By Michael Wax
The Crunch had an eventful week, coupled with their first midweek game of the year, going 1-0-0-1. They crushed the Rochester Americans 7-2 on Nov. 1 on the road, and saw a comeback fall just a bit short ina 5-4 SO loss against the Americans at home on Nov. 4. Before we get into what we saw this weekend, here is some admin:
Forward Jack Finley was assigned to the Crunch on Tuesday. At 6'7", the forward had been on injury reserve recovering from an injury from last season. The 2020 2nd round pick had 12 goals and 21 points in 67 games last year with the Crunch in his first year of professional hockey.
Defender Haydn Fleury was assigned to the Crunch on Thursday on a conditioning assignment. The 27-year-old played in two of the Lightnings' nine opening games, recording one assist. The Lightning wanted to get Fleury in some more games, and these types of assignments typically last around 14 days. He played in Saturday's 5-4 shootout loss against Rochester.
Forward Jaydon Dureau was returned to the Solar Bears on Friday.
Forward Waltteri Merelä was assigned from the Lightning to the Crunch on Sunday. With forward Tyler Motte ready to come back from injury, the Lightning needed a roster spot, and Merelä was the easiest. Though he had no points in 10 games with the Bolts, Merelä showed promise in all three aspects of the game and could benefit from some time in the AHL.
Here are three things we noticed over this weekend's games from the Crunch:
Christmas Carroll
A virtual unknown before this season, Joe Carroll is making his presence known with the Bolts' affiliate in a variety of way. Carroll spent some time with the Belleville Senators last season but ultimately spent the most time on the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.
Through four games this season, Carroll has three points, one goal (a short-handed game-winner), and 12 penalty minutes. His time on the penalty kill has also transformed the PK into one of the top shorthanded units in the league.
His shorthanded goal in Wednesday's game followed a lot of Syracuse's blueprint: crash the net and wait for the rebound. Cole Koepke (another dynamo on the PK) skated into the offensive zone and waited before ripping a shot on net. With the biggest of rebounds available for the taking, Carroll swooped in to tuck it home and give the Crunch another SHG.
Building Forts
Gabriel Fortier has been in the Lightning organization for quite a while, playing games for the Crunch as far back as 2018-19. In what seemed like a make-or-break training camp, Fortier surprisingly passed through waivers and got another shot to impress with Syracuse. So far, he has not disappointed. Fortier recorded his first two goals of the season during Saturday's loss, showing some newfound skills along the way.
Parked in the bumper spot on the power play, Fortier was witness to an absolute robbery on Max Crozier from the left circle. With the puck loose,Fortier used quickness and tenacity to get to the puck first and tap it home to make it a one-goal game.
On his tying goal, he once again displayed a willingness to go to the net. Across the line with Gage Goncalves and Félix Robert, a nifty passing play got Goncalves a good look at the net. With another massive rebound, Fortier once again got just enough on it to shovel it home on the backhand and tie the game.
Max Level
Though he started the season on the fourth line for Syracuse, Maxim Groshev has been putting together quite the performance recently, and showing his unique passing ability. This culminated in a week where he put up three assists, continuing to amplify what Lightning fans saw in both the Rookie Showcase and the preseason.
On all three of his assists, he displayed incredible vision and a very soft touch, something that is reminiscent of Lightning superstar and future Hall of Famer Nikita Kucherov. Perhaps his best assist of the week came in Saturday's game off the rush, where he sent a backhand pass with just a flick of the wrist tape-to-tape to Daniel Walcott, who deposited it for the game-tying goal.
Pretty soon, Groshev should see himself in the top six and on one of the power play units, giving his game even more of a chance to develop.
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