Monsters Drop 6-3 Decision to Crunch
Published on March 22, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Monsters News Release
SYRACUSE, NY - The Cleveland Monsters fell to the Syracuse Crunch (38-19-3-2) 6-3 on Sunday evening at Upstate Medical University Arena. With the loss, the Monsters are now 33-22-6-1 and are currently in third place in the AHL's North Division standings.
After a scoreless first period, Syracuse scored four goals in the second frame as Matthew Peca scored at 0:29, followed by Gabriel Szturc at 2:04, Dylan Duke at 2:54, and Jakob Pelletier at 19:26 to put the Crunch up 4-0 through 40 minutes. Ethan Gauthier made it 5-0 for Syracuse at 2:17 of the final frame but Brendan Gaunce found the net for Cleveland to make it 5-1 with helpers from Zach Aston-Reese and Corson Ceulemans at 2:36. The Monsters added two more goals with Owen Sillinger scoring on the power play at 13:43 with Gaunce and Luca Del Bel Belluz on the assists, followed by Max McCue adding a marker at 18:51 to make it 5-3 off feeds from Luca Marrelli and Guillaume Richard. Pelletier picked up the empty-net tally for the Crunch at 19:10 to secure a 6-3 win for Syracuse.
Cleveland's Zach Sawchenko stopped 14 shots in defeat while Syracuse's Brandon Halverson made 26 saves for the win.
The Monsters head home to take on the Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday, March 26th, at 7:00 p.m. at Rocket Arena. Follow the game with full coverage on SportsRadio 99.1 Powered by Rock Entertainment Group, 1390 The Gambler WNIO-AM, AHLTV on FloHockey and the Monsters Hockey Network.
Stay up to date on all Monsters news with the Monsters Mobile App presented by University Hospitals available to download at the Apple Storeor Google Play Store. Be sure to follow the Monsters on X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Scoring:
1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Final
CLE 0 0 3 - - 3
SYR 0 4 2 - - 6
Shots/Special Teams:
Shots PP PK PIM
CLE 29 1/4 4/4 58 min / 13 inf
SYR 19 0/4 3/4 58 min / 13 inf
Goaltenders:
Goaltender Outcome Saves GA Record
CLE Sawchenko L 14 5 11-8-3
SYR Halverson W 26 3 23-7-4
Cleveland Record: 33-22-6-1, 3rd North Division
Syracuse Record: 38-19-3-2, 2nd North Division
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