Ross Colton's late goals help the Crunch rally for two wins in Week 12

LAST WEEK
Wed., Dec. 19 - Crunch at Springfield - L, 3-2
Fri., Dec. 21 - Crunch at Lehigh Valley - W, 3-2 (SO)
Sat., Dec. 22 - Crunch vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - W, 4-3 (OT)
THIS WEEK
Wed., Dec. 26 - Crunch at Binghamton - 7:05 p.m.
Fri., Dec. 28 - Crunch vs. Utica - 7 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 29 - Crunch vs. Springfield - 7 p.m.

Crunch rally for two wins in Week 12
The Crunch entered the holiday break with back-to-back come-from-behind victories, going 2-1-0-0 in three Week 12 games.
Syracuse (17-8-2-0) started the week with a 3-2 loss in Springfield Wednesday night, where the Crunch allowed the game-winning goal with under four minutes to play in regulation. It was the first regulation loss for the Crunch when they scored the first goal. Syracuse bounced back Friday, defeating the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3-2 in a shootout. The Crunch overcame deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to earn the win and conclude their five-game road trip with a 3-2 record. The next night, the Crunch stormed back from a 3-1 deficit on home ice to topple the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-3, in overtime.
After a few days off for the holidays, the Crunch play three games in four nights in Week 13. They match up with Binghamton, Utica and Springfield this week.
Top Performers
Rookie forward Ross Colton helped lead the comeback efforts both Friday and Saturday night and he finished with three points (2g, 1a) in three games last week. Friday in Allentown, Colton delivered the third period game-tying goal at 5:13 of the stanza. The marker came just 11 seconds after the Phantoms took the lead on the Crunch. Syracuse eventually won, 3-2, in a shootout. Saturday, had a hand in the Crunch's two straight goals which tied the game at three. He collected an assist late in the second period then potted his second straight game-tying goal in the third period, forcing overtime with a strike with 2:27 left in regulation.
The 22-year-old is up to 11 points (4g, 7a) in 25 games during his rookie campaign. Saturday also marked his second career multi-point game and gave him goals in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. The University of Vermont product finished his collegiate career with 50 points (28g, 22a) in 69 games over the course of two seasons.
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Carter Verhaeghe delivered the winning goal in consecutive games for the Crunch and he was the only Crunch skater to log a point in all three games last week. He had assists Wednesday and Friday, but he also scored the shootout game-winning goal against the Phantoms Friday night. Saturday against the Penguins, the 23-year-old was held without a point in regulation, but he fired home the overtime game-winning goal 1:19 in the extra session to give the Crunch a 4-3 win.
The overtime goal is Verhaeghe's second overtime game-winning goal in a Crunch jersey; he also scored in overtime April 13, 2018 at Utica, securing the Crunch a 100-point season last year. It also extended his home points streak to 10 games, which is the longest in the AHL this season. He has 19 points (7g, 12a) in the Crunch's last 10 home games.
In his second season with the Crunch, Verhaeghe is second on the team and tied for seventh in the AHL with 31 points (10g, 21a) in 27 games.
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Alex Barré-Boulet continued his point-per-game pace with three points in three games last week. He connected for a pair of power-play goals-one Wednesday in Springfield and the other Saturday versus the Penguins-bringing him into a tie for the AHL lead with nine power-play goals.
He leads AHL rookies with 27 points (13g, 14a) in 27 games.
Upcoming: Binghamton, Utica, Springfield
The Crunch emerge from the holiday break with three games in four nights to close out 2018.
Wednesday, the Crunch head to Binghamton for the sixth head-to-head match with the Devils this season. The Crunch hold a 5-0 record against Binghamton and they're outscoring the Devils, 23-6. In two games at Binghamton, the Crunch hold an 8-1 scoring advantage. The Devils (14-16-3-0) have won back-to-back games and are sixth in the North Division with 31 points.
The Crunch play the final two games of the week on home ice. Friday Syracuse hosts Utica in the third of 12 meetings between the Crunch and Comets. The road team has won the first two games this year; most recently the Crunch shut out the Comets, 4-0, in Utica Nov. 16.
The Crunch wrap up the week Saturday against the Springfield Thunderbirds. It's the third meeting this season, but the first in Syracuse. Both teams have one win in the series, with the T-Birds winning last week, 3-2.
Week 12 Results
Wednesday, December 19 | Game 25 at Springfield | L, 3-2
Syracuse 1 1 0 - 2 Shots: 6-9-14-29 PP: 1/4
Springfield 0 2 1 - 3 Shots: 7-14-9-30 PP: 1/7
1st Period-Raddysh 10 (Dumont), 9:13. 2nd Period-Barré-Boulet 12 (Conacher, Verhaeghe), 15:02 (PP). . . . Pasquale 7-3-2 (30 shots-27 saves). A-2,526
Friday, December 21 | Game 26 at Lehigh Valley | W, 3-2 (SO)
SYR 0 1 1 0 1 - 3 Shots: 14-6-6-3-1-30 PP: 0/2
LV 0 1 1 0 0 - 2 Shots: 11-17-10-4-0-42 PP: 0/2
2nd Period-Gaunce 6 (Masin, Verhaeghe), 15:39. 3rd Period-Colton 3 (Bourke, Thomas), 5:13. Shootout-Lehigh Valley 1 (Leier G, Vorobyev NG, Aube-Kubel NG, Vecchione NG, Conner NG) Syracuse 2 (Somppi NG, Raddysh NG, Conacher G, Barré-Boulet NG, Verhaeghe G). . . . Ingram 9-5-0 (42 shots-40 saves). A-6,999
Saturday, December 22 | Game 27 vs. WBS | W, 4-3 (OT)
WBS 1 2 0 0 - 3 Shots: 9-6-8-0-23 PP: 3/7
SYR 1 1 1 1 - 4 Shots: 12-18-10-1-41 PP: 1/11
1st Period-Raddysh 11 (Unassisted), 1:01. 2nd Period-Barré-Boulet 13 (Conacher, Colton), 1:38 (PP). 3rd Period-Colton 4 (Katchouk, Foote), 17:33. Overtime-Verhaeghe 10 (Barré-Boulet, Gaunce), 1:19. . . . Pasquale 8-3-2 (23 shots-20 saves). A-5,854
| Category | | Leader | | --- | --- | --- | | Points | 32 | Conacher | | Goals | 13 | Andreoff, Barré-Boulet | | Assists | 21 | Conacher, Verhaeghe | | PIM | 55 | Andreoff | | Plus/Minus | +13 | Gaunce | | Wins | 9 | Ingram | | GAA | 2.44 | Ingram | | Save % | 0.920 | Ingram |