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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 30, No. 4

November 7, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH GRAB THREE OF FOUR POINTS

The Crunch opened November by splitting a two-game series against the Rochester Americans. They opened with a 7-2 win in Rochester on Wednesday; seven different goal scorers contributed to the win.

In the rematch on Saturday, the Crunch rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to earn a point before losing in a shootout for a 5-4 final score. Gabe Fortier scored twice, while Cole Koepke and Daniel Walcott both added a tally in the loss.

Syracuse has collected points in three straight games (2-0-0-1) and is 5-2-0-1 this season. The Crunch enter their first three-game week of the season in fourth place in the North Division with 11 points.

TOP PERFORMERS

Felix Robert continued his season-opening point streak with three points (1g, 2a) over two games in Week 4. The center recorded his third multi-point outing of the season with one goal and one assist Wednesday at Rochester. He then added an assist on the game-tying goal in Saturday's shootout loss to the Amerks.

Robert's career-high scoring streak is good for the second-longest in the league so far in 2023-24. He leads the Crunch in scoring with 11 points (6g, 5a) in eight games this season.

***

After missing Wednesday's game due to injury, forward Gabriel Fortier returned to the lineup and netted a pair of goals Saturday against the Amerks. Fortier's third career two-goal performance included the game-tying goal with 2:27 remaining in regulation.

Fortier, 23, has picked up five points (2g, 3a) in seven games this season. The Lachine, Quebec native is in his fourth full pro season and has skated in 180 career AHL games, all with the Crunch.

***

Veteran Daniel Walcott scored a goal in both games in Week 4 and ranks second on the team with five goals in eight games this season. The winger gave the Crunch a 4-1 lead with his tally Wednesday. He then potted a game-tying goal in the third period on Saturday.

Walcott, 29, has six points (5g, 1a) in eight games this season. He is coming off a career year in 2022-23 during which he earned 13 goals, 19 assists and 32 points - all personal bests.

ROSTER MOVES

The Crunch have had two players added from Tampa Bay, while they lost a goalie to Carolina in the past week. Haydn Fleury was loaned on a conditioning assignment on Thursday, and the former seventh overall draft pick (2014) made his Crunch debut on Saturday.

Waltteri Merelä was loaned by the Lightning on Sunday. The Fin is in his first season in North America and has played 10 games for the Lightning.

Pyotr Kochetkov was recalled by the Hurricanes on Monday. The goaltender is 3-0-0/1.63/.932 this season for the Crunch. Syracuse signed Brandon Halverson to a professional try-out contract to replace Kochetkov on the roster.

UPCOMING WEEK

Wednesday, November 8 at Belleville | 7 p.m.

The Crunch and Belleville Senators meet for the first of eight scheduled matches in 2023-24 Wednesday at CAA Arena. The teams split their six-game series last year with both teams posting 3-2-0-1 records.

Belleville did not qualify for the playoffs last season. The Sens are off to a 4-3-0-1 start, and enter the week in fifth place in the division with nine points.

Friday, November 10 vs. W-B/Scranton | 7 p.m.

The Crunch and Penguins open a home-and-home series Friday at Upstate Medical University Arena. It's the Crunch's Military Appreciation Night and the team will wear specialty jerseys.

Syracuse swept the four-game series last year, and the Crunch are 14-2-2-0 in the last 18 head-to-head matches. All four games last season were decided by just one goal, and the final two required overtime.

Saturday, November 11 at W-B/Scranton | 6:05 p.m.

The tail end of the home-and-home series brings the Crunch to Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday night. Syracuse won both games on the road last year against the Penguins. Phil Myers capped the final visit with an overtime winner on April 1.

WEEK 4 RESULTS

Wednesday, November 1 | Game 7 at Rochester | W, 7-2

Syracuse 1 3 3 - 7 Shots: 9-14-9-32 PP: 2/3

Rochester 1 1 0 - 2 Shots: 10-8-3-21 PP: 0/3

1st Period-Edmonds 3 (Carlile, Carroll), 7:09. 2nd Period-Robert 6 (Goncalves, Thompson), 1:13 (PP). Carroll 1 (Koepke), 4:36 (SH). Walcott 4 (Groshev, Myers), 15:28. 3rd Period-Dumont 2 (Thompson, Robert), 5:47 (PP). Stephens 2 (Groshev), 8:04. Goncalves 1 (Lilleberg, Schmidt), 9:14. . . . Kochetkov 3-0-0 (21 shots-19 saves) A-3,085

Saturday, November 4 | Game 8 vs. Rochester | SOL, 5-4

Rochester 2 1 1 0 1 - 5 Shots: 6-7-6-3-1-23 PP: 1/2

Syracuse 0 2 2 0 0 - 4 Shots: 11-15-18-2-0-46 PP: 0/4

2nd Period-Koepke 3 (Lilleberg), 0:18 (SH). Fortier 1 (Crozier, Usau), 10:22. 3rd Period-Walcott 5 (Groshev, Finley), 2:47. Fortier 2 (Goncalves, Robert), 17:33. Shootout-Rochester 2 (Kulich G, Cederqvist G), Syracuse 0 (Goncalves NG, Robert NG). . . . Alnefelt 2-1-1 (22 shots-18 saves) A-5,866

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 27.0% (10-for-37) 3rd (5th)

Penalty Kill 90.6% (29-for-32) 3rd (2nd)

Goals For 4.13 GFA (33) 3rd (9th)

Goals Against 2.50 GAA (20) 7th (5th)

Shots For 33.50 SF/G (268) 5th (11th)

Shots Against 25.25 SA/G (202) 1st (6th)

Penalty Minutes 12.88 PIM/G (103) 17th (9th)

Category Leader

Points 11 Robert

Goals 6 Robert

Assists 7 Goncalves

PIM 21 Element

Plus/Minus +6 Myers|Robert

Wins 3 Kochetkov

GAA 1.63 Kochetkov

Save % .932 Kochetkov

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

1. Rochester 10 6 2 2 0 14 0.700 43 46 120 2-1-2-0 4-1-0-0 6-2-2-0 1-0-1-0 1-0

2. Cleveland 9 6 3 0 0 12 0.667 33 33 120 3-2-0-0 3-1-0-0 6-3-0-0 1-0-0-0 1-0

3. Toronto 9 5 2 2 0 12 0.667 31 24 153 3-1-1-0 2-1-1-0 5-2-2-0 1-0-0-0 1-0

4. Syracuse 8 5 2 0 1 11 0.688 33 20 103 2-1-0-1 3-1-0-0 5-2-0-1 2-0-0-1 0-1

5. Belleville 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.563 22 26 122 2-1-0-1 2-2-0-0 4-3-0-1 1-0-0-0 0-1

6. Utica 8 3 3 2 0 8 0.500 24 25 82 0-2-1-0 3-1-1-0 3-3-2-0 0-1-0-0 0-0

7. Laval 10 2 7 1 0 5 0.250 33 49 143 2-4-1-0 0-3-0-0 2-7-1-0 0-1-0-0 0-0

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



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