Crunch rack up streaks in week 10

LAST WEEK
Fri., Dec. 7 - Crunch vs. Binghamton - W, 5-0
Sat., Dec. 8 - Crunch vs. Rochester - L, 4-3

THIS WEEK
Wed., Dec. 12 - Crunch at Toronto - 7 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 14 - Crunch at Laval - 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 15 - Crunch at Laval - 3 p.m.
Crunch's streak ended at 13 games
The Crunch split two games in Week 10, but had their points streak snapped at 13 games. That run from Nov. 2 to Dec. 7 slots in as the third-longest in franchise history.
Syracuse (13-6-2-0) began the week with a 5-0 win at the War Memorial Arena over the Binghamton Devils. The Crunch are now 5-0 against the Devils this season and they've outscored Binghamton 23-6. The next night, the Crunch dropped a 4-3 decision to the Rochester Americans for their first regulation loss since Oct. 27, a span of 41 days between regulation defeats. After earning a win and a loss in Week 10, the Crunch stand in third place in the North Division with 28 points, but their 0.667 points percentage remains second-best in the North.
The Crunch begin a five-game road trip in Week 11 with stops in Toronto and Laval.
Top Performers
Alex Barré-Boulet extended his scoring streak to 11 games with three points (1g, 2a) over two games in Week 10. The rookie's run began with an assist Nov. 11 vs. Hershey and he has produced 15 points (7g, 8a), which is tied for sixth in the league-and is most among rookies-over that time. Barré-Boulet's streak is now the second-longest points streak in the league this season behind teammate Cory Conacher's 12-game run (Nov. 3-Dec. 7) and it stands as the longest by a Crunch rookie since at least the 2005-06 season.
The 21-year-old is ranked third in rookie scoring this season with 21 points (9g, 12a) and he leads first-year players in power-play goals (7) and power-play points (14). He is one of only four players with seven power-play goals in the AHL.
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Mitchell Stephens returned to the Crunch lineup Friday against Binghamton after missing 12 games due to injury. The second-year-pro netted three points (1g, 2a) in his first game back, then followed up with another assist Saturday for four points in two games in Week 10. Stephens had points in the previous two games prior to suffering an injury Oct. 27 and he rides a four-game scoring streak (1g, 5a) into the week.
An AHL All-Star as a rookie last year, the 21-year-old has eight points (2g, 6a) in nine games this season for the Crunch.
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Carter Verhaeghe, 23, also piled up four points (1g, 3a) last week, giving him points in 13 of the last 15 games since Oct. 27. In that span he has 24 points (8g, 16a), second only to teammate Cory Conacher's 26 points in the entire AHL. He also has eight multi-point games in this stretch.
Now in his second season in Syracuse, Verhaeghe has 74 points (26g, 48a) in 79 career Crunch games.
Pasquale is latest to debut with Lightning
Goaltender Eddie Pasquale became the 53rd player to ride the pipeline from Syracuse to Tampa Bay when he made his NHL debut for the Lightning Dec. 4 at Detroit. His debut came after appearing in 235 career AHL games, including 24 with the Crunch over the last two seasons. Pasquale collected the win in a shootout for the Lightning.
The 28-year-old is the seventh goaltender to appear in a game for the Crunch and Lightning since the affiliation began in 2012-13. The list is Cedrick Desjardins, Kristers Gudlevskis, Anders Lindback, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Louis Domingue, Peter Budaj and Pasquale.
Upcoming: Toronto, Laval
The Crunch begin a season-long five-game road trip in Week 11. It's one of two five-game road trips for the Crunch this season (Feb. 6-15).
Wednesday, the Crunch made their second and final appearance at Coca-Cola Coliseum to face the Toronto Marlies. It's the second of six head-to-head meetings this season. The Marlies captured the first win, 4-1, Oct. 26. Syracuse makes one more trip to Toronto this season, but that game will be played at Scotiabank Arena-home of the Maple Leafs-Feb. 18. The defending Calder Cup Champions are down in sixth place in the North Division entering the week, but they are only one point out of playoff position and they have games in hand on every team in the division except Syracuse and Rochester. Toronto and San Diego pulled off a pair of trades late Monday night; Toronto acquired defenseman Steven Oleksy from the Gulls in exchange for Adam Cracknell and the Marlies also sent Jeff Glass to San Diego in a separate move.
Syracuse continues its road trip with back-to-back games at Place Bell against the Laval Rocket. It's the second and third matches of the season between the clubs after the Crunch rallied past the Rocket, 6-4, Nov. 17 in Syracuse. The Rocket (9-14-2-1) have slumped to last in the North Division while in a 2-6-1-1 funk. Laval's blueline has been bolstered with the recent additions of Karl Alzner, a vet of 681 NHL games, and Xavier Ouellet, who has 160 NHL games to his name. The Rocket also recently signed veteran defenseman Simon Despres to a PTO.
Week 10 Results
Friday, December 7 | Game 20 vs. Binghamton | W, 5-0
Binghamton 0 0 0 - 0 Shots: 2-6-10-18 PP: 0/3
Syracuse 2 2 1 - 5 Shots: 19-9-4-32 PP: 1/2
1st Period-Barré-Boulet 9 (Gaunce, Verhaeghe), 7:01 (PP). Stephens 2 (Verhaeghe, Gaunce), 9:40. 2nd Period-Verhaeghe 9 (Stephens, Barré-Boulet), 12:37. Conacher 11 (Andreoff, Volkov), 15:27. 3rd Period-Yan 5 (Stephens, Archambault), 3:04. . . . Ingram 8-3-0 (18 shots-18 saves). A-5,325
Saturday, December 8 | Game 21 vs. Rochester | L, 4-3
Rochester 2 1 1 - 4 Shots: 11-12-10-33 PP: 1/3
Syracuse 1 0 2 - 3 Shots: 6-9-13-28 PP: 1/4
1st Period-Andreoff 11 (Barré-Boulet), 16:13. 3rd Period-Foote 2 (Verhaeghe, Labrie), 1:03. Raddysh 9 (Stephens, Volkov), 11:55 (PP). . . . Ingram 8-4-0 (33 shots-28 saves). A-5,784
| Category | | Leader | | --- | --- | --- | | Points | 28 | Conacher | | Goals | 11 | Andreoff, Conacher | | Assists | 17 | Conacher, Verhaeghe | | PIM | 38 | Labrie | | Plus/Minus | +10 | Gaunce | | Wins | 8 | Ingram | | GAA | 2.44 | Ingram | | Save % | 0.919 | Ingram |