CRUNCH REBOUND TO SWEEP WEEKEND
 
The Syracuse Crunch won all three legs of a three-in-three weekend, and clinched an eighth consecutive playoff berth, in Week 24. It was the Crunch's first three-in-three sweep since April 2022.
 
Syracuse opened the weekend on the road Friday at Rochester. The Crunch scored five consecutive goals en route to a 5-3 win over the Amerks that helped punch the Crunch's ticket to the playoffs. The Crunch returned home to Upstate Medical University Arena to sweep a two-game series against the Cleveland Monsters. They won, 6-2, on Saturday and 6-3 on Sunday.
 
The Crunch have 81 points (38-19-3-2) and trail the Laval Rocket by two points for first place in the North Division.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
 
Dylan Duke notched a pair of multi-point games — one on Friday and one on Sunday — to finish with four points over the weekend. He tallied his 30th goal of the season in Sunday's win over the Monsters. It's the 21st 30-goal season in Crunch history and the first since 2021-22 (Gabriel Dumont and Charles Hudon). 
 
He is the second player in the AHL this season to reach 30 goals. The second-year-pro is tied for 13th in league scoring with 53 points in 62 games.
 
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Jacob Pelletier tied for the team lead with five points (3g, 2a) in Week 24. He extended his scoring streak to 13 games, which is tied for the second-longest streak in the AHL this season. With 19 points (6g, 13a) in the streak, Pelletier now leads the AHL with 69 points (26g, 43a).
 
Pelletier tallied his fourth shorthanded goal of the season on Sunday. He is tied for the league lead and is tied for the fourth-most in a single season in Crunch history.
 
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Ian Mitchell, Mitchell Chaffee and Matthew Peca were the only other players to log points in all three games last week. Mitchell finished with three assists and a plus-5 rating. Chaffee topped the club with three goals and five points. Peca scored his first Crunch goal since the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs.
 
PLAYOFF BOUND
 
The Crunch clinched their eighth consecutive Calder Cup Playoffs berth last week. The streak began in the 2016-17 season and is the second-longest active streak in the AHL behind the Providence Bruins.  
 
Prior to this run, the longest playoff streak in team history was three seasons (1995-98 and 1999-02).
 
UPCOMING WEEK   
                
Friday, March 27 vs. Hershey | 7 p.m.
The Crunch begin their second straight three-in-three weekend with a home match against the Hershey Bears on Friday. The road team has won all three games in the series; Syracuse won the first two games of the season in Hershey and the Bears responded with a win in Syracuse on Nov. 14.
 
The Bears are winless in their last four games (0-3-0-1) but still sit in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 63 points. They have a five point cushion for the final playoff position in the division.
 
Two rookies — Ilya Protas and Andrew Cristall — top the Bears in scoring with 53 and 50 points respectively.
 
Saturday, March 28 vs. Rochester | 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 29 at Rochester | 3:05 p.m.
The Crunch and Rochester Americans play a home-and-home set as both teams finish three-game weekends. The Crunch have won the last three games against the Amerks, and they have five wins through the first nine games of the season series.
 
Rochester earned a much needed win Sunday versus Hartford to grab a four-point lead for the final North Division playoff position. They have 61 points (26-24-5-4) in 59 games played. This is the only home-and-home between the clubs this season; they had three such instances last season.
 
WEEK 24 RESULTS
 
Friday, March 20 | Game 60 at Rochester | W, 5-3
Syracuse    0 3 2 - 5         Shots: 9-8-4-21              PP: 2/3
Rochester 1 0 2 - 3         Shots: 10-13-9-32         PP: 1/3
2nd Period-Geekie 15 (Pelletier, Peca), 5:11 (PP). Chaffee 21 (Duke, Pelletier), 7:50 (PP). Abruzzese 10 (Gauthier, Mitchell), 11:47. 3rd Period-Geekie 16 (Allard, Groshev), 4:08. Abruzzese 11 (Duke, Peca), 5:03. Halverson 22-7-4 (32 shots-29 saves) A-6,774
 
Saturday, March 21 | Game 61 vs. Cleveland | W, 6-2
Cleveland      0 1 1 - 2     Shots: 10-11-8-29         PP: 0/9
Syracuse        1 2 3 - 6     Shots: 11-9-5-25           PP: 1/3
1st Period-Pelletier 24 (Geekie, Pietroniro), 0:49. 2nd Period-Chaffee 22 (Unassisted), 10:37 (SH, PS). Lundmark 1 (Peca, Pietroniro), 17:41. 3rd Period-Allard 7 (Mercuri, Newkirk), 0:18. Chaffee 23 (Geekie), 17:48 (EN). Szturc 5 (Mercuri, Mitchell), 19:54 (PP). Fanti 12-12-1 (29 shots-27 saves) A-5,551
 
Sunday, March 22 | Game 62 vs. Cleveland | W, 6-3
Cleveland      0 0 3 - 3     Shots: 5-9-15-29           PP: 1/4
Syracuse        0 4 2 - 6     Shots: 5-7-7-19              PP: 0/4
2nd Period-Peca 9 (Abruzzese, Duke), 0:29. Szturc 6 (Gauthier), 2:04. Duke 30 (Abruzzese, Mitchell), 2:54. Pelletier 25 (Chaffee), 19:26 (SH). 3rd Period-Gauthier 10 (Szturc, Newkirk), 2:17. Pelletier 26 (Chaffee, Pietroniro), 19:10 (EN). Halverson 23-7-4 (29 shots-26 saves) A-4,630