CRUNCH FIND SUCCESS IN WEEK 4 

The Syracuse Crunch finished a grueling stretch of five games in eight days with a 3-1-1-0 record. They posted a 1-1-1-0 mark in Week 4, but they got steadily better as the week progressed.

After dropping a road contest in Laval, 5-1, on Wednesday, the Crunch rallied from a 2-0 deficit to earn a point in an overtime loss to the Rochester Americans on Friday. The team then traveled to face the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday, and they rolled to a 7-2 win.

After the busy stretch over eight days, the Crunch play just once in Week 5. They host the Hamilton Hammers for the first time on Friday.

 
TOP PERFORMERS
 
Forward Jakob Pelletier broke through on Saturday for his second career hat trick to power the Crunch to their 7-2 win in Lehigh Valley. Pelletier completed the hat trick in a span of 18 minutes and 21 seconds during the team's four-goal second period. The first of his three tallies proved to be the game-winning goal.
 
Pelletier, 25, now has seven points (4g, 3a) in nine games this season. It was his first multi-point game of the season after he posted 23 such contests last season en route to winning the AHL's scoring title. The hat trick was his first since March 9, 2022, vs. San Diego. He is the first Crunch player with a hat trick since Dylan Duke on Nov. 11, 2025, at Utica.
 
•••
 
Nick Abruzzese had the primary assist on all three Jakob Pelletier goals on Saturday. It tied his career high for assists and points in a game. It was his third career three-assist game and eighth career three-point game.
 
Abruzzese, 27, paces the Crunch with eight points and is tied for the team lead with five assists. The Slate Hill, New York native finished last season — his first with the Crunch — with 51 points (15g, 36a) in 56 games.
 
NOT BACKING DOWN
 
The Crunch finished last week with a pair of rough and tumble games. Friday's contest against Rochester featured three fights in the first period, and the clubs combined with 64 penalty minutes. That paled in comparison to Saturday's contest in Lehigh Valley, where the Crunch racked up 52 penalty minutes and the Phantoms finished with 97. The 149 combined penalty minutes are the most in a game in the AHL this season.
 
The Crunch rank second in the AHL by averaging 24.56 penalty minutes per game. Opponents are averaging 27.11 penalty minutes in games played against the Crunch.
 
TEAM NOTES
 
•Elliot Desnoyers earned one goal and one assist in his return to Lehigh Valley on Saturday. Desnoyers spent three seasons with the Phantoms from 2022 to 2025, totaling 187 games.
 
•Dyllan Gill bested his brother, Spencer, in their first ever head-to-head contest at the pro level on Saturday. Dyllan finished with one assist, and he has two assists in three games this season.
 
•Gabriel Szturc logged his third career two-goal game Saturday. He has one in each of his three pro seasons.
 
UPCOMING WEEK    
               
Friday, October 30 vs. Hamilton | 7 p.m.
The Crunch play their lone game of the week on Friday against the Hamilton Hammers. It's the Hammers first trip to Upstate Medical University Arena. The Crunch bested the Hammers, 4-3, in Hamilton on Oct. 18. The teams will meet six times in total in 2026-27.
 
The Hammers are off to a 2-6-0-1 start in their inaugural season. They snapped a seven-game winless spell with a win in Laval on Saturday. Hamilton will take another crack at earning its first home win (0-3-0-1) on Thursday before traveling to Syracuse on Friday.
 
It is the Crunch's Halloween Spooktacular and fans are encouraged to wear costumes to the game. Kids will have the opportunity to trick-or-treat on the ice with Crunch players following the game.
 
WEEK 4 RESULTS
 
Wednesday, Oct. 21 | Game 7 at Laval | L, 5-1
Syracuse        1 0 0 - 1     Shots: 3-4-8-15              PP: 0/1
Laval              0 2 3 - 5     Shots: 9-16-12-37         PP: 1/2
1st Period-O'Reilly 2 (Furry, Gill), 19:25. Sogaard 2-2-0 (36 shots-32 saves), A-8,123
 
Friday, Oct. 23 | Game 8 vs. Rochester | OTL, 3-2
Rochester 2 0 0 1 - 3     Shots: 9-5-9-2-25          PP: 1/3
Syracuse    0 1 1 0 - 2     Shots: 6-4-14-0-24        PP: 0/3
2nd Period-Furry 2 (Mercuri, Duke), 7:15. 3rd Period-Gauthier 1 (Mercuri, Duke), 18:54. Sogaard 2-2-1 (25 shots-22 saves) A-4,833
 
Saturday, Oct. 24 | Game 9 at Lehigh Valley | W, 7-2
Syracuse            2 4 1 - 7 Shots: 9-14-5-28           PP: 2/8
Lehigh Valley   1 0 1 - 2 Shots: 8-8-7-23              PP: 0/2
1st Period-Harkins 2 (Callahan, Allard), 6:51. Desnoyers 1 (Gauthier, Mercuri), 18:41. 2nd Period-Pelletier 2 (Abruzzese, Lundmark), 1:27. Szturc 1 (Desnoyers, Gauthier), 3:25 (PP). Pelletier 3 (Abruzzese, O'Reilly), 17:26. Pelletier 4 (Abruzzese, Gill), 19:48. 3rd Period-Szturc 2 (Callahan, Rodrigue), 18:45 (PP). Rodrigue 2-2-0 (23 shots-21 saves) A-5,328
 

Category	Average/Total	AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play	18.4% (7-for-38)	14th (25th)
Penalty Kill	74.4% (29-for-39)	25th (T-25th)
Goals For	2.67 GFA (24)	21st (26th)
Goals Against	3.44 GAA (31)	23rd (T-22nd)
Shots For	25.00 SF/G (225)	T-26th (25th)
Shots Against	27.78 SA/G (250)	15th (10th)
Penalty Minutes	24.56 PIM/G (221)	2nd (4th)

 

Category		Leader
Points	8	Abruzzese
Goals	4	Pelletier
Assists	5	Abruzzese|Duke|Mercuri
PIM	41	Mercuri
Plus/Minus	+4	Gill
Wins	2	Rodrigue|Sogaard
GAA	2.45	Sogaard
Save %	.908	Sogaard

 

North Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	PIM	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STREAK	S/O
1. Laval	9	7	2	0	0	14	0.778	35	16	173	3-2-0-0	4-0-0-0	7-2-0-0	0-1-0-0	0-0
2. Toronto	9	5	3	1	0	11	0.611	29	27	146	2-2-1-0	3-1-0-0	5-3-1-0	0-1-1-0	1-0
3. Belleville	10	4	4	2	0	10	0.500	31	35	124	1-2-2-0	3-2-0-0	4-4-2-0	0-2-0-0	1-0
4. Cleveland	8	5	3	0	0	10	0.625	29	30	142	2-2-0-0	3-1-0-0	5-3-0-0	0-1-0-0	1-0
5. Syracuse	9	4	4	1	0	9	0.500	24	31	221	1-1-1-0	3-3-0-0	4-4-1-0	1-0-1-0	0-0
6. Rochester	8	4	3	0	1	9	0.563	25	19	132	2-1-0-0	2-2-0-1	4-3-0-1	1-0-0-0	0-1
7. Utica	6	4	2	0	0	8	0.667	15	16	70	1-1-0-0	3-1-0-0	4-2-0-0	0-1-0-0	0-0
8. Hamilton	9	2	6	0	1	5	0.278	23	34	124	0-3-0-1	2-3-0-0	2-6-0-1	1-0-0-0	0-1