CRUNCH FINISH STRONG THREE-IN-THREE
The Crunch played three games in three road cities and earned two wins to move up to third place in the North Division.
After beginning the road trip with a loss at Utica, the Crunch responded with a pair of wins in New England. In a high-scoring affair, the Crunch topped the Hartford Wolf Pack, 8-5, Saturday at the XL Center. The weekend wrapped up in Providence, where the Crunch scored the final four goals in a 4-1 win over the Bruins.
With their wins and the results of other North Division games, the Crunch catapulted into third place with a 32-24-6-2 record and a 0.563 points percentage. It’s the highest the Crunch have been in the division since the end-of-day standings following games on Nov. 6.
TOP PERFORMERS
Alex Barré-Boulet had a dominant week for the Crunch, leading the team with seven points (4g, 3a) in three games. He scored a goal in all three games, including a two-goal performance in Sunday’s weekend finale at Providence. His third multi-goal outing of the season gives Barré-Boulet seven goals in the last seven games and helped him crest the 50-point mark for the third time in his career.
The Quebec native ranks second on the team with 50 points (16g, 34a) in 47 games this season. He has eight multi-point outings in the last 17 games since March 2, posting 25 points (13g, 12a) in that span, to lead the entire AHL.
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Crunch captain Gabriel Dumont reached the 50-point mark for the first time in his career by collecting four points (1g, 3a) over the weekend. The team’s leading scorer recorded his 10th multi-point game Saturday with a trio of assists. He then helped ice Sunday’s win at Providence with an empty-net goal, his team-leading 25th of the season, to snap a 17-game goal drought.
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Rookie defenseman Declan Carlile made his pro debut this weekend and skated in all three games. The Merrimack College product earned his first point Friday and then scored his first goal Saturday.
THE DAD LIFE
After celebrating the birth of his son, Roman, Anthony Richard returned to the Crunch lineup for the final two games of the weekend and scored three goals. He produced his first two-goal game with the Crunch on Saturday, scoring a shorthanded goal and an empty-net goal in the third period. Riding a three-game goal streak, Richard has 19 points (7g, 12a) in 28 games since joining the Crunch in February.
UPCOMING: TORONTO|SPRINGFIELD|W-B/SCRANTON
The Crunch finish a four-game road trip with their final appearance in Toronto Wednesday night. Syracuse leaped past the Marlies (32-25-3-1) over the weekend after the Marlies were swept in a pair of games at Manitoba. The teams have split two games this season, with the Crunch scoring a 4-2 win at Coca-Cola Coliseum in December.
The Atlantic Division leading Springfield Thunderbirds come to Syracuse for the opening game of their two-game season series. The T-Birds, in their first season as the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, 37-20-5-2 and carry a three-game winning streak after taking back-to-back wins against Belleville. Springfield’s roster features former Crunch captain Luke Witkowski and Matthew Peca, who played with the Crunch from 2015 to 2018 and represented the Crunch as an AHL All-Star.
The weekend wraps in Syracuse on Saturday, when the Crunch host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. It’s the first of two April trips to Syracuse for the Penguins, who currently hold the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division with a 30-27-4-4 record. The Crunch are 1-0-1-0 in two games against the Penguins this season.
