Syracuse Crunch Weekly Vol. 31, No. 16

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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly Vol. 31, No. 16

January 28, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH SPLIT WEEKEND HOME GAMES

The Crunch went 1-1-0-0 in two home games in Week 16, but finished on a high with an overtime win against the Cleveland Monsters.

Syracuse lost to the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday night. The Crunch went down 4-0 before scoring two straight to close the gap. They couldn't complete the comeback despite what was at the time a season-high 45 shots on goal, losing 5-2 following an empty-net goal.

They had to erase another deficit on Saturday after falling behind the Monsters, 2-0, in the first period. Declan Carlile and Gabriel Fortier scored to tie the game then Gage Goncalves scored on a penalty shot to give the Crunch the lead. Cleveland tied it late, but the Crunch earned the win on Goncalves' snapper at 1:11 of overtime.

The Crunch are 18-14-5-4 this season and continue to rank fifth in the North Division with 45 points. They look to close the gap with a home-and-home set against Rochester prior to the AHL All-Star Classic.

TOP PERFORMER

Gage Goncalves helped the Crunch earn their lone win of the week on Saturday, scoring twice and adding an assist for his second three-point outing of the season.

Goncalves put the Crunch ahead at 16:03 of the third period with a successful penalty shot. It was the Crunch's first penalty shot goal since Simon Ryfors scored versus Utica on April 12, 2023. Goncalves then scored his first career overtime game-winning goal at 1:11 to give the Crunch a 4-3 victory.

Goncalves was recalled to Tampa Bay on Monday. He has 14 points (4g, 10a) in 11 Crunch games this season.

CRUNCH, LIGHTNING SWAP DEFENSEMEN

The Lightning recalled defenseman Declan Carlile from the Crunch on Monday after reassigning Max Crozier to the Crunch on Sunday.

Carlile scored his third goal of the season on Saturday and he has seven points in 36 Crunch games.

Crozier has nine points in 22 Crunch games this season. He has skated in 98 professional games.

UPCOMING WEEK

Friday, Jan. 30 at Rochester | 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 1 vs. Rochester | 5 p.m.

The Crunch and Rochester Americans play a home-and-home set prior to the AHL All-Star break. It's the third two-game set between the clubs this year, and they will be the sixth and seventh matches of the 12-game season series.

The Amerks host the Crunch on Friday having won three of the first five in the series. The Amerks have won two of the three at Blue Cross Arena; after Rochester won 3-0 on Nov. 29, the clubs split a two-game set in Rochester prior to Christmas. The Americans are 7-6-2-1 on home ice this season.

They bring a 17-6-1-0 road record to Syracuse for the rematch Saturday at 5 p.m. at Upstate Medical University Arena. The teams have split the previous two matches in Syracuse. Rochester won, 3-2, in a shootout on Nov. 30 and the Crunch earned a 6-2 win earlier this month.

Jesse Ylonen leads the Crunch in scoring with six points (2g, 4a) in five games against the Amerks. Isak Rosen leads Rochester in goals (4) and points (5) against the Crunch.

Brandon Halverson (2-2-0/2.27/.913) and Matt Tomkins (0-0-1/1.85/.957) have seen action in net. Devon Levi has started all five games against the Crunch, going 3-2-0/2.57/.892.

AHL All-Star Classic

Goaltender Brandon Halverson (1st appearance) and defenseman Derrick Pouliot (3rd appearance) will represent the Crunch at the AHL All-Star Classic presented by Spotlight 29 Casino on Feb. 2-3.

The weekend begins with the AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday. That is followed by the AHL All-Star Challenged on Monday. Both the Skills Competition and the All-Star Challenge take place at 9 p.m. ET.

Halverson leads the Crunch with a 12-6-6 record with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage in 24 appearances.

Pouliot is tied for the AHL lead among defensemen with 33 points (5g, 28a) in 40 games. He skated in his 600th pro game on Jan. 10.

WEEK 16 RESULTS

Friday, Jan. 24 | Game 40 vs. Bridgeport | L, 5-2

Bridgeport 1 3 1 - 5 Shots: 5-13-5-23 PP: 2/3

Syracuse 0 1 1 - 2 Shots: 15-12-18-45 PP: 1/4

2nd Period-Allard 3 (Santini, Brown), 15:48. 3rd Period-Khaira 3 (Goncalves, Pouliot), 3:02 (PP).. .. Tomkins 6-8-3 (22 shots-18 saves) A-5,255

Saturday, Jan. 25 | Game 41 vs. Cleveland | W, 4-3 (OT)

Cleveland 2 0 1 0 - 3 Shots: 7-4-2-1-14 PP: 1/4

Syracuse 0 1 2 1 - 4 Shots: 23-10-13-1-47 PP: 0/3

2nd Period-Carlile 3 (Goncalves, Sheary), 13:26. 3rd Period-Fortier 9 (Santini, Ylonen), 1:31. Goncalves 3 (Unassisted), 16:03 (PS). Overtime-Goncalves 4 (Ylonen, Pouliot), 1:11.. .. Halverson 12-6-6 (14 shots-11 saves) A-5,851

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 14.4% (21-for-146) 29th (30th)

Penalty Kill 82.1% (124-for-151) 19th (14th)

Goals For 2.63 GFA (108) 30th (30th)

Goals Against 2.56 GAA (105) 4th (2nd)

Shots For 27.24 SF/G (1117) 29th (29th)

Shots Against 28.05 SA/G (1150) 10th (16th)

Penalty Minutes 12.34 PIM/G (506) 20th (20th)

Category Leader

Points 33 Pouliot

Goals 11 Duke

Assists 28 Pouliot

PIM 46 Crozier

Plus/Minus +13 Pouliot

Wins 12 Halverson

GAA 2.02 Halverson

Save % .925 Halverson

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

1. Laval 40 26 11 2 1 55 0.688 122 101 626 13-5-1-1 13-6-1-0 8-1-1-0 3-0-0-0 2-1

2. Rochester 40 24 12 3 1 52 0.650 136 111 482 7-6-2-1 17-6-1-0 6-3-0-1 1-0-0-0 3-1

3. Cleveland 41 23 12 3 3 52 0.634 130 127 483 11-5-2-3 12-7-1-0 5-2-2-1 1-0-2-0 2-3

4. Toronto 38 22 11 2 3 49 0.645 116 100 367 11-5-0-2 11-6-2-1 5-5-0-0 0-1-0-0 2-3

5. Syracuse 41 18 14 5 4 45 0.549 108 105 506 8-6-3-4 10-8-2-0 3-5-1-1 1-0-0-0 2-4

6. Belleville 35 16 14 1 4 37 0.529 100 116 473 7-8-1-2 9-6-0-2 3-6-1-0 0-1-0-0 3-4

7. Utica 38 14 20 2 2 32 0.421 99 121 513 6-10-1-2 8-10-1-0 7-3-0-0 0-1-0-0 0-2

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