CRUNCH EXTEND WINNING STREAK TO FIVE
 
The Syracuse Crunch returned from the AHL All-Star Break to sweep a pair of road games in Week 19. The two wins extended the Crunch's winning streak to a season-high five games. They've won the first three games of a four-game road stretch.
 
Syracuse earned its back-to-back wins over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Crunch won, 5-0, over the Penguins on Saturday and then fended off the Phantoms, 3-1, Sunday afternoon. 
 
The Crunch remain in second place in the North Division with 60 points through 48 games (28-16-3-1). Their five-game winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the AHL (Providence, 12 wins). 
 
TOP PERFORMERS
 
Conor Geekie extended his scoring streak to seven games — tied for the longest of his career — with four assists in two games last week. The center, who also represented the Crunch at the AHL All-Star Classic last week, has 10 points (2g, 8a) during his scoring streak which began Jan. 30.
 
He notched his third career three-assist game Saturday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and added another helper Sunday at Lehigh Valley.
 
The 21-year-old ranks second on the Crunch and is tied for eighth in the AHL with 45 points (13g, 32a) in 42 games. His 32 assists are the fourth-most in the league. 
 
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Dylan Duke extended his team lead with two more goals in Week 19. The second-year-pro tipped home a pair of power-play goals for his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season. He took over the league-lead with 15 power-play goals, moving him within five of the Crunch's single-season franchise record (20, Reggie Savage).
 
Duke leads all AHL players in goals scored since Dec. 12 with 15 tallies. He has 21 points (15g, 6a) in 25 games in that span.
 
FLINTON NOTCHES FIRST TWO-GOAL GAME 
 
Rookie forward Cooper Flinton registered the first two-goal game of his professional career Saturday versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He ended a 20-game goal drought with the icebreaker 8:10 into the first period and scored a third-period goal to make it 5-0.
 
It was the 22-year-old's first two-goal game since he racked up four points (2g, 2a) as a sophomore at Dartmouth in a game against RPI in 2024.
 
HALVY SHUTS THE DOOR 
 
Brandon Halverson earned his fourth shutout of the season Saturday against the Penguins. His 16-save effort puts him second in the league with four shutouts; he has 10 in his AHL career. All 10 shutouts have come since the start of the 2023-24 season, giving him the third-most in the AHL in that span.
 
UPCOMING WEEK     
              
Wednesday, February 18 at Belleville | 6 p.m.
The Crunch play their fourth straight road game tomorrow night against the Belleville Senators at CAA Arena. Syracuse has won five straight games overall, including a pair of wins versus Belleville prior to the All-Star Break.
 
The Crunch are 3-2-0-0 in the season series against the Senators. They are 2-0-0-0 at CAA Arena and have scored 10 goals combined in those two games. The Crunch have netted at least five goals in three of the five previous meetings. 
 
The Senators snapped their three-game losing streak with a matinee win over Hershey yesterday. Belleville is 21-22-8-0 this season and sits four points outside of a playoff position. 
 
Friday, February 20 vs. Charlotte | 7 p.m.
Saturday, February 21 vs. Charlotte | 5 p.m.
The Crunch return home for the first time following the All-Star Break, and they square off with the Charlotte Checkers on back-to-back nights beginning Friday. The Checkers swept a two-game set versus the Crunch in Charlotte in early November.
 
The Checkers are 2-4-0-0 in their last six games, but they thumped the Hartford Wolf Pack, 9-0, in a rescheduled game yesterday. Charlotte is 27-16-3-0 and is in third place in the Atlantic Division with 57 points.
 
The Crunch have earned standings points in their last seven home games (6-0-1-0). Beginning Friday the Crunch play 17 of their final 23 games at home.
 
WEEK 19 RESULTS
 
Saturday, Feb. 14 | Game 47 at W-B/Scranton | W, 5-0
Syracuse            2 1 2 - 5               Shots: 12-6-11-29    PP: 2/6
W-B/Scranton  0 0 0 - 0               Shots: 9-3-4-16        PP: 0/3
1st Period-Flinton 2 (Newpower, Roelens), 8:10. Pietroniro 6 (Pelletier, Geekie), 19:51. 2nd Period-Duke 22 (Pelletier, Geekie), 8:31 (PP). 3rd Period-Chaffee 15 (Geekie, Pelletier), 1:59 (PP). Flinton 3 (Milne, Mercuri), 5:59. Halverson 16-6-3 (16 shots-16 saves) A-5,993
 
Sunday, Feb. 15 | Game 48 at Lehigh Valley | W, 3-1
Syracuse            1 1 1 - 3               Shots: 13-5-13-31    PP: 1/5
Lehigh Valley   0 0 1 - 1               Shots: 2-9-8-19        PP: 0/3
1st Period-Duke 23 (Gauthier, Geekie), 16:08 (PP). 2nd Period-Furry 10 (Szturc, Pietroniro), 10:47. 3rd Period-Chaffee 16 (Pelletier), 18:45. Fanti 9-10-1 (19 shots-18 saves) A-6,327
 

Category	Average/Total	AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play	23.0% (41-for-178)	5th (5th)
Penalty Kill	81.0% (119-for-147)	17th (22nd)
Goals For	3.27 GFA (157)	10th (T-11th)
Goals Against	2.56 GAA (123)	4th (6th)
Shots For	28.13 SF/G (1350)	17th (18th)
Shots Against	24.88 SA/G (1194)	2nd (2nd)
Penalty Minutes	14.06 PIM/G (675)	10th (10th)

Category		Leader
Points	50	Pelletier
Goals	23	Duke
Assists	32	Geekie
PIM	73	Mercuri
Plus/Minus	+19	Pelletier
Wins	16	Halverson
GAA	2.31	Halverson
Save %	.907	Halverson

North Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	PIM	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STREAK	S/O
1. Laval	50	31	14	2	3	67	0.670	164	131	809	17-5-1-2	14-9-1-1	8-1-0-1	7-0-0-1	2-3
2. Syracuse	48	28	16	3	1	60	0.625	157	123	675	14-4-1-0	14-12-2-1	7-2-1-0	5-0-0-0	1-1
3. Cleveland	47	25	15	6	1	57	0.606	139	142	595	11-6-4-1	14-9-2-0	8-1-1-0	2-0-0-0	2-1
4. Toronto	47	24	16	4	3	55	0.585	148	154	676	12-6-1-2	12-10-3-1	5-1-3-1	1-0-0-0	3-3
5. Rochester	47	24	17	4	2	54	0.574	151	138	514	10-10-2-1	14-7-2-1	5-4-0-1	0-1-0-0	0-2
6. Belleville	51	21	22	8	0	50	0.490	165	185	695	10-13-3-0	11-9-5-0	4-4-2-0	1-0-0-0	3-0
7. Utica	45	14	23	5	3	36	0.400	111	149	563	9-11-2-2	5-12-3-1	3-5-1-1	1-0-0-0	2-3