Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 32, No. 21
AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Vol. 32, No. 21

Published on March 3, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH MUNCH POINTS INTO MARCH

The Syracuse Crunch grabbed a pair of wins in Week 21 to give them nine wins in their last 10 games.

They closed out a successful February with a 6-4 win against the Laval Rocket. Syracuse posted an 8-1-0-0 record in the month to give the Crunch the most wins they've had in a calendar month this season. They carried the momentum into March with a 3-1 win versus the Rochester Americans on Sunday in Syracuse.

The Crunch are five points behind the Rocket for first place in the North Division with a 32-17-3-1 record. Syracuse has played three fewer games than Laval and the teams go head-to-head again tomorrow.

TOP PERFORMERS

Brendan Furry scored a goal in both games in Week 21 and finished with three points in two games. The Toledo native struck with his first shorthanded goal of the season on Saturday and then added the eventual game-winning goal Sunday.

Furry is in his first season with the Crunch and has established new career-highs in goals (12), assists (14) and points (26). His four game-winning goals are tied for second on the Crunch.

***

Forward Jakob Pelletier tied for the team lead with four points (1g, 3a) in the two Crunch games in Week 21. He posted a pair of multi-point games to extend his point streak to four games.

The four points pushed Pelletier up to the top spot in the AHL in scoring with 57 points (21g, 36a) in 47 games. He notched a pair of assists on Saturday then added another, plus his third shorthanded goal of the season, on Sunday.

HALVERSON NAMED TOP GOALIE IN FEBRUARY

Brandon Halverson capped off a perfect February with a 31-save effort during Saturday's win against the Laval Rocket. The 29-year-old posted a 6-0-0 record in six February starts with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .934 percentage to earn AHL Goaltender of the Month.

He is the fifth Crunch goaltender to earn the monthly award in franchise history and the first since Max Lagace claimed it in April 2022. The others were Andrei Vasilevskiy (Dec. 2014), Karl Goehring (March 2008) and Frederic Cassivi (Oct. 1996).

Halverson logged two shutouts in February to give him 11 in his Crunch career. He is tied with J.F. Labbe and Karl Goehring for the most in team history. His 48 career wins for the Crunch rank fourth.

UPCOMING WEEK

Wednesday, March 4 at Laval | 7 p.m.

The Crunch face off against the Laval Rocket for the second time in less than a week tomorrow at Place Bell. The Crunch bested the Rocket, 6-4, Saturday in Syracuse to improve to 3-1-1-1 in the season series.

The Rocket lead the North Division with 73 points, and they have a five point advantage on the Crunch but have played three more games than Syracuse. They were without their top scorer, Laurent Dauphin, last weekend. He is second in the AHL in scoring with 56 points (15g, 41a) in 49 games. The Rocket are 17-6-1-2 at home this season and 2-1-0-0 at home versus the Crunch.

Friday, March 6 vs. W-B/Scranton | 7 p.m.

The Crunch conclude their four-game season series with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Friday at Upstate Medical University Arena. The Crunch have won two of the three matches this season, and they thumped the Penguins, 5-0, in the first game following the AHL All-Star Break a few weeks ago.

The Penguins are in second place in the Eastern Conference with 78 points (36-13-4-2), but they are five points behind Providence for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Their 0.759 road points percentage (21-6-1-1) is third-best in the AHL.

Sunday, March 8 at Utica | 3 p.m.

The Crunch make their final trip this season to the Adirondack Bank Center to battle the Utica Comets. The Sunday matinee is the 11th game of the 12-game series. Syracuse is 7-3-0-0 versus the Comets, but the Crunch have lost three straight in Utica and have been outscored 11-3 in those games.

The Comets are in last place in the North Division and are 11 points back of the final playoff position. They have earned standing points in eight of their last 10 home games (6-2-1-1).

WEEK 21 RESULTS

Saturday, Feb. 28 | Game 52 vs. Laval | W, 6-4

Laval 1 1 2 - 4 Shots: 8-10-17-35 PP: 2/4

Syracuse 3 2 1 - 6 Shots: 6-10-3-19 PP: 0/3

1st Period-Duke 26 (Pietroniro, Allard), 3:25. Duke 27 (Allard, Mercuri), 11:49. Chaffee 18 (Pietroniro, Pelletier), 19:11. 2nd Period-Furry 11 (Pelletier), 6:43 (SH). Samson 2 (Geekie, Chaffee), 11:10. 3rd Period-Gauthier 8 (Furry, Lundmark), 6:31. Halverson 19-6-3 (35 shots-31 saves) A-6,179

Sunday, March 1 | Game 53 vs. Rochester | W, 3-1

Rochester 0 0 1 - 1 Shots: 9-3-9-21 PP: 0/6

Syracuse 1 2 0 - 3 Shots: 13-8-7-28 PP: 1/3

1st Period-Geekie 14 (Pelletier, Chaffee), 11:37 (PP). 2nd Period-Furry 12 (Gauthier, Pietroniro), 4:22. Pelletier 21 (Chaffee), 18:37 (SH). Fanti 10-11-1 (21 shots-20 saves) A-5,472

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 22.7% (44-for-194) T-5th (5th)

Penalty Kill 81.5% (132-for-162) T-13th (12th)

Goals For 3.30 GFA (175) T-8th (T-9th)

Goals Against 2.51 GAA (128) 4th (4th)

Shots For 28.11 SF/G (1490) 17th (15th)

Shots Against 25.11 SA/G (1331) 1st (1st)

Penalty Minutes 14.02 PIM/G (743) 9th (11th)

Category Leader

Points 57 Pelletier

Goals 27 Duke

Assists 37 Geekie

PIM 93 Mercuri

Plus/Minus +23 Pietroniro

Wins 19 Halverson

GAA 2.25 Halverson

Save % .910 Halverson

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

1. Laval 56 34 17 2 3 73 0.652 184 150 938 17-6-1-2 17-11-1-1 6-3-0-1 0-1-0-0 3-3

2. Syracuse 53 32 17 3 1 68 0.642 175 133 743 17-5-1-0 15-12-2-1 9-1-0-0 2-0-0-0 1-1

3. Cleveland 53 29 17 6 1 65 0.613 156 155 637 15-7-4-1 14-10-2-0 6-3-1-0 1-0-0-0 3-1

4. Toronto 53 26 18 4 5 61 0.575 167 172 728 13-7-1-3 13-11-3-2 4-3-0-3 2-0-0-2 3-5

5. Rochester 52 24 20 5 3 56 0.538 161 160 559 10-11-3-2 14-9-2-1 3-5-1-1 0-4-1-1 0-3

6. Belleville 56 21 27 8 0 50 0.446 172 206 772 10-15-3-0 11-12-5-0 2-8-0-0 0-5-0-0 3-0

7. Utica 52 18 25 5 4 45 0.433 131 165 621 11-11-2-3 7-14-3-1 5-4-0-1 2-0-0-0 2-4

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from March 3, 2026


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