WEEK 25 RESULTS
Friday, April 1 | Game 62 at Utica | L, 5-3
Syracuse 0 0 3 – 3 Shots: 14-11-10-35 PP: 0/5
Utica 1 1 3 – 5 Shots: 3-5-7-15 PP: 2/2
3rd Period-Fortier 13 (Walcott, Carlile), 15:56. Ryfors 7 (Day, Green), 16:13. Barré-Boulet 13 (Nash, Hudon), 17:51. . . . Lagace 14-9-1 (13 shots-10 saves) A-3,917
Saturday, April 2 | Game 63 at Hartford | W, 8-5
Syracuse 3 3 2 – 8 Shots: 13-8-7-28 PP: 0/2
Utica 2 2 1 – 5 Shots: 10-10-10-30 PP: 0/4
1st Period-Barré-Boulet 14 (Hudon, Koepke), 1:50. Ryfors 8 (Fortier, Dumont), 10:28. Carlile 1 (Nash, Goncalves), 13:56. 2nd Period-Koepke 19 (Barré-Boulet, Claesson), 1:32. Ryfors 9 (Dumont, Fortier), 8:06. Day 7 (Somppi, Barré-Boulet), 11:50. 3rd Period-Richard 12 (Dumont), 8:09 (SH). Richard 13 (Unassisted), 17:13 (EN). . . . Miftakhov 7-8-3 (30 shots-25 saves) A-3,685
Sunday, April 3 | Game 64 at Providence | W, 4-1
Syracuse 0 2 2 – 4 Shots: 7-12-11-30 PP: 0/2
Providence 0 1 0 – 1 Shots: 12-13-14-39 PP: 1/6
2nd Period-Barré-Boulet 15 (Hudon, Goncalves), 9:53. Barré-Boulet 16 (Claesson, Hudon), 18:51. 3rd Period-Dumont 25 (Barré-Boulet, Nash), 18:05 (EN). Richard 14 (Nash, Jones), 18:24 (EN). . . . Lagace 15-9-1 (39 shots-38 saves) A-6,920
| Category | Average/Total | AHL Rank (Prev) |
|---|---|---|
| Power Play | 18.1% (39-for-215) | 25th (18th) |
| Penalty Kill | 77.9% (166-for-213) | 25th (25th) |
| Goals For | 3.13 GFA (200) | T-12th (18th) |
| Goals Against | 3.17 GAA (203) | 21st (23rd) |
| Shots For | 32.16 SF/G (2058) | 6th (6th) |
| Shots Against | 26.39 SA/G (1689) | 3rd (3rd) |
| Penalty Minutes | 11.17 PIM/G (715) | 24th (T-24th) |
| Category | Leader | |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 53 | Dumont |
| Goals | 25 | Dumont |
| Assists | 34 | Barré-Boulet |
| PIM | 86 | Dumont |
| Plus/Minus | +15 | Claesson |
| Wins | 15 | Lagace |
| GAA | 2.64 | Lagace |
| Save % | .895 | Lagace |
| North Division | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | PCT | GF | GA | PIM | HOME | ROAD | LAST 10 | STREAK | S/O |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Utica | 62 | 39 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 85 | 0.685 | 218 | 169 | 678 | 21-7-3-1 | 18-9-3-0 | 5-4-0-1 | 0-1-0-0 | 2-1 |
| 2. Laval | 59 | 31 | 23 | 3 | 2 | 67 | 0.568 | 196 | 192 | 725 | 20-7-2-1 | 11-16-1-1 | 5-3-0-2 | 0-2-0-0 | 2-2 |
| 3. Syracuse | 64 | 32 | 24 | 6 | 2 | 72 | 0.563 | 200 | 203 | 715 | 17-10-1-2 | 15-14-5-0 | 7-3-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 | 1-2 |
| 4. Toronto | 61 | 32 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 68 | 0.557 | 202 | 203 | 816 | 15-13-2-1 | 17-12-1-0 | 5-5-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 | 3-1 |
| 5. Rochester | 65 | 32 | 25 | 5 | 3 | 72 | 0.554 | 221 | 240 | 829 | 16-11-3-2 | 16-14-2-1 | 5-2-2-1 | 1-0-0-0 | 2-3 |
| 6. Belleville | 60 | 31 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 66 | 0.550 | 183 | 185 | 741 | 14-13-2-0 | 17-12-2-0 | 4-3-3-0 | 0-1-1-0 | 5-0 |
| 7. Cleveland | 64 | 24 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 60 | 0.469 | 178 | 222 | 837 | 11-16-4-1 | 13-12-4-3 | 3-5-2-0 | 0-1-0-0 | 2-4 |
