CRUNCH DIG EARLY HOLE IN DIVISION SEMIFINALS
The Crunch dropped the opening two games of their North Division Semifinals series against the Rochester Americans. Syracuse faces elimination as the series shifts from Rochester to Syracuse for Game 3 on Thursday. The Crunch will need a pair of home wins to extend the series back to Rochester next week.
The Amerks took Game 1 with a 3-2 win Friday at Blue Cross Arena. The Crunch opened a 2-0 lead early in the second period, but the Amerks quickly tied the game in less than four minutes. A go-ahead goal early in the third proved to be the difference to give the Amerks a 1-0 series lead.
Devon Levi logged a 35-save shutout in Game 2 Sunday afternoon as the Amerks pulled out a 4-0 win. It was Rochester's first playoff shutout since Malcolm Subban's 31-save outing against the Crunch on April 30, 2023. It's the third time Syracuse has fallen in an 0-2 hole in seven all-time playoff meetings against the Americans.
VETERANS MATCH TEAM RECORD
Crunch veterans
Gabriel Dumont and
Daniel Walcott both skated in their 40th career playoff games as members of the Crunch in Sunday's Game 2 loss to Rochester. That puts them in a tie with Matt Taormina for the franchise record for most playoff games played.
Walcott and Dumont rank first and sixth in team history with 494 and 290 regular season games played respectively. Walcott is in his 10th season with the Crunch, while Dumont is in his seventh campaign in Syracuse. Dumont is in his fifth season as the Crunch's captain (2018-19; 2021-25), making him the longest serving captain in team history.
SERIES NOTES
In order to advance, the Crunch will need to win three straight elimination games. Syracuse holds an 11-18 all-time record when facing elimination, including a 1-1 mark in last year's playoffs. The Crunch lost their first four games against the Amerks when facing elimination before winning last year's winner-take-all Game 5 at Blue Cross Arena.
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Syracuse has lost five consecutive playoff games following their Game 5 win against the Amerks in last year's North Division Semifinals. They have scored seven total goals in the five games, and they have been shut out twice.
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Crunch rookie
Dylan Duke scored his first career Calder Cup Playoffs goal in Game 1 of the series against the Amerks. It came in his sixth career playoff game. He has now played seven playoff games for the Crunch, and six have been versus Rochester.
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The Crunch are 0-for-5 on the power play in the series. They were only 5-for-53 (9.4%) during the 12-game regular season series.
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Syracuse scored the first two goals of the series, but the Amerks have scored the last six goals.
NORTH DIVISION SEMIFINALS SCHEDULE
Game 1: Fri., Apr. 25 - ROCHESTER 3, Syracuse 2
Game 2: Sun., Apr. 27 - ROCHESTER 4, Syracuse 0
Game 3: Thu., May 1 - Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 4: Sat., May 3 - Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5: Fri., May 9 - Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
*if necessary
UPCOMING WEEK
Thursday, May 1 vs. Rochester | 7 p.m.
The Crunch face elimination for the first time in the Calder Cup Playoffs as the North Division Semifinals shifts to Syracuse for Game 3 on Thursday.
Syracuse will look to extend its season and force a Game 4, which would be contested on Saturday. The Crunch have never won a best-of-five series when trailing 2-0, but there have been 13 such comebacks in AHL history. One team has accomplished it in each of the last two seasons: Rochester in 2023 and Milwaukee in 2024.
The Amerks won four of their six trips to Syracuse during the regular season. They had 23 road wins, which was one off the league lead.
Saturday, May 3 vs. Rochester | 7 p.m.
If the Crunch win Thurday's Game 3, they will host the Amerks in Game 4 on Saturday. The teams have gone the distance in each of their last two playoff series (2023 and 2024). Syracuse will look to extend the series to a winner-take-all Game 5, which would be hosted by the Amerks on Friday, May 9, if necessary.
WEEK 29 RESULTS
Friday, April 25 | NDSF Game 1 at Rochester | L, 3-2
Syracuse 0 2 0 - 2 Shots: 10-8-9-27 PP: 0/3
Rochester 0 2 1 - 3 Shots: 16-8-6-30 PP: 1/3
2nd Period-Sheary 1 (
Fortier), 0:21. Duke 1 (
Santini, Brown), 3:29. . . .
Halverson 0-1 (30 shots-27 saves) A-6,600
Sunday, April 27 | NDSF Game 2 at Rochester | L, 4-0
Syracuse 0 0 0 - 0 Shots: 6-15-14-35 PP: 0/2
Rochester 1 1 2 - 4 Shots: 8-6-8-22 PP: 1/4
Halverson 0-2 (21 shots-18 saves) A-6,884
| Category |
Average/Total |
AHL Rank (Reg) |
| Power Play |
0.0% (0-for-5) |
16th (21st) |
| Penalty Kill |
71.4% (5-for-7) |
14th (T-8th) |
| Goals For |
1.00 GFA (2) |
T-13th (T-21st) |
| Goals Against |
3.50 GAA (7) |
T-13th (T-1st) |
| Shots For |
31.00 SF/G (62) |
T-9th (T-27th) |
| Shots Against |
26.00 SA/G (52) |
5th (4th) |
| Penalty Minutes |
16.50 PIM/G (33) |
3rd (T-26th) |
| Category |
|
Leader |
| Points |
1 |
5 tied at 1 point |
| Goals |
1 |
Duke|Sheary |
| Assists |
1 |
Brown|Fortier|Santini |
| PIM |
12 |
Pouliot |
| Plus/Minus |
+1 |
4 tied at 1 point |
| Wins |
- |
- |
| GAA |
3.09 |
Halverson |
| Save % |
.882 |
Halverson |
| North Division |
GP |
W |
L |
OTL |
SOL |
PTS |
PCT |
GF |
GA |
PIM |
HOME |
ROAD |
LAST 10 |
STREAK |
S/O |
| 1. y Laval |
72 |
48 |
19 |
3 |
2 |
101 |
0.701 |
229 |
178 |
1101 |
24-9-2-1 |
24-10-1-1 |
6-3-0-1 |
2-0-0-0 |
3-2 |
| 2. x Rochester |
72 |
42 |
22 |
5 |
3 |
92 |
0.639 |
238 |
191 |
788 |
19-13-3-1 |
23-9-2-2 |
4-4-2-0 |
0-1-1-0 |
5-3 |
| 3. x Syracuse |
72 |
37 |
23 |
8 |
4 |
86 |
0.597 |
206 |
178 |
827 |
16-12-4-4 |
21-11-4-0 |
8-2-0-0 |
0-1-0-0 |
4-4 |
| 4. x Toronto |
72 |
37 |
23 |
4 |
8 |
86 |
0.597 |
209 |
197 |
841 |
19-10-2-5 |
18-13-2-3 |
5-2-1-2 |
4-0-0-2 |
4-8 |
| 5. x Cleveland |
72 |
35 |
26 |
5 |
6 |
81 |
0.563 |
206 |
225 |
952 |
16-12-3-5 |
19-14-2-1 |
4-5-0-1 |
0-3-0-0 |
4-6 |
| 6. Belleville |
72 |
34 |
27 |
6 |
5 |
79 |
0.549 |
206 |
223 |
1043 |
18-12-3-3 |
16-15-3-2 |
4-3-2-1 |
0-1-1-0 |
4-5 |
| 7. Utica |
72 |
31 |
33 |
6 |
2 |
70 |
0.486 |
196 |
223 |
892 |
16-14-4-2 |
15-19-2-0 |
6-3-1-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
2-2 |
