Crunch rank second in North Division
The Crunch briefly pulled into a tie for first place in the North Division, but they are now three points behind the Rochester Americans in the standings
By
Lukas Favale / <b>TampaBayLightning.com</b>
CRUNCH HIT TURBULENCE IN WEEK 20
The Crunch had a bumpy week in Week 20, playing four games in six days-with three games on the road-and posting a 1-2-0-1 record. During the week, the Crunch briefly pulled into a tie for first place in the North Division, but they are now three points behind the Rochester Americans in the standings.
Syracuse opened the week Wednesday in Belleville and suffered its first regulation loss ever against the Belleville Senators; the 3-0 defeat was the Crunch's second-straight shutout loss. The Crunch ended the two-game skid with a 1-0 win over the Amerks at Blue Cross Arena Friday night, the Crunch's third straight win in the season series. The next night, Rochester replied with a 3-2 shootout win over the Crunch in Syracuse; the loss snapped a six-game home winning streak. The Crunch played Monday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, where they had a 3-1 third-period lead slip away in a 5-3 loss to the Marlies.
The Crunch wrap up their stretch of seven games in 11 days with three home dates in Week 21.
TOP PERFORMERS
Connor Ingram collected his sixth shutout of the season with a 32-save effort Friday night in Rochester. It was his second 1-0 blanking of the Amerks in his two-year career; he made 38 saves in a 1-0 win April 11, 2018 at Blue Cross Arena. The 21-year-old leads the AHL with six shutouts this season.
It was the 10th shutout of his career, putting him one back of the Crunch's franchise record (11), which is held by Karl Goehring and J.F. Labbe. Goehring played in a franchise-record 177 games and Labbe appeared in 92 with the Crunch; Ingram has collected his 10 shutouts in 56 appearances, an average of one shutout every 5.6 appearances. His six shutouts this season are the second-most in a single season in franchise history; Labbe holds that mark with nine in 2001-02.
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Cory Conacher moved into a tie for ninth place in franchise history with his 152nd point, a goal, Monday at Toronto. He has 152 points (53g, 99a) in 156 career Crunch games, tying Larry Courville (1995-99) on the all-time Crunch list.
Conacher also set up the Crunch's only goal in Rochester Friday night, moving him within one assist of becoming the 10th player in franchise history with 100 assists.
TEAM NOTES
Monday's 5-3 loss to the Toronto Marlies was the Crunch's first regulation defeat this season when holding a lead after two periods. The Crunch fell to 22-1-1-0 in those situations, with their other loss coming in overtime Nov. 30 at Cleveland.
It was also just their second regulation loss when scoring first (21-2-1-1). The Crunch's 0.880 points percentage in those situations is the best in the AHL; the league average is 0.730. The other regulation loss was Dec. 19 at Springfield.
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Connor Ingram's 32-save shutout Friday in Rochester was the team's league-leading seventh shutout of the season. Five of their seven shutouts have been on the road this season, while they have also been shut out four times-all on the road.
Over the last two weeks, Syracuse was involved in four-straight shutout games, two wins book-ending two losses, from Feb. 8 to Feb. 15. It's the first time the Crunch have played four straight shutout games since Nov. 7-17, 2010.
UPCOMING: LAVAL, TORONTO
The Crunch continue their busiest stretch of the season-seven games in 11 days-with three home games in Week 21.
Syracuse holds its final Wednesday home game of the season this week with a match against the Laval Rocket. It is the fourth game of the six-game season series, and the second of three in Syracuse. The Crunch have two wins in three games against Laval, but lost the last one, 4-0, Dec. 15 at Place Bell.
The Crunch look to bounce back from Monday's loss at Toronto with the final two games of the season series with the Marlies Friday and Saturday night. Two points separate the teams in the North Division heading into the week. The Marlies have three wins in four games against the Crunch.
WEEK 20 RESULTS
Wednesday, February 13 | Game 47 at Belleville | L, 3-0
Syracuse 0 0 0 - 0 Shots: 11-8-12-31 PP: 0/4
Belleville 1 1 1 - 3 Shots: 12-5-12-29 PP: 0/3
Goalies-Syracuse, Pasquale 15-9-3 (28 shots-26 saves). Belleville-Hogberg 9-4-3 (31 shots-31 saves) A-2,565
Friday, February 15 | Game 48 at Rochester | W, 1-0
Syracuse 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 12-9-11-32 PP: 0/2
Rochester 0 0 0 - 0 Shots: 5-17-10-32 PP: 0/3
1st Period-Andreoff 18 (Volkov, Conacher), 13:34. . . . Ingram 14-6-0 (32 shots-32 saves). A-6,640
Saturday, February 16 | Game 49 vs. Rochester | SOL, 3-2
ROC 1 1 0 0 1 - 3 Shots: 14-11-10-4-1-40 PP: 1/3
SYR 0 1 1 0 0 - 2 Shots: 8-8-12-3-0-31 PP: 0/3
2nd Period-Stephens 5 (Dumont, Verhaeghe), 7:17. 3rd Period-Colton 9 (Foote, Brassart), 1:53. Shootout-Rochester 1 (Olofsson NG, Simpson NG, Elie NG, Porter NG, Asplund NG, Leier G) Syracuse 0 (Volkov NG, Rutta NG, Conacher NG, Somppi NG, Verhaeghe NG, Colton NG). . . . Pasquale 15-9-4 (39 shots-37 saves). A-6,179
Monday, February 18 | Game 50 at Toronto | L, 5-3
Syracuse 2 1 0 - 3 Shots: 10-9-11-30 PP: 1/2
Toronto 1 0 4 - 5 Shots: 5-10-11-26 PP: 2/3
1st Period-Conacher 17 (Gaunce, Andreoff), 3:08 (PP). Barré-Boulet 22 (Valleau, Dumont), 6:25. 2nd Period-Verhaeghe 23 (Thomas, Barré-Boulet), 9:45. . . . Ingram 14-7-0 (25 shots-21 saves). A-14,245
| Category | | Leader |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Points | 56 | Verhaeghe |
| Goals | 23 | Verhaeghe |
| Assists | 33 | Verhaeghe |
| PIM | 108 | Andreoff |
| Plus/Minus | +19 | Labrie |
| Wins | 15 | Pasquale |
| GAA | 2.34 | Ingram |
| Save % | 0.920 | Ingram |
