North Division Roundup: Syracuse Sweeps Belleville; Utica, Rochester and Laval Split

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Edited by: Allie Foster

A majority of the North Division started their November with a two-game weekend series. While Binghamton split a pair with Lehigh Valley in a home and home set, Syracuse grabbed a pair of much needed victories against Belleville. Meanwhile, Rochester split a home and home with the Bears and Utica and Laval split their two-games.

Syracuse Back on Track?

October was not kind to the Syracuse Crunch, as they only won two of their first seven games and found themselves in the North Division basement. However, November has started on a high note, as the Crunch swept a two game home series against the Belleville Senators over the weekend, doubling their season win total.

On Friday, despite just putting up 16 shots on goal, Syracuse skated away with a 5-4 win. Just under eight minutes into the first period, Dennis Yan scored his second of the season on a power play for a 1-0 lead. Belleville tied the game just over a minute later as Andrew Sturtz picked up his first of the year.

The Crunch took the lead back with just over four minutes remaining in the period on Carter Verhaeghe’s second of the season. The Senators again answered with a tying goal, as Adam Tambellini picked up a power play tally.

In the second, Belleville outshot Syracuse 20-9, but it was the Crunch that did the goal scoring. While on their third power play, Alexander Volkov picked up his first of the season 48 seconds into the period for a 3-2 Syracuse lead. Andy Andreoff added a power play goal of his own, his fourth of the season overall, about four minutes later for a 4-2 lead. Volkov then added his second goal of the period with 8:47 remaining in the second for a 5-2 lead. Belleville then tried to make a comeback, cutting the Crunch lead to one with back-to-back goals a mere 14 seconds apart from Tambellini and Drake Batherson.

A quiet third period saw a total of five combined shots, with Syracuse holding on for the win. Connor Ingram won his second game of the season, stopping 28 of 32 shots. Defenseman Ben Thomas made hisseason debut and finished with two assists, while rookies Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk also had two helpers apiece. Jordan Murray had two assists for Belleville.

In the rematch on Saturday, it was all Syracuse from the start, as they crushed the Senators 6-1.

Verhaeghe scored his second goal of the weekend on a power play 3:37 into the game for an early 1-0 lead. In the second, Syracuse exploded for four goals from four different skaters. Mitch Hults, who recently returned to the Crunch after a stint with ECHL Orlando, scored his first of the year to double the lead. Andy Andreoff and Raddysh added goals 36 seconds apart for a 4-0 lead. Cory Conacher then picked up his second goal of the season with 3:52 remaining in the period for a commanding 5-0 Crunch advantage. Andreas Englund finally got Belleville on the board 31 seconds later with his first of the year. Conacher added his second goal of the game midway through the third to finish off the Crunch sweep.

Eddie Pasquale got the win in net for Syracuse, stopping 26 of 27 shots. Conacher added two assists for a four-point night, while Andreoff and Matthew Spencer also had two helpers apiece. Chase Balisy and Sturtz had assists for the Senators, who fell to 5-7-0-0 on the season.

The Crunch will visit Rochester on Friday night before returning home on Sunday to host Hershey.

Belleville heads home to begin a five game homestand, hosting Toronto for a pair on Friday and Saturday.

Amerks Split with the Bears

In a matchup of the two longest running AHL franchises, Rochester and Hershey split a home and home series.

On Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena, the Bears used a three goal explosion in the first period to take an eventual 4-2 win over the Amerks. Hershey got their first power play just five seconds into the contest thanks to a delay of game call and got a goal from Mike Sgarbossa at the :57 mark for a very early 1-0 lead. Riley Barber and Axel Jonsson-Fjalby added goals less than two minutes apart late in the first for a 3-0 Hershey lead after the first 20 minutes. This ended Rochester goalie Scott Wedgewood’s night early after he only managed six saves on nine shots.

After a scoreless second period, Rochester rallied to cut the lead to 3-2 in the third on goals by C.J. Smith and reigning AHL Player of the Month Victor Olofsson. The Bears sealed the 4-2 win with six seconds to go on a Liam O’Brien empty net goal. Adam Wilcox took over for Wedgewood in relief and stopped 14 shots. Four Amerk skaters had one assist each.

The two teams headed to Hershey on Saturday and again the Bears took an early 1-0 lead on Derek Hulak’s second goal of the season. This time, Rochester scored four unanswered goals, earning the split with a 4-1 win. Zach Redmond, who reached 400 career professional games on Friday, notched another career milestone in this game. His two goals gave him 200 career pro points. Amerk captain Kevin Porter and Dalton Smith also scored, while Wilcox moved to 3-0-1-0 on the season with 26 saves.

The Amerks return home for a pair of games this week, hosting Cleveland on Wednesday and Syracuse on Friday.

Comets get Road Split in Laval

Two teams in the middle of the pack, Utica and Laval, faced each other at Place Bell this weekend, with each team taking a victory.

On Friday night, Utica jumped out to an early lead, then held on for a 3-1 win. Jonathan Dahlen gave the visitors a 1-0 lead late in the first period with his second goal of the season. The Comets added a pair in the second against Laval netminder Charlie Lindgren by Zack MacEwen and Michael Carcone, giving Utica a 3-0 lead. Brett Kulak got the Rockets on the board early in the third with his third of the season, but Laval could do no more. Ivan Kulbakov stopped 31 shots in his fourth win of the season, while five Utica skaters added one assist each. Lindgren stopped 15 of 18 before exiting in favor of Michael McNiven, who went 8 for 8.

Laval returned the favor in the rematch on Saturday afternoon, taking a 2-1 overtime win. After a scoreless opening period, Utica got on the board first 7:04 into the second on Cam Darcy’s second goal of the season. Laval tied the game up at the 11:49 mark on a shorthanded goal by Nikita Jevpalovs, also his second of the season. The game eventually made it to overtime where, on the first shot of the extra frame by either side, Jake Evans scored the game winner 28 seconds in for a Rocket victory. McNiven needed just 19 saves for the win. Kulbakov took the hard luck loss for the Comets, stopping 33 of 35.

The Comets return home on Wednesday to host Laval for their third straight matchup, then Hartford visits the Adirondack Bank Center on Friday. Utica then heads south to visit Binghamton on Saturday.

Laval starts a three-game road trip in Utica on Wednesday, then heads to Cleveland for a pair of weekend games against the Monsters.