crunch snapped a three-game losing streak and collected back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Syracuse (4-5-0-0) remained in eighth place in the North Division. The Crunch have still played the fewest games (9) in the Eastern Conference and they have three games in hand on every team in the North Division, except Toronto, who has played 10 games.
Syracuse opened Week 5 with a 5-4 win over the Senators, giving the Crunch their first home win of the season. The offense clicked again Saturday in a 6-1 triumph over Belleville, running the Crunch's record against the Senators to 8-0-1-1 since they moved to Belleville prior to last season.
The Crunch visit the Rochester Americans Friday before hosting the Hershey Bears Sunday in the team's Military Appreciation Night.
TOP PERFORMERS
Rookie forward Taylor Raddysh extended his scoring streak to a team-high four games after logging three points (1g, 2a) in two games in Week 5. The 20-year-old earned his first two career assists in Friday's win over the Senators. The next night, Raddysh deflected a Nolan Valleau shot for his fourth goal of the season. During his four-game scoring streak, Raddysh has five points (3g, 2a).
Carter Verhaeghe potted goals in both games to push his scoring streak to three straight games. He has five points (2g, 3a) over the three games and he is tied for second on the Crunch with seven points (3g, 4a) in nine games this season.
The 23-year-old fired home the Crunch's second goal in Friday's win and then he assisted on Andy Andreoff's power-play goal later that night. Saturday, Verhaeghe opened the scoring with a power-play goal from the left circle early in the first period.
Cory Conacher exploded for four points Saturday against Belleville. It was the 28-year-old's first four-point game since recording back-to-back four-point games in Game 3 and Game 4 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals vs. Providence. Conacher is tied for second on the team with seven points (3g, 4a) in five games.
TEAM NOTES
The Crunch dressed the same lineup in both games this weekend, only the second time they've done that this season. Of the 18 skaters who played for the Crunch, 15 players recorded at least one point and eight logged at least two points.
The Crunch's two wins in Week 5 give them back-to-back wins for the first time in nine games this season. The Crunch didn't win back-to-back games until their 18th game of the season; that started a 10-game winning streak.
UPCOMING: ROCHESTER, HERSHEY
The Crunch have two games in Week 6, visiting Rochester Friday and hosting Hershey Sunday.
Friday marks the second of 12 head-to-head meetings between the Crunch and Amerks, and the second trip to Blue Cross Arena for the Crunch. Rochester collected its first win of the season, 6-3, over the Crunch Oct. 10. After starting the season 0-2-0-0, Rochester is 8-1-1-0 in the last 10 games to surge into first place in the North Division. The Amerks (8-3-1-0) lead the division with 17 points, giving them a two-point lead over Cleveland; Rochester hosts Cleveland at KeyBank Center in Buffalo Wednesday night.
The Crunch wrap up their season series with the Hershey Bears Sunday in the only Sunday home game of the season for Syracuse. The Crunch won the first match against the Bears, 3-2, in the season opener Oct. 6 at Giant Center. Alex Barré-Boulet paced the Crunch with two points (1g, 1a) in his pro debut. Hershey has posted a 6-2-0-1 record in the last nine games, after an 0-5-0-0 start. The Bears (6-7-0-1) have 13 points, one of three teams in the Atlantic Division tied for fourth place. The Bears are home against Springfield Saturday before visiting the Crunch.
WEEK 5 RESULTS
Friday, November 2 | Game 8 vs. Belleville | W, 5-4
Belleville 2 2 0 - 4 Shots: 9-20-3-32 PP: 2/9
Syracuse 2 3 0 - 5 Shots: 5-9-2-16 PP: 3/7
1st Period-Yan 2 (Katchouk, Raddysh), 7:42 (PP). Verhaeghe 2 (Barré-Boulet, Thomas), 15:56. 2nd Period-Volkov 1 (Katchouk), 0:48 (PP). Andreoff 4 (Foote, Verhaeghe), 4:38 (PP). Volkov 2 (Thomas, Raddysh), 11:13. . . . Ingram 2-3-0 (32 shots-28 saves). A-4,011
Saturday, November 3 | Game 9 vs. Belleville | W, 6-1
Belleville 0 1 0 - 1 Shots: 7-12-8-27 PP: 0/3
Syracuse 1 4 1 - 6 Shots: 5-10-6-21 PP: 1/6
1st Period-Verhaeghe 3 (Foote, Conacher), 3:37 (PP). 2nd Period-Hults 1 (Tammela, Brassart), 2:00. Andreoff 5 (Volkov, Conacher), 7:18. Raddysh 4 (Valleau, Spencer), 7:56. Conacher 2 (Andreoff, Thomas), 16:08. 3rd Period-Conacher 3 (Andreoff), 8:34. . . . Pasquale 2-2-0 (27 shots-26 saves). A-5,276
| Category | | Leader | | --- | --- | --- | | Points | 8 | Andreoff | | Goals | 5 | Andreoff | | Assists | 4 | 5 Players | | PIM | 29 | Katchouk | | Plus/Minus | +4 | Thomas | | Wins | 2 | Ingram, Pasquale | | GAA | 3.25 | Pasquale | | Save % | 0.894 | Pasquale |