CRUNCH SPLIT HOME-AND-HOME WITH AMERKS
The Crunch earned one win in a home-and-home series with the Amerks in Week 2, collecting their first win of the 2022-23 season.
Syracuse dropped its third straight one-goal game in Friday’s series opener, falling 4-3 on a last second goal by the Amerks. The next night, the Crunch routed the Amerks, 6-2, in front of a sellout crowd for the team’s 29th home opener in franchise history.
The Crunch face its first three-game week of the season in Week 3, taking on Toronto twice and Cleveland once to close October.
TOP PERFORMERS
Felix Robert tied for the team lead with four more points in Week 2. They all came in the Crunch’s home opener, where he recorded his first career hat trick and four-point game. Robert became the first Crunch player to record a home opening hat trick since Nikita Kucherov in 2013-14.
In his first season in the organization, Robert is tied for the AHL lead in scoring with nine points (5g, 4a) in four games.
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Daniel Walcott produced four points (2g, 2a) in two games to tie with Felix Robert for the most on the team in Week 2. Walcott logged an assist in Friday’s loss to Rochester and then helped power the Crunch to a win Saturday with his first career three-point game (2g, 1a). He notched two goals—including what stood as the game-winning goal—in the third period for his second ever two-goal game (also Jan. 31, 2020 at Rochester).
Walcott also moved into a tie with Jeremy Reich for the second-most games played in Crunch history at 315. He needs 19 more games played to tie Brad Moran for the most in franchise history (334).
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Defenseman Darren Raddysh extended his season-opening scoring streak to four games by producing three points (1g, 2a) in Week 2. He is the only Crunch player with at least one point in all four games this season.
Raddysh, who re-signed with the Lightning this summer, leads AHL defensemen in scoring with seven points (2g, 5a) through four games. Last season, Raddysh produced 25 points (7g, 18a) in 61 games for the Crunch.
FORTIER ARRIVES
Third-year pro Gabe Fortier was loaned to the Crunch last week after starting the season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fortier made his season debut with the Crunch Friday in Rochester and netted a game-tying goal in the third period.
Fortier has played in 108 career Crunch games, netting 46 points (21g, 25a), and in 11 NHL games with Tampa Bay.
PERBIX MAKES NHL DEBUT
Defenseman Nick Perbix earned his first career NHL recall early in Week 2 and made his NHL debut for the Lightning Oct. 18. In the process, he became the 78th player to skate for the Lightning after playing for the Crunch during this affiliation; he is the second to join that group this season (Cole Koepke).
Perbix has skated in three games for the Bolts, and saw a season-high 17:13 of ice time in his most recent appearance.
UPCOMING: TORONTO, CLEVELAND
The Crunch embark on their first three-game week of the season in Week 3.
It begins with a home-and-home series against the Toronto Marlies. That starts at Coca-Cola Coliseum Wednesday before shifting to Upstate Medical University Arena on Friday. They are the first two games of the six-game regular season series; they met only four times in 2021-22 and the Crunch earned a point in all four matches (2-0-1-1). The Marlies are off to a 2-2-0-0 start in 2022-23 after failing to make the playoffs last season for the first time since 2010-11.
The week concludes on Saturday with the third of four matches between Syracuse and Cleveland. The Monsters grabbed a pair of shootout wins over the Crunch in Cleveland on opening weekend. The Monsters (3-2-0-0) are tied for Rochester atop the North Division with six points.
WEEK 2 RESULTS
Friday, October 21 | Game 3 at Rochester | L, 4-3
Syracuse 1 1 1 – 3 Shots: 8-10-2-20 PP: 1/3
Rochester 1 0 3 – 4 Shots: 11-7-14-32 PP: 1/4
1st Period-Raddysh 2 (Barré-Boulet, Smith), 19:49 (PP). 2nd Period-Smith 2 (Walcott, Labrie), 8:40. 3rd Period-Fortier 1 (Raddysh, Barré-Boulet), 12:37. . . . Lagace 0-1-1 (32 shots-28 saves) A-4,043
Saturday, October 22 | Game 4 vs. Rochester | W, 6-2
Rochester 0 1 1 – 2 Shots: 6-9-19-34 PP: 1/4
Syracuse 1 1 4 – 6 Shots: 6-8-20-34 PP: 1/3
1st Period-Robert 3 (Goncalves, Carrick), 6:51 (PP). 2nd Period-Robert 4 (Ryfors, Walcott), 13:19. 3rd Period-Walcott 1 (Thompson, Dureau), 4:05. Walcott 2 (Robert), 8:14. Carrick 1 (Raddysh, Goncalves), 13:33. Robert 5 (Unassisted), 18:53 (EN). . . . Lagace 1-1-1 (34 shots-32 saves) A-6,134
