SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Brandon Halverson and the Syracuse Crunch shut out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 5-0, tonight at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
 
Halverson turned aside all 16 shots he faced to earn his fourth shutout of the season. Cooper Flinton led the Crunch in scoring with two goals while Conor Geekie and Jakob Pelletier each recorded three assists. Seven additional Syracuse skaters added a tally on the night.
 
Sergei Murashov put a stop to 24-of-29 shots in net for the Penguins. The Syracuse power play converted on 2-of-6 man-advantages while holding Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scoreless on three power-play opportunities. 
 
The Crunch improve to 27-16-3-1 on the season and 2-1-0-0 in the four-game seasons series with the Penguins.
 
Syracuse was on the board 8:10 into the opening frame. Milo Roelens battled for the puck behind the net and sent it back to Wyatt Newpower at the right point. Newpower shot it into the slot where Cooper Flinton picked it up, spun around and rimmed it off the right pipe and in. The Crunch then doubled their lead with eight seconds remaining in the period. Jakob Pelletier dished a pass from the right boards across the ice to Matteo Pietroniro as he entered the zone. Pietroniro tried to stuff the puck in from the left goal line, but Murashov made the initial save. Pietroniro picked up his own rebound and banked it in off Murashov to make the score 2-0. 
 
The Crunch added another tally midway through the middle frame to take a 3-0 lead while on the power play. Pelletier shot the puck from the top of the right circle and Dylan Duke deflected it in from in front of the net. 
 
Mitchell Chaffee added Syracuse's second power-play goal of the night just two minutes into the final period. Mursahov made the save on a Conor Geekie one-timer but lost the puck as Geekie picked it up and skated it behind the net. Geekie then set up Chaffee to slip the puck in and make it a four-goal game. Flinton potted his second goal of the game four minutes later to put the Crunch up 5-0. Michael Milne fed the puck from the right goal line for Flinton to snap home from the right circle. 
 
Next up, the Crunch head to Allentown to face off against the Phantoms tomorrow afternoon.   
 
Ticket packages for the 2025-26 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: Cooper Flinton recorded his first career two-goal game…Mitchell Chaffee has goals in three straight games and a five-game points streak (5g, 2a)…Michael Milne notched his first point with the Crunch tonight…Jakob Pelletier has seven points in the last three games (1g, 6a)…Conor Geekie has a six-game points streak (2g, 7a).