Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 31, No. 9

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Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 31, No. 9

December 10, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH EXTEND POINT STREAK TO FOUR

The Crunch faced off against the top two teams in the North Division and earned four of six possible points in Week 9.

Syracuse was home on Wednesday against the Laval Rocket, but suffered a 3-2 overtime loss. Both teams had leads in the game, but Laval tied the game in the third period before winning it in overtime. The Crunch went to Cleveland for a two-game set beginning Friday night. The Crunch saw a late lead slip away in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Monsters. The next night, both teams overcame third period deficits before the Crunch prevailed in a six-round shootout.

The Crunch have played overtime in four straight games (1-0-2-1) and they have collected points in eight of the last 10 games overall (3-2-2-3). They enter the week at 9-7-3-3 and in sixth place in the North Division with 24 points.

TOP PERFORMERS

Rookie forward Gabriel Szturc notched a point in all three games to help the Crunch earn four standings points. After an assist in Wednesday's overtime loss to the Rocket, Szturc surged in Cleveland with three goals over two games. He potted a pair of goals on Friday and then followed up with another marker on Saturday.

Szturc's goal on Friday marked his first professional goal; he is one of six Crunch players to score his first North American pro goal this season. Szturc, 21, also ended up with the seventh multi-goal game by a Crunch skater this season. He ranks fourth on the Crunch with 12 points (3g, 9a) in 22 games this season.

***

Dylan Duke returned home to Cleveland and lit up the scoreboard to the tune of five points (2g, 3a) in two games. The Strongsville - a Cleveland suburb - native recorded his second three-point game of the season Friday with one goal and two assists. He scored another goal and an assist for an encore on Saturday; it's the second time he has had five points in a two-game span this season (Oct. 20-25).

The rookie has retaken the team lead in goals with nine and he is tied for second on the Crunch in scoring with 17 points in 22 games.

UPCOMING WEEK

Wednesday, Dec. 11 at Belleville | 7 p.m.

The Crunch play their third straight road game Wednesday against the Belleville Senators at CAA Arena. It's the Crunch's third of four trips to Belleville and the sixth game of their eight-game season series. The Crunch have won four of the first five games with three wins coming by at least three goals.

The Senators are 11-4-0-4 this season and have 26 points. They are 10-1-0-3 (0.821) against all other opponents this season and they enter the week on a four-game winning streak.

Friday, Dec. 13 vs. Hershey | 7 p.m.

The Crunch open a two-game home weekend Friday with a match against the Hershey Bears at Upstate Medical University Arena. It's the Bears' second and final trip to Syracuse this season after they scored a 5-4 shootout win over the Crunch on Nov. 23.

The Bears lead the American Hockey League with a 17-5-3-0 record. They have a franchise-record 12-game road point streak (10-0-2-0) to begin the season.

Saturday, Dec. 14 vs. Utica | 7 p.m.

The Crunch play their final home game of 2024 Saturday against the Utica Comets. The Crunch are hosting their 14th annual Stanley Steemer Tired Teddy Toss. When they score their first goal, fans will toss new or gently used stuffed animals onto the ice. They will be collected, refurbished by Stanley Steemer and donated to local charities benefitting the Central New York community.

The Comets have lost two straight games following a five-game winning streak. That came after their 0-10-1-2 start to the season. By Saturday, the Crunch will have played three games between Comets games; Utica has no games prior to Saturday's visit to Syracuse.

WEEK 9 RESULTS

Wednesday, Dec. 4 | Game 20 vs. Laval | OTL, 3-2

Laval 0 1 1 1 - 3 Shots: 13-14-13-1-41 PP: 2/5

Syracuse 0 1 1 0 - 2 Shots: 14-9-5-2-30 PP: 2/3

2nd Period-Pouliot 4 (Sheary, Huuhtanen), 14:25 (PP). 3rd Period-Pouliot 5 (Sheary, Szturc), 7:55 (PP).. .. Halverson 5-2-4 (41 shots-38 saves) A-3,949

Friday, Dec. 6 | Game 21 at Cleveland | OTL, 5-4

Syracuse 2 1 1 0 - 4 Shots: 8-4-6-2-20 PP: 0/2

Cleveland 1 1 2 1 - 5 Shots: 5-12-14-2-33 PP: 2/4

1st Period-Santini 2 (Groshev, Walcott), 17:39. Duke 8 (Huuhtanen, Pouliot), 18:53. 2nd Period-Szturc 1 (Huuhtanen, Duke), 0:56. 3rd Period-Szturc 2 (Duke, Pouliot), 10:20.. .. Tomkins 3-5-2 (33 shots-28 saves) A-14,567

Saturday, Dec. 7 | Game 22 at Cleveland | W, 4-3 (SO)

Syracuse 0 1 2 0 1 - 4 Shots: 3-12-13-0-1-29 PP: 1/3

Cleveland 0 2 1 0 0 - 3 Shots: 8-4-2-6-0-20 PP: 0/2

2nd Period-Duke 9 (Huuhtanen, Harpur), 16:19. 3rd Period-Szturc 3 (Duke, Sheary), 3:10. Sheary 4 (Allard, Pouliot), 8:36. Shootout-Syracuse 2 (Ylonen G, Dureau NG, Szturc NG, Huuhtanen NG, Sheary NG, Groshev G); Cleveland 1 (Fix-Wolansky G, Del Bel Belluz NG, Grimaldi NG, Brindley NG, Mateychuk NG, McKown NG).. .. Halverson 6-2-4 (20 shots-17 saves) A-10,127

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 16.7% (13-for-78) T-19th (25th)

Penalty Kill 78.1% (75-for-96) 27th (T-23rd)

Goals For 2.77 GFA (61) 25th (26th)

Goals Against 2.68 GAA (48) 8th (T-4th)

Shots For 26.45 SF/G (582) 29th (28th)

Shots Against 29.36 SA/G (646) 18th (17th)

Penalty Minutes 15.27 PIM/G (336) 6th (6th)

Category Leader

Points 20 Pouliot

Goals 9 Duke

Assists 15 Pouliot

PIM 33 Huuhtanen

Plus/Minus +10 Bisson

Wins 6 Halverson

GAA 1.87 Halverson

Save % .931 Halverson

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

1. Laval 23 15 6 1 1 32 0.696 73 61 333 7-1-1-1 8-5-0-0 4-4-1-1 2-0-0-1 2-1

2. Cleveland 23 15 6 0 2 32 0.696 82 75 266 7-1-0-2 8-5-0-0 7-2-0-1 1-0-0-1 1-2

3. Rochester 23 12 8 3 0 27 0.587 68 63 264 4-5-2-0 8-3-1-0 5-3-2-0 1-0-0-0 3-0

4. Toronto 19 11 3 2 3 27 0.711 56 47 166 8-0-0-2 3-3-2-1 4-2-2-2 0-1-0-0 2-3

5. Belleville 19 11 4 0 4 26 0.684 56 56 221 3-3-0-2 8-1-0-2 7-3-0-0 4-0-0-0 3-4

6. Syracuse 22 9 7 3 3 24 0.545 61 59 336 4-3-1-3 5-4-2-0 3-2-2-3 1-0-2-1 2-3

7. Utica 20 5 12 1 2 13 0.325 45 68 268 1-7-0-2 4-5-1-0 5-4-1-0 0-2-0-0 0-2

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