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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 30, No. 5

November 13, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH CAP WEEK WITH RESOUNDING WIN

The Crunch went 1-1-0-1 in Week 5 during their first instance of three games in four days this season.

Syracuse opened on the road Wednesday against the Belleville Senators and dropped a 3-2 decision in a shootout. It was the Crunch's second straight shootout loss and the game featured the first lead change in a Crunch game all season. They then played a home-and-home series with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. After dropping a 4-0 game at home on Friday, the Crunch rebounded with a 6-3 road win on Saturday.

The Crunch have earned points in four of their five games in November (2-1-0-2). They are 6-3-0-2 this season and enter the week in fourth place in the North Division with 14 points.

TOP PERFORMERS

Rookie Max Groshev logged a pair of multi-point performances in Week 5 to lead the team in scoring with four points (2g, 2a) in three games. He opened the week with the first goal of the game Wednesday in Belleville before adding an assist on a game-tying, shorthanded goal in the third period.

The 21-year-old netted his first two-goal game in the AHL Saturday against the Penguins. He scored on a partial breakaway in the second period, and then iced the game with an empty-net goal in the third.

A third-round pick by Tampa Bay in the 2020 NHL Draft, Groshev has nine points (4g, 5a) in 11 games this season, his first spent in North America.

***

Exactly one year removed from tearing his ACL while with the Iowa Wild, forward Mitchell Chaffee had his finest night in his brief Crunch career Saturday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 25-year-old scored twice for his sixth career multi-goal game. He scored a power-play goal in the second period and an even strength goal in the second, giving him three goals this season.

The Rockford, Michigan native signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Lightning this summer. He began his career as an undrafted free agent with the Wild organization, playing one game for Minnesota and 87 with Iowa, where he collected 63 points (30g, 33a) in 87 games from 2020 to 2023. He has nine points (3g, 6a) in 10 games for the Crunch this season.

***

Gage Goncalves posted his sixth career game (regular season and playoffs) with at least three points in Saturday's 6-3 win over the Penguins. The third-year-pro had assists on both Mitchell Chaffee goals, and added what was the game-winning goal in the second period.

The Mission, British Columbia native ranks second on the Crunch with 11 points, and his nine assists are tops on the team. Goncalves enters the week with 98 points in 154 career games and is on the verge of becoming the 39th player in franchise history to log 100 points with the Crunch.

UPCOMING WEEK

Tuesday, November 14 at Bridgeport | 10:30 a.m.

The Crunch play a field trip morning game against the Bridgeport Islanders at Total Mortgage Arena tomorrow. Syracuse has won four straight games as a visitor during an opponents' school field trip game; that streak began Feb. 28, 2018 with a 4-3 overtime win against the Marlies. Last season in Springfield, the Crunch came back from a 4-1 deficit to win in a shootout and extend their morning win streak. They won one in Bridgeport Feb 5, 2020.

Friday, November 17 vs. Hartford | 7 p.m.

The Crunch and Wolf Pack play a home-and-home series for their only two scheduled match ups in 2023-24. They split last season's series with the visiting team winning both contests. Hartford (7-3-2-0) is second in the Atlantic Division, but their head coach, Kris Knoblauch, was just hired as the new head coach of the Edmonton Oilers yesterday.

Saturday, November 18 at Hartford | 7 p.m.

The teams rematch Saturday in Hartford, where the Crunch have scored 27 goals during a five-game winning streak at XL Center.

WEEK 5 RESULTS

Wednesday, November 8 | Game 9 at Belleville | SOL, 3-2

Syracuse 1 0 1 0 0 - 2 Shots: 13-8-6-6-0-33 PP: 0/5

Belleville 1 1 0 0 1 - 3 Shots: 2-9-12-3-1-27 PP: 1/6

1st Period-Groshev 2 (Unassisted), 12:25. 3rd Period-Lilleberg 1 (Groshev), 12:48 (SH). Shootout-Belleville 1 (Sokolov NG, Ostapchuk NG, Currie G), Syracuse 0 (Chaffee NG, Goncalves NG, Groshev NG). . . . Alnefelt 2-1-2 (26 shots-24 saves) A-1,722

Friday, November 10 | Game 10 vs. W-B/Scranton | L, 4-0

W-B/Scranton 0 1 3 - 4 Shots: 8-5-8-21 PP: 1/4

Syracuse 0 0 0 - 0 Shots: 11-14-9-34 PP: 0/5

Alnefelt 2-2-2 (20 shots-16 saves); Halverson ND (1 shot1-1 save) A-5,766

Saturday, November 11 | Game 11 at W-B/Scranton | W, 6-3

Syracuse 2 3 1 - 6 Shots: 13-15-4-32 PP: 1/4

W-B/Scranton 0 1 2 - 3 Shots: 7-6-16-29 PP: 2/7

1st Period-Carroll 2 (Day, Stephens), 7:31. Chaffee 2 (Crozier, Goncalves), 12:13 (PP). 2nd Period-Groshev 3 (Walcott), 8:48. Goncalves 2 (Thompson, Robert), 11:03. Chaffee 3 (Goncalves, Robert), 14:45. 3rd Period-Groshev 4 (Crozier, Lilleberg), 14:18 (EN). . . . Halverson 1-0-0 (29 shots-26 saves) A-5,152

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 21.6% (11-for-51) 9th (3rd)

Penalty Kill 85.7% (42-for-49) 9th (3rd)

Goals For 3.73 GFA (41) 4th (3rd)

Goals Against 2.73 GAA (30) T-7th (7th)

Shots For 33.36 SF/G (367) 5th (5th)

Shots Against 25.36 SA/G (279) 2nd (1st)

Penalty Minutes 15.27 PIM/G (168) 8th (17th)

Category Leader

Points 13 Robert

Goals 6 Robert

Assists 9 Goncalves

PIM 28 Element

Plus/Minus +7 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. Toronto 12 7 3 2 0 16 0.667 45 34 236 3-1-1-0 4-2-1-0 6-3-1-0 2-0-0-0 1-0

2. Rochester 12 7 3 2 0 16 0.667 47 55 145 3-1-2-0 4-2-0-0 6-3-1-0 0-1-0-0 1-0

3. Cleveland 11 7 3 1 0 15 0.682 38 37 144 3-2-0-0 4-1-1-0 6-3-1-0 2-0-1-0 1-0

4. Syracuse 11 6 3 0 2 14 0.636 41 30 168 2-2-0-1 4-1-0-1 5-3-0-2 1-0-0-0 0-2

5. Belleville 11 6 4 0 1 13 0.591 29 33 151 4-2-0-1 2-2-0-0 5-4-0-1 1-0-0-0 1-1

6. Utica 10 4 4 2 0 10 0.500 33 29 97 1-2-1-0 3-2-1-0 4-4-2-0 1-0-0-0 0-0

7. Laval 11 3 7 1 0 7 0.318 39 51 182 2-4-1-0 1-3-0-0 3-6-1-0 1-0-0-0 0-0

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