Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 31, No. 10
December 17, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release
CRUNCH SET NEW FRANCHISE RECORD
The Crunch scored only one goal in each of their three games, they but pulled out three of six possible points in Week 10.
The highlight came Saturday, when the team set a new Syracuse record with 11,789 stuffed animals during their 14th Annual Stanley Steemer Tired Teddy Toss. Conor Sheary ignited the mayhem at 18:27 of the first period and that held up as the only goal in a 1-0 Crunch win over the Utica Comets. The puffy pets have been collected by Stanley Steemer to be cleaned and donated to charities benefitting the CNY community.
Syracuse dropped the two previous games by 2-1 scores at Belleville and at home against Hershey. The Crunch earned a point on Friday against the Bears, losing in overtime for the second time this season against the defending Calder Cup champions.
The Crunch play their final two games before the holiday break in Week 11 with a pair of road contests at Rochester.
TOP PERFORMERS
Goaltender Brandon Halverson backstopped the Crunch in two of their three games in Week 10, and he earned the team's lone win with a 25-save shutout on Saturday against the Comets. In his two starts Halverson denied 44 of 46 shots for a .957 save percentage.
The 28-year-old is 7-3-4 this season with a league-best 1.75 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. Saturday marked his third shutout of the season, tied for the most in the AHL. He has four career AHL shutouts, and three have been against Utica. He has blanked the Comets in both starts this season.
Halverson and Matt Tomkins combined to stop 67 of 71 shots last week for a 0.944 save percentage. The tandem has helped the Crunch allow 2.52 goals per game, tied with Grand Rapids for the best mark in the league. Their combined .916 save percentage ranks third in the AHL.
HITTING THE ROAD
The Crunch played their final two home games of 2024 over the weekend, picking up three points with an overtime loss followed by a win. They are 5-3-2-3 at home so far this season, but they carry a six-game home point streak into 2025. The Crunch are 2-0-2-2 in the last six home games since Nov. 23. It's their longest home point streak since a 13-game run, which included 12 straight wins, March 12-April 29, 2022.
Syracuse will play the next five games on the road - two at Rochester, two at Laval and one at Toronto - before returning home Jan. 3-4.
CARLILE NETS FIRST NHL GOAL
Defenseman Declan Carlile was recalled to the Lightning last week and played in his second career NHL game Saturday in Seattle. The third-year-pro snapped in a goal on his first career shot with less than a minute to play during the Lightning's 5-1 win.
Carlile and Steven Santini - who made his Lightning debut last week - both returned to the Crunch on Sunday. Carlile was recalled again on Tuesday. He has three points (1g, 2a) in 21 Crunch games this season. Santini has notched five points (2g, 3a) in 14 Crunch games. This is his first season in the organization after signing as a free agent on July 1.
UPCOMING WEEK
Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Rochester | 7:05 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 20 at Rochester | 7:05 p.m.
The Crunch play their final two games before the holiday break Wednesday and Friday in Rochester against the Americans. They are the third and fourth games of their 12-game season series. The Amerks won the first two in a home-and-home series at the end of November; they grabbed a 3-0 win in Rochester and a 3-2 shootout win in Syracuse.
The Amerks have rattled off four straight wins and went 4-1-0-0 during a five-game road trip. They are home for the first time since a 3-2 win against the Comets on Dec. 4. They've won two straight at home, but they are still only 4-5-2-0 at Blue Cross Arena this season.
Devon Levi earned both wins against the Crunch and his 20-save shutout on Nov. 29 was his first pro shutout. He is 7-1-1/2.08/.916 for the Amerks this season.
WEEK 10 RESULTS
Wednesday, Dec. 11 | Game 23 at Belleville | L, 2-1
Syracuse 0 1 0 - 3 Shots: 8-4-4-16 PP: 0/1
Belleville 0 2 0 - 2 Shots: 4-12-5-21 PP: 0/1
2nd Period-Ylonen 3 (Huuhtanen, Harpur).. .. Halverson 6-3-4 (21 shots-19 saves) A-1,748
Friday, Dec. 13 | Game 24 vs. Hershey | OTL, 2-1
Hershey 0 0 1 1 - 2 Shots: 5-8-10-2-25 PP: 0/4
Syracuse 1 0 0 0 - 1 Shots: 7-8-8-2-25 PP: 0/4
1st Period-Ylonen 4 (Dumont, Sheary), 3:20.. .. Tomkins 3-5-3 (33 shots-28 saves) A-5,277
Saturday, Dec. 14 | Game 25 vs. Utica | W, 1-0
Utica 0 0 0 - 0 Shots: 3-12-10-25 PP: 0/1
Syracuse 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 8-8-7-23 PP: 0/1
1st Period-Sheary 5 (Schmidt, Fortier), 18:27.. .. Halverson 7-3-4 (25 shots-25 saves) A-5,814
Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play 15.5% (13-for-84) 25th (T-19th)
Penalty Kill 79.4% (81-for-102) 21st (27th)
Goals For 2.56 GFA (64) 30th (25th)
Goals Against 2.52 GAA (63) T-1st (8th)
Shots For 25.84 SF/G (646) 30th (29th)
Shots Against 28.68 SA/G (717) 14th (18th)
Penalty Minutes 14.20 PIM/G (355) 9th (6th)
Category Leader
Points 20 Pouliot
Goals 9 Duke
Assists 15 Pouliot
PIM 33 Huuhtanen
Plus/Minus +10 Bisson|Huuhtanen|Schmidt
Wins 7 Halverson
GAA 1.75 Halverson
Save % .934 Halverson
North Division GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA PIM HOME ROAD LAST 10 STREAK S/O
1. Cleveland 25 16 6 1 2 35 0.700 87 80 280 8-1-1-2 8-5-0-0 6-2-1-1 2-0-1-1 1-2
2. Laval 26 16 8 1 1 34 0.654 82 70 364 7-2-1-1 9-6-0-0 4-5-0-1 1-0-0-0 2-1
3. Rochester 26 15 8 3 0 33 0.635 86 70 288 4-5-2-0 11-3-1-0 7-3-0-0 4-0-0-0 3-0
4. Toronto 22 13 4 2 3 31 0.705 70 58 192 10-1-0-2 3-3-2-1 6-3-0-1 0-1-0-0 2-3
5. Belleville 22 12 6 0 4 28 0.636 64 72 250 4-5-0-2 8-1-0-2 6-4-0-0 0-2-0-0 3-4
6. Syracuse 25 10 8 4 3 27 0.540 64 63 355 5-3-2-3 5-5-2-0 3-2-3-2 1-0-1-0 2-3
7. Utica 21 5 13 1 2 13 0.310 45 69 270 1-7-0-2 4-6-1-0 5-5-0-0 0-3-0-0 0-2
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