AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Weekly

Published on April 18, 2023 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH END REGULAR SEASON

The Crunch wrapped up their 29th regular season and nailed down second place in the North Division, setting up a North Division Semifinals series against the Rochester Americans.

The Crunch went 1-1-1-0 over the three games to finish off the season. Their key win was a 6-4 victory over the Utica Comets Wednesday at the Adirondack Bank Center. After a regulation loss at Laval on Friday, which ended the road portion of their schedule, the Crunch returned home for the regular season finale Saturday night. They earned a standings point to secure second place before falling in overtime to the Comets.

The Crunch ended the regular season with a 35-26-7-4 record and 81 points. It's the second season in a row they've earned second place and home ice advantage in the North Division Semifinals.

TOP PERFORMERS

Alex Barré-Boulet capped off his record breaking regular season with three points (1g, 2a) over the final three games. With two points in the season finale, Barré-Boulet broke his tie with Carter Verhaeghe to establish a single season franchise record with 84 points (24g, 60a). He came up one point shy for the AHL scoring title (Michael Carcone).

Barré-Boulet's fifth season with the Crunch saw him set new all-time franchise records for goals (109), assists (174) and points (283), while moving into the top-10 in game played (eighth, 271).

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Simon Ryfors will bring a hot hand into the playoffs, producing three multi-point outings in the final four games of the season. It was highlighted by a franchise-record tying four-goal performance last Wednesday at Utica; he became the sixth Crunch player with four goals in a game, and the first since Trevor Smith in 2011.

Ryfors finished with six goals in the final four games of the season to lead the team in goals. As the only player to skate in all 72 games, Ryfors topped the team with 27 goals and finished second with 59 points.

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Gage Goncalves also hits the playoffs on a roll. After two more multi-point outings last week, the second-year-pro ended the season with six games of two or more points in the final 10 games.

Goncalves was one of four Crunch players to reach 50 points this season, making the Crunch one of four AHL teams with at least four 50-point scorers. He notched 54 points (13g, 41a) in 71 games.

TEAM NOTES

The Crunch were the fifth-highest scoring team in the AHL this season, totaling 252 goals for a 3.50 goals per game average. It's the fourth highest scoring season in team history, based on goals scored per game.

Syracuse had six sellouts in 2022-23, the most in a season for the Crunch since 2018-19 (8).

The Crunch found success both at home (17-11-7-1) and on the road (18-15-0-3). This is only the third time they've finished the season with more road wins than home wins; it's the first time since 2012-13.

NORTH DIVISION SEMIFINAL

Game 1: Friday, April 21 vs. Rochester | 7 p.m.

Game 2: Saturday, April 22 vs. Rochester | 7 p.m.

Game 3: Friday, April 28 at Rochester | 7:05 p.m.

*Game 4: Sunday, April 30 at Rochester | 3:05 p.m.

*Game 5: Saturday, May 6 vs. Rochester | 7 p.m.

The Crunch and Amerks meet in the best-of-5 North Division Semifinals, starting this Friday in Syracuse. It's the fifth playoff series between the teams; the Americans have won three series (1996, 1997, 2004) and the Crunch have won one (2018).

The clubs finished tied with 81 points this season, and both teams won six games head-to-head. The Crunch won four of the last five in the series and four games required overtime.

WEEK 27 RESULTS

Wednesday, April 12 | Game 70 at Utica | W, 6-4

Syracuse 2 1 3 - 6 Shots: 10-7-6-23 PP: 1/2

Utica 1 0 3 - 4 Shots: 8-7-11-26 PP: 1/4

1st Period-Ryfors 23 (Barré-Boulet), 4:18. Dumont 18 (Goncalves, Carrick), 6:50 (PP). 2nd Period-Ryfors 24 (Unassisted), 14:01. 3rd Period-Carlile 8 (Koepke), 2:41. Ryfors 25 (Goncalves, Carrick), 9:57. Ryfors 26 (Carrick), 19:28 (EN). . . . Lagace 17-12-7 (26 shots-22 saves) A-3,917

Friday, April 14 | Game 71 at Laval | L, 4-3

Syracuse 2 0 1 - 3 Shots: 11-12-19-42 PP: 0/2

Laval 4 0 0 - 4 Shots: 16-4-8-28 PP: 0/1

1st Period-Thompson 8 (Unassisted), 5:03. Walcott 12 (Koepke, Crozier), 18:36. 3rd Period-Walcott 13 (Crozier, Walker), 18:36. . . . Alnefelt 17-12-2 (22 shots-18 saves); LaFontaine (6 shots-6 saves) A-10,295

Saturday, April 15 | Game 72 vs. Utica | OTL, 5-4

Utica 0 1 3 1 - 5 Shots: 7-9-14-2-32 PP: 1/5

Syracuse 1 2 1 0 - 4 Shots: 9-11-13-1-34 PP: 1/4

1st Period-Ryfors 27 (Myers, Goncalves), 1:13. 2nd Period-Goncalves 13 (Barré-Boulet, Dumont), 5:42 (PP). Barré-Boulet 24 (Ryfors, Carrick), 11:20. 3rd Period-Balcers 8 (Element), 7:48. . . . Lagace 17-12-8 (32 shots-27 saves) A-6,236

Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)

Power Play 18.8% (44-for-234) 16th (T-16th)

Penalty Kill 79.9% (223-for-279) T-22nd (T-21st)

Goals For 3.50 GFA (252) 5th (5th)

Goals Against 3.32 GAA (239) 23rd (22nd)

Shots For 32.25 SF/G (2322) 4th (4th)

Shots Against 29.83 SA/G (2148) 11th (12th)

Penalty Minutes 15.08 PIM/G (1062) 6th (5th)

Category Leader

Points 84 Barré-Boulet

Goals 27 Ryfors

Assists 60 Barré-Boulet

PIM 103 Walcott

Plus/Minus +28 Carlile

Wins 17 Alnefelt|Lagace

GAA 2.77 Alnefelt

Save % .904 Alnefelt

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

1. y Toronto 72 42 24 4 2 90 0.625 229 225 934 21-13-0-2 21-11-4-0 2-6-2-0 1-0-0-0 3-2

2. x Syracuse 72 35 26 7 4 81 0.563 252 239 1086 17-11-7-1 18-15-0-3 5-2-2-1 0-1-1-0 4-4

3. x Rochester 72 36 27 6 3 81 0.563 236 233 802 18-13-4-1 18-14-2-2 6-2-2-0 1-0-0-0 4-3

4. x Utica 72 35 27 6 4 80 0.556 215 222 773 18-11-3-4 17-16-3-0 4-4-0-2 2-0-0-0 2-4

5. x Laval 72 33 29 7 3 76 0.528 258 247 940 18-10-5-3 15-19-2-0 8-2-0-0 4-0-0-0 1-3

6. Cleveland 72 33 32 5 2 73 0.507 220 254 846 16-16-4-0 17-16-1-2 5-5-0-0 0-1-0-0 5-2

7. Belleville 72 31 31 6 4 72 0.500 233 258 1186 18-14-1-3 13-17-5-1 4-3-0-3 0-1-0-0 4-4

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from April 18, 2023


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