Okay. Sorry for missing a week there, but we’re back on the Syracuse Crunch coverage. You know who else is back? It’s Conor Geekie. The Tampa Bay Lightning reassigned him earlier in the month after he was off to a bit of a slow start in Tampa, but he hasn’t missed a beat at the AHL level. In three games he has three points (two goals, one assist) with both goals coming on the power play. Last season, he put up 20 points (11 goals, 9 assists) in 27 games, so, if nothing else, we know that he’s a really, really solid AHL player.
His scoring helped the Crunch to pick up two more victories this week and run their record to 6-1-0 which puts them atop the North Division along with the Rochester Americans (6-2-0). With Dominic James recalled to Tampa, Geekie has jumped in on the top line and kept them rolling.
The difference of his game is almost night and day when he plays in the AHL. He is strong on the puck and decisive, driving play to the net, and often bullying the opponents. Part of that is his skating. At this point in his very young career, his skating is good enough at the AHL level, but just a step off at the NHL. With the Crunch he’s arriving in time so that his hits on the forecheck make a difference while he’s a fraction late with the Lightning. The same goes for attacking the zone.
Game Six
Syracuse Crunch 3, Utica Comets 0
The Lines
Dylan Duke – Wojciech Stachowiak – Boris Katchouk
Cooper Flinton – Lucas Mercuri – Scott Sabourin
Ethan Gauthier – Tristan Allard – Brendan Furry
Jakob Pelletier – Conor Geekie – Nick Abruzzese
Max Groshev – Steven Santini
Matteo Pietroniro – Roman Schmidt
Declan Carlille – Tommy Miller
Brandon Halverson
Ryan Fanti
A nineteen-save performance for Brandon Halverson and Lucas Mecuri scored his first goal while Jakob Pelletier scored another goal. Geekie picked up his first point as he assisted on Pelletier’s power-play goal.
Game Seven
Syracuse Crunch 5, Toronto Marlies 4
The Lines
Dylan Duke – Wojciech Stachowiak – Boris Katchouk
Cooper Flinton – Lucas Mercuri – Scott Sabourin
Tristan Allard – Gabriel Szturc – Brendan Furry
Jakob Pelletier – Conor Geekie – Nick Abruzzese
Max Groshev – Steven Santini
Matteo Pietroniro – Roman Schmidt
Declan Carlille – Tommy Miller
Brandon Halverson
Ryan Fanti
This one got a little crazy in the second period. Toronto opened the scoring in the first, but the Crunch rolled off four goals in twelve minutes in the second, including two on the power play. Toronto got two back before the period ended, but Boris Katchouk’s empty-netter in the third was enough to keep the Marlies at Bay.
Dylan Duke had three assists while Pelletier had another multi-point night. Wojciech Stachowiak continued to build his case for a recall with a two-point performance.
Transactions
Along with Conor Geekie, Mitchell Chaffee was assigned to the Syracuse Crunch. He didn’t make it in time to play on Wednesday, but should be in the line-up this weekend. Dominic James and Charle-Edouard D’Astous went up to Tampa and are playing like they don’t want to come back.
At some point the Lightning are going to have to send someone down, and that should only strengthen Syracuse’s line-up.
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, October 31 – vs. Utica Comets, 7:00 PM EST
Saturday, November 1st – vs. Belleville Senators, 7:00 PM EST
