Weekly Release – Vol. 28, No. 20

CRUNCH GO 2-1-2-0 IN FIVE-GAME WEEK

The Crunch maneuvered through a rare five-game week and went 2-1-2-0 to secure a 4-1-2-0 record over seven games in 10 days. Syracuse has earned points in seven of the last 10 games (4-3-3-0), but remains a sliver behind Belleville for the final playoff position in the North Division.

Syracuse split a pair of games against the Senators in Belleville Monday and Tuesday, earning a 6-2 win behind a Gabriel Dumont hat trick in the first game before the Sens responded the next day. The Crunch then played their first of five three-in-three weekends. They dropped overtime decisions Friday and Sunday, sandwiched around a 6-3 win over Utica Saturday.

The Crunch posted a 6-4-3-0 record in February, including a 4-0-1-0 mark on home ice.

The team clashes with Rochester and Utica to begin March, a month which features 14 games.

TOP PERFORMERS

Crunch captain Gabriel Dumont paced the AHL in scoring last week, recording eight points (4g, 4a) in five games. He netted his third regular season hat trick in Monday’s win over Belleville. It was his first in the regular season since Oct. 21, 2016, but he also had one in Game 1 of the North Division Semifinals in 2018. Dumont continued his strong week with a four-point game (1g, 3a) Saturday, while becoming the 166th player in league history to play 600 AHL games.

The 31-year-old has three games of at least three points in the last six games. He has set a new career high in goals (24) and is just four back of his career high for points (49). He is tied for 10th in the AHL with 45 points (24g, 21a) this season while dressing in all 47 games for the Crunch.

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Rookie Gage Goncalves racked up six points (2g, 4a) in five games last week to finish second on the team in scoring. He notched his first career four-point game (1g, 3a) Saturday, which was his second multi-point game in a five-game span.

Goncalves has 16 points (9a, 7a) in 41 games this season, ranking second among Crunch rookies.

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Remi Elie scored goals in the final two games this weekend; he has established a new career high with 11 goals this season, topping his 10 set last year with Rochester. The veteran has 21 points (11g, 10a) in 36 games for the Crunch this season.

GROULX GETS TO 200

Ben Groulx became the second head coach in team history to reach 200 wins with the Crunch following Monday’s victory against Belleville.

Now in his sixth season with the Crunch, Groulx holds a 201-119-27-22 regular season record, good for a 0.611 points percentage. He ranks second in wins behind Gary Agnew (220).

UPCOMING: ROCHESTER, UTICA

The Crunch begin the week Wednesday in Rochester for their ninth match this season. Both teams carry 4-3-1-0 records head-to-head; the Crunch are 4-1-1-0 in the last six games against the Amerks.

The Crunch then host the Utica Comets Friday and Saturday in the first two of three straight head-to-head meetings. Syracuse knocked off the Comets, 6-3, last weekend for their first regulation win this season against Utica (2-5-1-0).

WEEK 20 RESULTS

Monday, Feb. 21 | Game 43 at Belleville | W, 6-2

Syracuse        1 4 1 – 6     Shots: 15-12-13-40    PP: 2/6

Belleville       1 1 0 – 2     Shots: 13-7-10-30       PP: 1/2

1st Period-Raddysh 2 (Unassisted), 9:51. 2nd Period-Koepke 12 (Barré-Boulet, Day), 2:44. Dumont 21 (Goncalves), 8:06. Koepke 13 (Somppi, Elie), 14:11 (PP). Dumont 22 (Barré-Boulet, Richard), 19:23 (PP). 3rd Period-Dumont 23 (Elie), 2:56. . . . Alnefelt 8-4-2 (30 shots-28 saves) A-1,896

Tuesday, Feb. 22 | Game 44 at Belleville | L, 4-1

Syracuse        0 0 1 – 1     Shots: 17-10-10-37    PP: 0/2

Belleville       1 1 2 – 4     Shots: 12-4-6-22         PP: 1/1

3rd Period-Labrie 5 (Sustr, Jones), 16:03. . . . Lagace 5-6-0 (20 shots-18 saves) A-1,405

Friday, Feb. 25 | Game 45 vs. Rochester | OTL, 2-1

Rochester     0 1 0 1 – 2     Shots: 7-9-9-1-23             PP: 0/1

Syracuse        1 0 0 0 – 1     Shots: 15-24-15-1-55      PP: 0/2

1st Period-Smith 1 (Koepke, Barré-Boulet), 14:26. . . . Alnefelt 8-4-3 (23 shots-21 saves) A-4,343

Saturday, Feb. 26 | Game 46 vs. Utica | W, 6-3

Utica               0 1 2 – 3     Shots: 4-8-13-25         PP: 0/2

Syracuse        2 3 1 – 6     Shots: 8-14-7-29         PP: 1/1

1st Period-Dumont 24 (Goncalves), 8:10. Richard 9 (Goncalves, Dumont), 10:26. 2nd Period-Fortier 9 (Green, Ryfors), 1:10. Day 6 (Goncalves, Dumont), 10:22 (PP). Elie 10 (Fortier, Raddysh), 14:38. 3rd Period-Goncalves 8 (Dumont, Barré-Boulet), 19:19. . . . Lagace 6-6-0 (25 shots-22 saves) A-4,731

Sunday, Feb. 27 | Game 47 at W-B/Scranton | OTL, 4-3

Syracuse               0 0 3 0 – 3     Shots: 6-10-9-2-27    PP: 0/2

W-B/Scranton     1 1 1 1 – 4     Shots: 9-12-16-3-40 PP: 1/2

3rd Period-Goncalves 9 (Dumont, Richard), 0:49. Fortier 10 (Koepke, Smith), 5:04. Elie 11 (Jones, Green), 12:15. . . . Alnefelt 8-4-4 (40 shots-36 saves) A-4,882