Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 29, No. 21
March 7, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release
CRUNCH START MARCH WITH TWO WINS
The Crunch earned a pair of home wins, and posted a 2-1-0-0 record in Week 21.
Syracuse took down the Cleveland Monsters, 6-5, Wednesday at Upstate Medical University Arena to earn the Crunch's first victory over the Monsters this season. They then pushed their winning streak to three with a 4-1 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to sweep their two-game season series. Syracuse lost in the weekend finale Sunday at Utica, falling to 6-2-1-0 against the Comets this season.
The Crunch are 6-2-0-0 in their last eight games, which includes a pair of three-game winning streaks. The Crunch have now had six winning streaks this season of at least three games. They are 27-20-6-2 and have 61 points, which is third in the North Division.
TOP PERFORMERS
Rookie forward Lucas Edmonds stayed hot in Week 21, leading all Crunch players and tying for the AHL lead with six points (4g, 2a) in three games. His four goals were the most by any player in the AHL.
Edmonds, 22, posted three points (2g, 1a) to help the Crunch defeat Cleveland Wednesday. After grabbing a helper Friday against the Phantoms, Edmonds notched his second multi-goal game of the week Sunday at Utica. Edmonds is on a four-game scoring streak with seven points (4g, 3a). He has also collected eight goals and 11 points in the last eight games.
A third round pick by Tampa Bay in 2022, Edmonds now leads Crunch rookies in scoring with 19 points (11g, 8a) in 35 games.
***
Forward Felix Robert found his scoring touch again and picked up four points in Week 21. After earning an assist Wednesday against Cleveland, Robert racked up a pair of goals in the win against Lehigh Valley. He then scooped another assist Sunday in Utica to extend his scoring streak to three games.
Robert's goal Friday was his first since Dec. 16; he had gone nine games without a goal, while also missing 16 games due to injury. Robert has 26 points (14g, 12a) in 38 games this season.
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Alex Barré-Boulet didn't miss a beat in his return to action following the birth of his daughter on Monday. He collected points in each game last week, totaling four points (2g, 2a). He netted the game-opening goal Wednesday against the Monsters, tallied an assist Friday versus Lehigh Valley and then capped the week with his 21st multi-point game of the season (1g, 1a) Sunday at Utica.
Barré-Boulet is tied for second in the AHL in scoring with 66 points (19g, 47a) in 51 games. He has matched his career high in assists, and he is just two points shy of his career high of 68 set in 2018-19. He is on the verge of a third 20-goal season (2018-19 and 2019-20).
RADDYSH RECALLED
Defenseman Darren Raddysh earned his first recall of the season to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He made his Lightning season debut March 2 vs. Pittsburgh. Raddysh is the Crunch's second-leading scorer with 51 points (13g, 38a) in 50 games.
UPCOMING: LAVAL|ROCHESTER
The Crunch host the Laval Rocket Friday night. The home team has won all five previous games in the series, including a 7-3 Crunch win in Laval's last trip to Syracuse on Jan. 13. The Rocket (23-22-7-3) currently hold the final playoff position in the North Division with 56 points. Their week begins with a home game Wednesday against Belleville, the team right behind Laval in the division.
The Crunch host the Rochester Americans Saturday night for the ninth game of their 12-game season series. The Crunch grabbed a 3-2 overtime win in Rochester two weeks ago to improve to 3-5-0-0 against the Amerks this season. With three straight losses, the Amerks are 26-22-4-1, and they are in fourth place in the North Division with 57 points.
WEEK 21 RESULTS
Wednesday, March 1 | Game 52 vs. Cleveland | W, 6-5
Cleveland 0 1 4 - 5 Shots: 9-5-13-27 PP: 2/2
Syracuse 2 1 3 - 6 Shots: 13-9-8-30 PP: 1/1
1st Period-Barré-Boulet 18 (Fortier, Carlile), 4:14. Carrick 8 (Unassisted), 14:35. 2nd Period-Edmonds 8 (Balcers, Jones), 9:31. 3rd Period-Edmonds 9 (Robert, Usau), 3:57 (PP). Ryfors 20 (Edmonds, Carrick), 6:30. Dumont 16 (Fortier), 19:11 (EN). . . . Alnefelt 14-8-1 (27 shots-22 saves) A-4,003
Friday, March 3 | Game 53 vs. Lehigh Valley | W, 4-1
Lehigh Valley 0 0 1 - 1 Shots: 16-4-16-36 PP: 0/4
Syracuse 1 2 1 - 4 Shots: 8-11-11-30 PP: 1/1
1st Period-Koepke 5 (Usau, Thompson), 18:15. 2nd Period-Jones 3 (Carlile, Edmonds), 7:54. Robert 13 (Barré-Boulet, Fortier), 12:32. 3rd Period-Robert 14 (Goncalves, Koepke), 3:56 (PP). . . . Lagace 12-9-5 (36 shots-35 saves) A-5,127
Sunday, March 5 | Game 54 at Utica | L, 6-4
Syracuse 3 1 0 - 4 Shots: 11-14-7-32 PP: 0/3
Utica 1 3 2 - 6 Shots: 7-8-11-26 PP: 0/7
1st Period-Barré-Boulet 19 (Robert), 9:02. Edmonds 10 (Carlile, Jones), 9:58. Edmonds 11 (Unassisted), 17:51. 2nd Period-Carrick 9 (Barré-Boulet, Myers), 9:56. . . . Alnefelt 14-9-1 (26 shots-20 saves) A-3,917
Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play 20.0% (34-for-170) 13th (T-15th)
Penalty Kill 81.1% (176-for-217) T-15th (T-15th)
Goals For 3.54 GFA (191) 5th (5th)
Goals Against 3.26 GAA (176) 21st (21st)
Shots For 31.89 SF/G (1722) 4th (4th)
Shots Against 29.83 SA/G (1611) 11th (10th)
Penalty Minutes 16.20 PIM/G (841) 3rd (3rd)
Category Leader
Points 66 Barré-Boulet
Goals 20 Ryfors
Assists 47 Barré-Boulet
PIM 89 Smith
Plus/Minus +24 Carlile
Wins 14 Alnefelt
GAA 2.54 Alnefelt
Save % .913 Alnefelt
North Division GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA PIM HOME ROAD LAST 10 STREAK S/O
1. Toronto 56 37 16 2 1 77 0.688 193 170 724 18-8-0-1 19-8-2-0 6-4-0-0 0-2-0-0 3-1
2. Utica 55 27 20 6 2 62 0.564 166 165 646 13-9-3-2 14-11-3-0 5-4-1-0 4-0-1-0 1-2
3. Syracuse 54 27 20 4 3 61 0.565 191 176 875 13-9-4-1 14-11-0-2 6-4-0-0 0-1-0-0 2-3
4. Rochester 53 26 22 4 1 57 0.538 173 178 581 13-10-2-0 13-12-2-1 4-4-2-0 0-2-1-0 1-1
5. Laval 55 23 22 7 3 56 0.509 200 200 693 14-5-5-3 9-17-2-0 5-3-1-1 2-0-0-1 1-3
6. Belleville 56 24 27 4 1 53 0.473 177 205 894 15-13-1-1 9-14-3-0 7-3-0-0 2-0-0-0 4-1
7. Cleveland 54 23 25 4 2 52 0.481 176 207 672 12-12-3-0 11-13-1-2 4-5-1-0 0-1-0-0 3-2
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