Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 31, No. 26

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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 31, No. 26

April 8, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH CONTINUE LATE SURGE

The Crunch swept their three-game week against Belleville and Toronto to charge up to third place in the North Division.

Syracuse opened the week with a 5-2 triumph on the road against the Belleville Senators Wednesday night. That gave the Crunch a five point cushion on the Sens for the final playoff position. The Crunch then swept a home-and-home set with the Toronto Marlies to overtake the Marlies for third place. Syracuse earned a 4-1 win at home on Friday night and then grabbed a 3-2 shootout victory Saturday in Toronto.

The Crunch have won 10 of their last 12 games and are 33-21-8-4 this season. They sit in third place with 78 points, but that only puts them one point ahead of Toronto and Cleveland.

TOP PERFORMER

Forward Conor Geekie posted consecutive two-goal games to lead the way with five points (4g, 1a) in Week 26. The rookie kicked off the week with a pair of power-play goals Wednesday in Belleville. He then netted two goals and added an assist in Friday's win over Toronto.

Geekie's seven-game point streak was snapped in the Crunch's win Saturday at Toronto. He has earned 20 points (11g, 9a) in 23 games with the Crunch. He leads the team with eight power-play goals.

HALVERSON REACHES 20 WINS

Brandon Halverson earned a pair of victories last week to hit 20 wins this season. He is the first Crunch goalie with 20 wins in a season since Max Lagace in 2021-22. It is the 15th time in team history a goalie has won at least 20 games in a season.

Halverson entered the campaign with 25 career AHL wins. The 29-year-old is 20-10-8 with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. That earned him a two-year, NHL contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which he signed on Feb. 3. He made his first career NHL start March 22 at Utah.

CRUNCH CLOSING IN ON PLAYOFF BERTH

The Crunch enter the week in third place in the North Division with 78 points. Syracuse's magic number to clinch a playoff berth is six. Any combination of points gained by the Crunch, or points lost by the Belleville Senators, trims that number. The earliest day they could be in a position to clinch is Friday.

UPCOMING WEEK

Wednesday, April 8 at Utica | 7 p.m.

The Crunch head to Utica in search of their second five-game winning streak within the last month. The Crunch and Comets play three times over the final two weeks of the season; Utica has won six of the first 11 in the season series.

The Comets enter the week riding their own five-game winning streak, and they are now just one game below 0.500 (29-30-5-2) after starting the season 0-10-1-2. Max Willman was named AHL Player of the Week after posting eight points (4g, 4a) in their three wins last week.

Friday, April 10 vs. Lehigh Valley | 7 p.m.

The Crunch wrap up their four-game season series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday at Upstate Medical University Arena. The Phantoms won the first two games of the season series, including an overtime win in Syracuse on Jan. 4. The Crunch won the most recent match, 3-0, at the PPL Center.

The Phantoms have secured a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. They are jostling with Springfield for fifth place; both teams enter the week at 74 points.

Saturday, April 11 vs. Laval | 7 p.m.

The Crunch face off against the Laval Rocket Saturday in Syracuse to finish their eight-game season series. The teams last played on Feb. 22 when the Crunch grabbed a 3-2 win. Laval has won four of the seven games, but both clubs have collected eight standings points.

The Rocket are tops in the AHL with 93 points (44-18-3-2), but they only lead the North Division by four points.

WEEK 26 RESULTS

Wednesday, April 2 | Game 64 at Belleville | W, 5-2

Syracuse 2 2 1 - 5 Shots: 10-8-9-27 PP: 2/9

Belleville 0 1 1 - 2 Shots: 9-8-5-22 PP: 0/4

1st Period-Dumont 2 (Fortier), 3:11. Schmidt 3 (Unassisted), 13:53. 2nd Period-Duke 17 (Crozier, Szturc), 4:53. Geekie 8 (Sheary, Pouliot), 9:24 (PP). 3rd Period-Geekie 9 (Sheary, Pouliot), 15:23 (PP).. .. Halverson 19-10-8 (22 shots-20 saves) A-2,253

Friday, April 4 | Game 65 vs. Toronto | W, 4-1

Toronto 0 0 1 - 1 Shots: 9-13-9-31 PP: 0/2

Syracuse 2 2 0 - 4 Shots: 5-7-8-20 PP: 1/2

1st Period-Geekie 10 (Sheary, Crozier), 0:31. Angello 11 (Teasdale, Santini), 3:55. 2nd Period-Geekie 11 (Finley, Sheary), 8:03. Finley 14 (Sheary, Geekie), 13:58.. .. Fanti 1-1-0 (31 shots-30 saves) A-5,743

Saturday, April 5 | Game 66 at Toronto | W, 3-2 (SO)

Syracuse 1 1 0 0 1 - 3 Shots: 10-13-6-2-1-32 PP: 0/3

Toronto 2 0 0 0 0 - 2 Shots: 11-3-9-1-0-24 PP: 0/2

1st Period-Duke 18 (Allard, Crozier), 12:10. 2nd Period-Walcott 4 (Bisson), 2:16. Shootout-Toronto 0 (Steeves NG, Shaw NG, Nylander NG, Abruzzese NG), Syracuse 1 (Groshev NG, Geekie NG, Crozier NG, Szturc G).. .. Halverson 20-10-8 (24 shots-22 saves) A-6,954

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 16.9% (41-for-242) 25th (T-26th)

Penalty Kill 83.3% (189-for-227) T-10th (15th)

Goals For 2.92 GFA (193) 19th (T-22nd)

Goals Against 2.53 GAA (167) 3rd (3rd)

Shots For 27.47 SF/G (1813) 26th (25th)

Shots Against 27.12 SA/G (1790) 6th (7th)

Penalty Minutes 11.83 PIM/G (781) 22nd (23rd)

Category Leader

Points 55 Sheary

Goals 18 Duke|Sheary

Assists 44 Pouliot

PIM 73 Crozier

Plus/Minus +13 Crozier|Huuhtanen|Sheary

Wins 20 Halverson

GAA 2.28 Halverson

Save % .913 Halverson

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

1. x Laval 67 44 18 3 2 93 0.694 212 168 1055 23-8-2-1 21-10-1-1 6-2-1-1 0-1-0-1 3-2

2. x Rochester 67 41 19 4 3 89 0.664 228 176 736 18-10-3-1 23-9-1-2 7-2-1-0 1-0-0-0 5-3

3. Syracuse 66 33 21 8 4 78 0.591 193 167 781 15-10-4-4 18-11-4-0 8-2-0-0 4-0-0-0 4-4

4. Cleveland 66 33 22 5 6 77 0.583 191 199 815 15-11-3-5 18-11-2-1 5-4-0-1 2-0-0-0 3-6

5. Toronto 67 33 23 4 7 77 0.575 188 186 785 18-10-2-4 15-13-2-3 2-6-1-1 0-2-1-1 4-7

6. Belleville 66 31 26 4 5 71 0.538 188 204 961 18-12-2-3 13-14-2-2 4-5-0-1 0-1-0-0 4-5

7. Utica 66 29 30 5 2 65 0.492 182 203 820 16-12-3-2 13-18-2-0 6-3-1-0 5-0-0-0 2-2

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