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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 31, No. 14

January 14, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH SET TO REACH HALFWAY POINT

The Crunch struggled early in Week 14 but finished with a bang on home ice to earn valuable points in the standings.

Syracuse had its five-game point streak (4-0-1-0) snapped on Wednesday at Utica. The 5-1 setback was their first regulation loss of 2025. Two days later, the Crunch were upended by the Toronto Marlies, 3-2, at Upstate Medical University Arena. It marked only the second time all season the Crunch lost consecutive games in regulation (also Oct. 18-19). They rebounded on Saturday with a 6-2 win over the Rochester Americans.

The Crunch are 16-11-5-3 on the season, and they sit in fifth place in the North Division with 40 points. The team will reach the halfway point of the season this week as they face off three times against Atlantic Division foes.

TOP PERFORMERS

Derrick Pouliot continued churning out the points in Week 14, extending his point streak to five games. The veteran defenseman skated in his 600th professional game Friday against Toronto when he picked up one assist. He also had one assist Wednesday and earned two more on Saturday for four points in three games. Saturday was his team-leading eighth multi-point game of the season.

Pouliot has assists in seven of the last eight games and he is tied for the AHL lead with 23 helpers this season. He leads the Crunch in scoring and is tied for first among AHL defensemen with 28 points (5g, 23a).

***

Conor Sheary finished Week 14 on a high, earning four points (2g, 2a) in the final two games of the week. The winger logged an assist on Friday then notched his first three-point game of the season in Saturday's 6-2 win over the Americans. Sheary's performance included a pair of power-play goals and marked only his second two-goal game in the AHL (also Jan. 21, 2015).

Sheary has earned 21 points (8g, 13a) in 24 games for the Crunch this season. He passed the 100-point plateau in his AHL career (102 points in 114 games played) during Saturday's game.

***

Jujhar Khaira returned from injury and made his season debut over the weekend. The veteran of 337 NHL games scored a goal Friday and then grabbed an assist Saturday for two points in his first two games of the season. Khaira signed an AHL contract with the Crunch prior to the season.

UPCOMING WEEK

Wednesday, Jan. 15 vs. Providence | 7 p.m.

The Crunch finish off their three-game homestand and reach the halfway point of the regular season tomorrow against the Providence Bruins. It's the first of two games between the clubs and both take place this week.

Last season the Crunch won all four contests against the Bruins, and they outscored Providence, 8-2, in the two matches in Syracuse.

After a slow start this season (8-10-2-0), the Bruins caught fire and have won 10 of their last 15 games (10-3-1-1) since Dec. 6. They are 18-13-2-1 this season for fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 40 points.

Friday, Jan. 17 at Bridgeport | 7 p.m.

The Crunch hit the road Friday to face off against the Bridgeport Islanders for the first of two games in the season series. The teams haven't met since Nov. 14, 2023 when the Crunch completed a sweep of last season's two-game set.

The Islanders snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-0 win over Lehigh Valley on Sunday. They take on Springfield Wednesday before the Crunch arrive in Bridgeport. The Islanders are last in the AHL with 20 points (8-22-2-2) and Sunday's win was only their second at home all season (2-13-0-2).

Saturday, Jan. 18 at Providence | 7:05 p.m.

The Crunch and Bruins finish off their two-game set Saturday night in Providence. After winning both meetings in Providence last season, the Crunch are 5-1-0-0 in their last six trips to Amica Mutual Pavilion.

The Bruins are 10-6-2-0 on home ice this season.

WEEK 14 RESULTS

Wednesday, Jan. 8 | Game 33 at Utica | L, 5-1

Syracuse 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 5-5-11-21 PP: 0/5

Utica 2 0 3 - 5 Shots: 9-8-7-24 PP: 1/4

1st Period-Brown 3 (Duke, Pouliot), 13:19.. .. Tomkins 5-6-3 (24 shots-19 saves) A-2,342

Friday, Jan. 10 | Game 34 vs. Toronto | L, 3-2

Toronto 1 0 2 - 3 Shots: 8-8-8-24 PP: 0/1

Syracuse 0 0 2 - 2 Shots: 5-12-8-25 PP: 1/4

3rd Period-Khaira 1 (Crozier, Sheary), 17:51 (PP). Fortier 6 (Finley, Pouliot), 19:09.. .. Halverson 10-5-5 (24 shots-21 saves) A-5,343

Saturday, Jan. 11 | Game 35 vs. Rochester | W, 6-2

Rochester 0 1 1 - 2 Shots: 9-13-8-30 PP: 0/0

Syracuse 3 1 2 - 6 Shots: 16-11-8-35 PP: 3/6

1st Period-Ylonen 8 (Unassisted), 0:09. Sheary 7 (Pouliot, Crozier), 9:08 (PP). Teasdale 5 (Walford, Khaira), 12:47 (PP). 2nd Period-Roelens 6 (Edmonds), 9:02. 3rd Period-Fortier 7 (Sheary, Crozier), 1:25. Sheary 8 (Brown, Pouliot), 15:33 (PP).. .. Halverson 11-5-5 (30 shots-28 saves) A-6,236

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 15.2% (19-for-125) 27th (29th)

Penalty Kill 83.1% (113-for-136) T-15th (15th)

Goals For 2.71 GFA (95) T-28th (29th)

Goals Against 2.46 GAA (76) 2nd (1st)

Shots For 25.63 SF/G (897) 31st (31st)

Shots Against 28.57 SA/G (1000) 14th (16th)

Penalty Minutes 13.09 PIM/G (458) T-15th (12th)

Category Leader

Points 28 Pouliot

Goals 11 Duke

Assists 23 Pouliot

PIM 46 Crozier

Plus/Minus +12 Pouliot

Wins 11 Halverson

GAA 1.84 Halverson

Save % .932 Halverson

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

1. Rochester 35 22 10 3 0 47 0.671 121 95 384 7-6-2-0 15-4-1-0 8-2-0-0 0-1-0-0 3-0

2. Cleveland 36 21 11 1 3 46 0.639 112 108 443 10-5-1-3 11-6-0-0 5-4-0-1 1-0-0-0 1-3

3. Laval 34 21 10 2 1 45 0.662 104 86 562 11-4-1-1 10-6-1-0 6-3-1-0 3-0-1-0 2-1

4. Toronto 33 18 10 2 3 41 0.621 99 92 308 11-5-0-2 7-5-2-1 4-6-0-0 0-1-0-0 2-3

5. Syracuse 35 16 11 5 3 40 0.571 95 86 458 7-4-3-3 9-7-2-0 6-3-1-0 1-0-0-0 2-3

6. Belleville 31 15 11 1 4 35 0.565 90 101 417 6-7-1-2 9-4-0-2 3-6-1-0 1-0-0-0 3-4

7. Utica 31 9 18 2 2 22 0.355 72 107 459 3-9-1-2 6-9-1-0 4-5-1-0 1-0-0-0 0-2

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