1
0
Syracuse starts to buckle down.
TOR-0
SYR-5
Matt Tomkins stopped all 38 shots he faced for the shutout victory. It’s Tomkins second shutout in his last three starts and he’s raised his season save percentage to .911 with a recent hot streak that has come just as Brandon Halverson has cooled off.
First Period
1:00 SYR Crozier (4), (Carlile, Sheary)
9:24 SYR Duke (15), (Brown, Pouliot)
14:28 SYR Crozier (5), (Brown, Sheary)(PP)
Second Period
5:18 SYR Teasdale (6), (Walcott, Groshev)
Third Period
14:18 SYR Groshev (5), (Khaira, Carlile)
Tomkins, Max Crozier, and Declan Carlile were the game’s three stars. In his last 16 games Crozier has 4-11-15 while Carlile has 3-4-7 in his last nine games. Crozier, in particular, I think is making noise that he’s ready to move up whenever a spot up top in Tampa becomes available.
The Crunch also got 1-1-2 tonight from Max Groshev, who snapped a five game pointless streak. Groshev has just 2-1-3 in his last 18 games despite a formidable arsenal of physical gifts. A hot streak from Groshev now would be a massive bonus to the Crunch and wouldn’t be unthinkable given what he brings to the table.
Every game is a gotta-have-it pretty much for the rest of the regular season. Burning through games in hand Belleville pulled to within two points of the Crunch for the final playoff spot in the division at the beginning of the evening. The win, coupled with a Sens loss, has pushed Syracuse’s advantage back out to four points but Belleville still holds three games in hand. The margin of error is gone and if Syracuse wants to make the postseason they have to get on a heater right now with 23 games to go in their campaign. Playtime’s over. Time to buckle down.
Box score from TheAHL.com.
