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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 30, No. 24

March 26, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH WIN TWICE IN THREE DAYS

The Crunch posted a 2-1-0-0 record over three days in their final three-in-three weekend of the season last week.

The three city weekend began with a home win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday. The Crunch overcame two one-goal deficits before pulling away late for a 5-2 win, splitting a four-game season series with the Pens. Saturday in Springfield, the Crunch nearly overcame a three-goal third period deficit before the Thunderbirds hit an empty net to knocked off the Crunch 6-4, despite 53 Syracuse shots on goal. Sunday afternoon in Providence the Crunch rebounded with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Bruins.

The Crunch earned four out of six possible points and now lead the North Division with 78 points and a 36-20-4-2 record.

TOP PERFORMERS

Phil Myers posted points in two of the three games, tallying four points to tie for the Crunch lead in Week 24. Myers helped lead the Crunch to their 5-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with his fifth career three-point game. He had a hand on the first three Crunch goals, including a game-tying goal in the second period for his fourth goal of the season.

Myers added another assist Sunday at Providence to cap the week. He has 20 points (4g, 16a) in 52 games and ranks third in the AHL with a plus-27 rating.

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Felix Robert tallied a pair of goals and added two assists in Week 24. He scored the Crunch's first goal both Friday and Saturday for his 12th and 13th goals of the season. Prior to Friday he had gone six games without a goal, but hadn't scored since Jan. 26; he missed 13 games due to injury from Feb. 9 to March 9.

Robert collected a season-high three points in Friday's win over the Penguins. He ranks third on the team with 32 points (13g, 19a) in 46 games this season.

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Matt Tomkins returned to action Sunday and made a season-high 41 saves, plus three on three attempts in the shootout, to lead the Crunch to a 3-2 shootout win against Providence. Tomkins did not dress in four straight games while dealing with an injury, but was sharp in grabbing his 14th win of the season.

Tomkins is 14-10-2 with a 2.65 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage in 26 games for the Crunch.

UPCOMING WEEK

Wednesday, March 27 vs. Rochester | 7 p.m.

The Crunch finish their 12-game season series against the Rochester Americans Wednesday in the first game of a three-game homestand. Rochester earned its first regulation win this season against the Crunch two weeks ago; Syracuse is 7-1-2-1 this season against Rochester. The Amerks are in third place in the North Division with 71 points (31-22-6-3).

Friday, March 29 vs. Lehigh Valley | 7 p.m.

The Crunch host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday to close out their two-game season series. The Crunch earned a 2-1 win Feb. 17 at Lehigh Valley and are looking for a seventh straight win against the Phantoms dating to Feb. 22, 2020. They are 15-3-0-1 against the Phantoms since they moved to Allentown for the 2014-15 season. The Phantoms have a one point lead on Springfield for the final Atlantic Division playoff position.

Saturday, March 30 vs. Providence | 7 p.m.

The Crunch will become the Canal Mules for one night as they host the Providence Bruins Saturday night. The Crunch are taking on the Canal Mules identity to pay homage to the first-known beer league hockey team that skated on the Erie Canal in the early 1920s. You can read more or watch the documentary for additional information.

On the ice, the teams finish their four-game season series with their second meeting in less than a week. The Crunch won in Providence, 3-2 in a shootout, on Sunday and are 3-0-0-0 this season against the Bruins. The teams are separated by one standings point.

WEEK 24 RESULTS

Friday, March 22 | Game 60 vs. W-B/Scranton | W, 5-2

W-B/Scranton 1 1 0 - 2 Shots: 15-8-3-26 PP: 2/5

Syracuse 0 2 3 - 5 Shots: 13-10-12-35 PP: 0/4

2nd Period-Robert 12 (Myers, Koepke), 1:04. Myers 4 (Groshev, Robert), 13:09. 3rd Period-Merelä 12 (Koepke, Myers), 7:43. Fortier 11 (Walcott, Robert), 18:57 (EN). Barré-Boulet 3 (Koepke, Crozier), 19:58 (EN). . . . Halverson 5-2-0 (26 shots-24 saves) A-5,633

Saturday, March 23 | Game 61 at Springfield | L, 6-4

Syracuse 1 1 2 - 4 Shots: 17-16-20-53 PP: 1/4

Springfield 2 3 1 - 6 Shots: 13-8-4-25 PP: 1/2

1st Period-Robert 13 (Stephens, Merelä), 16:22 (PP). 2nd Period-Stephens 6 (Goncalves, Feist), 2:44. 3rd Period-Usau 6 (Edmonds), 4:46. Koepke 17 (Barré-Boulet, Crozier), 14:55. . . . Alnefelt 14-7-4 (24 shots-19 saves) A-6,793

Sunday, March 24 | Game 62 at Providence | W, 3-2 (SO)

Syracuse 0 2 0 0 1 - 3 Shots: 6-13-3-3-1-26 PP: 1/4

Providence 0 1 1 0 0 - 2 Shots: 10-23-7-3-0-43 PP: 1/4

2nd Period-Allard 4 (Groshev, Myers), 3:27. Finley 10 (Goncalves, Crozier), 16:34. Shootout-Syracuse 1 (Finley NG, Goncalves G, Barré-Boulet NG), Providence 0 (Merkulov NG, Farinacci NG, Harrison NG). . . . Tomkins 14-10-2 (43 shots-41 saves) A-8,823

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 19.0% (40-for-216) 15th (15th)

Penalty Kill 83.5% (202-for-242) T-7th (3rd)

Goals For 3.13 GFA (194) T-11th (T-15th)

Goals Against 2.76 GAA (171) 7th (6th)

Shots For 29.13 SF/G (1806) 21st (24th)

Shots Against 26.29 SA/G (1630) 2nd (1st)

Penalty Minutes 12.21 PIM/G (757) 18th (19th)

Category Leader

Points 50 Goncalves

Goals 17 Koepke

Assists 40 Goncalves

PIM 84 Element

Plus/Minus +27 Myers

Wins 14 Alnefelt|Tomkins

GAA 2.39 Alnefelt

Save % .906 Alnefelt

North Division GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA PIM HOME ROAD LAST 10 STREAK S/O

1. Syracuse 62 36 20 4 2 78 0.629 194 171 757 17-9-3-1 19-11-1-1 6-3-1-0 1-0-0-0 3-2

2. Cleveland 62 35 21 3 3 76 0.613 205 205 794 19-13-1-0 16-8-2-3 4-6-0-0 0-3-0-0 4-3

3. Rochester 62 31 22 6 3 71 0.573 195 215 637 15-11-3-2 16-11-3-1 6-3-0-1 2-0-0-1 3-3

4. Toronto 61 29 21 9 2 69 0.566 217 187 845 13-11-6-0 16-10-3-2 6-4-0-0 0-1-0-0 4-2

5. Laval 63 30 25 6 2 68 0.540 210 214 1013 17-10-3-1 13-15-3-1 7-2-1-0 3-0-0-0 3-2

6. Belleville 62 30 26 3 3 66 0.532 177 188 941 16-12-2-2 14-14-1-1 3-6-1-0 0-2-1-0 2-3

7. Utica 61 27 25 4 5 63 0.516 184 191 651 13-12-1-5 14-13-3-0 5-3-0-2 0-1-0-0 2-5

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



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