Weekly Release – Vol. 28, No. 5

CRUNCH DROP THREE TIGHT GAMES IN WEEK 5

The Crunch came up empty in three close games in Week 5, posting an 0-2-0-1 record to drop back to 0.500 (5-5-1-1) this season. All three games were tied during the third period.

Syracuse hosted the Bridgeport Islanders Wednesday night and fell, 3-1, at Upstate Medical University Arena. The Crunch scored first, but surrendered the final three goals, including two in the third period which broke a 1-1 tie.

It was a similar script the next afternoon in Utica, where the Crunch again scored first before allowing three straight goals to fall, 3-1, to the Comets. Utica snapped a 1-1 tie with two late third period goals.

The Crunch nearly flipped the script Saturday against the Hershey Bears. The Crunch rallied from deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 to force overtime before getting nipped in the shootout for a 5-4 final.

TOP PERFORMERS

Power forward Remi Elie had his strongest game of the season Saturday against the Hershey Bears. The veteran forward, in his first season with the Crunch, helped the Crunch earn a standings point with a three-point effort (2g, 1a). It was his third career two-goal game in the AHL and his second career three-point performance; Elie last posted three points in a game Nov. 12, 2016.

The Cornwall, Ontario native has appeared in seven games this season for the Crunch, recording five points (2g, 3a). He missed the team’s first five games while recovering from a preseason injury.

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Charles Hudon was also key to the Crunch’s comeback effort Saturday against the Bears. He logged a season-high three points—all assists—in the team’s shootout loss. It was Hudon’s second career three-assist game and his 11th career three-point game; his only other game with three assists came Feb. 26, 2015.

The veteran forward also eclipsed the 100 career AHL assists mark in the game. The Alma, Quebec native leads the Crunch with 11 points (4g, 7a) in 11 games this season and he is up to 208 points (106g, 102a) in 264 career AHL games.

WELCOME BACK TO SYRACUSE

After returning from recall with the Tampa Bay Lightning, defenseman Andrej Sustr donned a Crunch sweater for the first time since April 2, 2014 in Wednesday’s loss to Bridgeport.

Signed to a one-year, two-way contract in the offseason, Sustr began the season with the Lightning, appearing in eight games with one goal. He was assigned to the Crunch prior to Wednesday’s game and was immediately inserted into the lineup.

He found the scoresheet twice on Saturday, posting one goal and one assist. His game-tying goal in the third period was his first goal on home ice for the Crunch since his third-period game-tying goal in Game 6 of the 2013 Calder Cup Finals against Grand Rapids. He has 12 points (4g, 8a) in 62 career regular season AHL games with Syracuse and San Diego.

UPCOMING: CLEVELAND MONSTERS

The Crunch take to the road for a pair of matches against the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Week 6.

The teams will square off Wednesday and Friday night in the final two games between the clubs scheduled in Cleveland this season. They will be the fourth and fifth matches in the eight-game regular season series with the final three slated for Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse.

Two of the first three games have gone past regulation with the Monsters winning in overtime Oct. 16 and the Crunch taking one in the shootout Oct. 29. The Crunch possess an 11-game point streak (8-0-2-1) in the regular season series against Cleveland since the Monsters joined the North Division for the 2018-19 season. Syracuse is 4-0-2-0 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in that span.

In the 2021-22 season series, Crunch forward Jimmy Huntington paces all players with five points (4g, 1a), including a hat trick Oct. 16. Jake Christiansen’s four points (1g, 3a) are most among Monsters skaters.

WEEK 5 RESULTS

Wednesday, Nov. 10 | Game 10 vs. Bridgeport | L, 3-1

Bridgeport      1 0 2 – 3     Shots: 6-10-13-29    PP: 1/5

Syracuse          1 0 0 – 1     Shots: 12-13-11-36 PP: 0/6

1st Period-Dumont 6 (Walcott, Lees), 13:29. . . . Miftakhov 3-1-0 (29 shots-26 saves) A-3,520

Thursday, Nov. 11 | Game 11 at Utica | L, 3-1

Syracuse      0 1 0 – 1     Shots: 19-6-6-31         PP: 0/1

Utica           0 1 2 – 3     Shots: 7-6-12-25        PP: 0/3

2nd Period-Fortier 2 (Huntington, Day), 12:16. . . . Miftakhov 3-2-0 (25 shots-22 saves). A-3,915

Saturday, Nov. 13 | Game 12 vs. Hershey | SOL, 5-4

Hershey       2 2 0 0 1 – 5     Shots: 14-13-5-3-1-36  PP: 1/3

Syracuse      2 0 2 0 0 – 4     Shots: 9-9-17-3-0-38    PP: 1/5

1st Period-Day 2 (Dumont, Walcott), 1:15. Elie 1 (Hudon, Goncalves), 15:00. 3rd Period-Elie 2 (Sustr, Hudon), 0:23. Sustr 1 (Elie, Hudon), 12:29 (PP). Shootout-Hershey 2 (Sgarbossa G, Snively G), Syracuse 1 (Goncalves G, Hudon NG, Somppi NG). . . . Miftakhov 3-2-1 (35 shots-31 saves) A-4,563