SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Jakob Pelletier recorded his second consecutive hat trick as the Syracuse Crunch shut out the Hamilton Hammers, 7-0, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
In addition to his three goals, Pelletier also earned an assist for a four-point performance. Dyllan Gill tallied three points with a goal and two assists, while Nick Abruzzese recorded three helpers. Nine Crunch players earned at least one point with Max Groshev (1g, 1a) and Brendan Furry (2a) posting two-point efforts. The Crunch have now outscored their opponents 14-2 in their last two games as they advance to 5-4-1-0 on the season.
 
Goaltender Mads Sogaard earned the shutout stopping all 21 shots he faced. Vítek Vaněček turned aside 13-of-19 shots before being relieved by Josh Kotai to start the third period. Kotai went on to stop 13-of-14. The Syracuse power play converted on 2-of-6 opportunities with the penalty kill going a perfect 5-for-5.

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The Crunch opened scoring on their first shot of the game just 2:12 in. Groshev blocked a shot at the blue line, sped down the ice to chase down the puck and fired in a wrister from the bottom of the right circle. Four minutes later, Syracuse doubled their lead off a quick passing play. Gill sent a cross-crease feed for Abruzzese streaking down the left wing. He redirected the puck back across the slot for Pelletier to jam in at the post. The team made it a 3-0 lead with 2:22 remaining in the opening frame. Gill's point shot ricocheted off the cross bar and down for Noah Steen to chip in to an open net.
 
Pelletier scored his second of the game off a shorthanded breakaway five minutes into the second period. He picked up the puck up in the neutral zone and beat Vaněček five-hole. At 8:17, the Crunch built up a 5-0 lead. Gill fired a slap shot from the top of the right circle that snuck through Vaněček and across the goal line. Syracuse made it another three-goal period with a power-play goal at 14:54 when Harkins scored through traffic from the high slot.
 
Pelletier completed the hat trick halfway through the third period. Abruzzese centered the puck for the Pelletier to redirect in on the back door while on the man-advantage. Syracuse maintained their dominance through the rest of the frame and took the blow out win.
 
Syracuse is back in action next Friday when they travel to Utica to face the Comets.
 
Single game tickets and ticket packages for the 2026-27 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), X (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch).
 
Crunchables: Jakob Pelletier's back-to-back shutouts are the first for the Crunch since Alexandre Picard March 20 and March 21, 2009…Nick Abruzzese has back-to-back three assist games…Dyllan Gill recorded his first career three point game.