Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 31, No. 27
April 15, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release
CRUNCH REACH THE FINAL WEEK OF THE SEASON
The Crunch took a pair of wins last week to set themselves up for a chance to nail down a playoff position during the final week of the season.
Syracuse extended its winning streak to a season-high six straight games by winning the first two contests of the week. The Crunch snagged a 2-1 overtime win Wednesday at Utica when Max Crozier scored in the opening minute of the extra session. The Crunch earned a 2-1 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday after scoring twice in about 20 seconds.
The Crunch have three games remaining in the season, and they can clinch a playoff position with one point. Syracuse is 35-22-8-4 and sits in third place in the North Division to begin the week.
TOP PERFORMER
Forward Tristan Allard picked up points in all three games last week to extend his scoring streak to a season-high four straight games. The second-year-pro nabbed an assist on Wednesday at Utica. He then scored goals both Friday and Saturday to reach a new career-high with seven tallies on the season.
Allard, 22, has picked up 16 points (7g, 9a) in 43 games this season. He had 18 points in 63 games as a rookie last year. He had not strung together points in consecutive games this season prior to his current streak.
CONOR GEEKIE RECALLED TO TAMPA BAY
Forward Conor Geekie was recalled to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday and promptly scored in his return to the Bolts. The rookie began the season skating in 49 games for the Lightning before he joined the Crunch in February.
The 20-year-old posted 20 points (11g, 9a) in 24 Crunch games prior to his recall.
He leads the Crunch with eight power-play goals. He has also scored two game-winning goals and had three multi-goal games.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
The AHL's regular season ends this week, and the North Division has three playoff spots up for grabs. The Crunch enter the week in third place with 82 points. They can clinch their seventh straight playoff appearance with a single point, or a Belleville loss of any kind, in any of the three games this week.
The race for third place - and a spot in the North Division Semifinals - sees the Crunch ahead of Cleveland by one point and Toronto by two points. Rochester, which has secured second place and will face whoever finishes third, faces Cleveland Wednesday and Toronto on Friday and Saturday.
UPCOMING WEEK
Wednesday, April 16 at Hershey | 7 p.m.
The Crunch look to nail down their playoff spot when they visit the Hershey Bears tomorrow night in the final game of the four-game season series. The Bears won the first two in Syracuse, but the Crunch grabbed a 5-0 win in Hershey right after the All-Star Break.
The Bears lead the Atlantic Division with 93 points, and they can clinch their second straight division title - and 20th overall - with a win against the Crunch. Hershey is looking to become the first team to win three straight Calder Cups since Springfield in the 1960s.
The Crunch clinched a playoff berth with a win at Giant Center on April 24, 2022.
Friday, April 18 at Utica | 7 p.m.
The Crunch make their final appearance of the season at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica on Friday. It's the 13th game of the 14-game series between the Crunch and Comets; the teams rematch to end the season on Saturday.
Syracuse has won three straight in the series and both clubs carry identical 6-5-1-0 records into the final weekend of the head-to-head set. Both teams have won three games on the road after the Crunch pulled out a 2-1 overtime win in Utica last week.
Saturday, April 19 vs. Utica | 7 p.m.
The Crunch end their 31st regular season with their Fan Appreciation Night against the Comets. The Crunch's last three wins in the series have been by one goal. They have only scored more than two goals in a game against the Comets three times in 12 meetings.
Syracuse is 16-11-4-4 on home ice this season.
WEEK 27 RESULTS
Wednesday, April 9 | Game 67 at Utica | W, 2-1 (OT)
Syracuse 1 0 0 1 - 2 Shots: 7-3-9-1-20 PP: 0/2
Utica 0 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 9-7-7-0-23 PP: 0/3
1st Period-Groshev 6 (Allard, Angello), 11:36. Overtime-Crozier 9 (Sheary), 0:38.. .. Halverson 21-10-8 (23 shots-22 saves) A-2,051
Friday, April 11 | Game 68 vs. Lehigh Valley | W, 2-1
Lehigh Valley 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 13-6-2-21 PP: 0/2
Syracuse 0 2 0 - 2 Shots: 8-17-12-37 PP: 0/3
2nd Period-Allard 6 (Kurth, Groshev), 8:56. Fortier 11 (Sheary), 9:19.. .. Fanti 2-1-0 (21 shots-20 saves) A-5,369
Saturday, April 12 | Game 69 vs. Laval | L, 2-1
Laval 2 0 0 - 2 Shots: 8-7-8-23 PP: 0/1
Syracuse 0 1 0 - 1 Shots: 6-9-11-26 PP: 0/0
2nd Period-Allard 7 (Duke, Pouliot), 7:15.. .. Halverson 21-11-8 (23 shots-21 saves) A-6,244
Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play 16.6% (41-for-247) 25th (25th)
Penalty Kill 83.7% (195-for-33) 9th (T-10th)
Goals For 2.87 GFA (198) 23rd (19th)
Goals Against 2.48 GAA (171) T-1st (3rd)
Shots For 27.48 SF/G (1896) 25th (26th)
Shots Against 26.91 SA/G (1857) 4th (6th)
Penalty Minutes 11.68 PIM/G (806) 26th (22nd)
Category Leader
Points 57 Sheary
Goals 18 Duke|Sheary
Assists 45 Pouliot
PIM 75 Crozier
Plus/Minus +15 Sheary
Wins 21 Halverson
GAA 2.24 Halverson
Save % .914 Halverson
North Division GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA PIM HOME ROAD LAST 10 STREAK S/O
1. y Laval 69 46 18 3 2 97 0.703 218 171 1065 23-8-2-1 23-10-1-1 6-2-1-1 2-0-0-0 3-2
2. x Rochester 69 41 21 4 3 89 0.645 232 184 752 18-12-3-1 23-9-1-2 6-3-1-0 0-2-0-0 5-3
3. Syracuse 69 35 22 8 4 82 0.594 198 171 806 16-11-4-4 19-11-4-0 7-3-0-0 0-1-0-0 4-4
4. Cleveland 69 35 23 5 6 81 0.587 202 211 843 16-12-3-5 19-11-2-1 6-3-0-1 1-0-0-0 4-6
5. Toronto 69 34 23 4 8 80 0.580 197 193 805 18-10-2-5 16-13-2-3 3-4-1-2 1-0-0-2 4-8
6. Belleville 69 33 26 5 5 76 0.551 199 212 1011 18-12-2-3 15-14-3-2 4-4-1-1 2-0-1-0 4-5
7. Utica 69 30 31 6 2 68 0.493 189 212 856 16-12-4-2 14-19-2-0 6-3-1-0 0-1-0-0 2-2
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