CRUNCH MOVE CLOSER TO FIRST PLACE
 
The Syracuse Crunch earned three of six possible points during a three-in-three weekend in Week 25. Syracuse went 1-1-0-1 over the three games and 4-1-0-1 during their back-to-back three-in-three stretches.
 
The Crunch lost the opener to the Hershey Bears, 4-3, Friday in Syracuse. They fell behind, 3-0, and their rally came up just short. The Crunch rebounded with a 5-3 win over the Rochester Americans on Saturday. The Amerks then pulled out a shootout win over the Crunch on Sunday in Rochester.
 
The Crunch have 84 points (39-20-3-3) and trail the Laval Rocket by one point for first place in the North Division.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
 
Matthew Peca tied for the team lead with four points (1g, 3a) in three games over the weekend. The veteran posted back-to-back multi-point games to begin the weekend. He scored one goal and added an assist Friday then nabbed two assists on Saturday. He recorded his 400th career AHL point in Saturday's contest.
 
Peca, 32, has nine points (2g, 7a) in eight games since joining the Crunch in a trade on March 10. He has 43 points (10g, 33a) in 57 games combined between Syracuse and Springfield this season. The former Thunderbirds captain will make his return to Springfield this Saturday.
 
***
 
Jakob Pelletier collected four more points in Week 25 to tie for the Crunch lead in scoring. The winger carries a seven-point lead in the AHL scoring race with 73 points (27g, 46a) in 59 games. He is looking to become just the second Crunch player to lead the AHL in scoring; the last to do so was Carter Verhaeghe in 2018-19.
 
Pelletier extended his scoring streak to 16 games, which is tied for the longest streak in the league this season. He has 23 points (7g, 16a) during the streak, which began on Feb. 20. He is two games away from tying Mark Hartigan's franchise-record 18-game point streak from the 2005-06 season.
 
STEEN INKS TRYOUT WITH CRUNCH
 
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Noah Steen to a two-year, entry-level contract. He has also signed a tryout with the Crunch for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. 
 
Steen, 21, just finished his second season in the SHL with Orebro HK, where he collected 22 points (12g, 10a) in 52 games.
 
The Norwegian was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning 199th overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
 
UPCOMING WEEK 
                  
Friday, April 3 vs. Providence | 7 p.m.
The Crunch begin April with a showdown against the AHL-leading Providence Bruins Friday at Upstate Medical University Arena. It's the second of two meetings between the clubs this season; Providence scored a tight 3-1 win over Syracuse on Dec. 20.
 
The Bruins have exploded to the top of the AHL standings with a 49-14-1-0 record and 99 points. They are one win away from recording their fourth 50-win season in franchise history, and their 0.773 points percentage is on pace to set a new team record. 
 
Goaltender Michael DiPietro is the backbone of the best defensive team in the Eastern Conference. He is 31-7-0/1.95/.930 and leads the league in wins, goals-against average and save percentage. 
 
Saturday, March 28 at Springfield | 6:05 p.m.
The Crunch carry their eight-game road point streak (7-0-0-1) into Springfield to face off against the Thunderbirds Saturday night. It marks the Crunch's penultimate road contest in the regular season. They need to win their final two road games to reach 20 road wins for a third straight campaign.
 
The Thunderbirds have won two straight games to move into a playoff position with 62 points. They are tied with Lehigh Valley and trail Bridgeport by two points, despite holding a 27-29-6-2 record on the season.
 
WEEK 25 RESULTS
 
Friday, March 27 | Game 63 vs. Hershey | L, 4-3
Hershey     0 3 1 - 4         Shots: 6-14-4-24           PP: 0/1
Syracuse    0 2 1 - 3         Shots: 11-9-15-35         PP: 1/6
2nd Period-Duke 31 (Peca, Pelletier), 15:02 (PP). Geekie 17 (Pelletier, Miller), 16:03. 3rd Period-Peca 10 (Pietroniro), 15:57. Halverson 23-8-4 (24 shots-20 saves) A-5,047
 
Saturday, March 28 | Game 64 vs. Rochester | W, 5-3
Rochester     3 0 0 - 3     Shots: 14-8-11-33         PP: 2/4
Syracuse        2 0 3 - 5     Shots: 17-6-9-32           PP: 2/3
1st Period-Pelletier 27 (Chaffee, Geekie), 0:39 (PP). Gauthier 11 (Groshev, Peca), 2:25. 3rd Period-Chaffee 24 (Mitchell, Peca), 6:48 (PP). Flinton 4 (Duke, Szturc), 12:40. Pietroniro 8 (Unassisted), 19:59 (EN). Fanti 13-12-1 (33 shots-30 saves) A-5,880
 
Sunday, March 29 | Game 65 at Rochester | SOL, 3-2
Syracuse    0 1 1 0 0 - 2  Shots: 8-10-9-3-0-29    PP: 0/7
Rochester 1 0 1 0 1 - 3  Shots: 9-6-8-3-1-27      PP: 1/4
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 23-8-5 (26 shots-24 saves) A-7,463
 

Category	Average/Total	AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play	22.4% (53-for-237)	5th (5th)
Penalty Kill	82.4% (168-for-204)	T-12th (10th)
Goals For	3.32 GFA (216)	8th (8th)
Goals Against	2.57 GAA (167)	3rd (T-3rd)
Shots For	28.03 SF/G (1822)	T-16th (18th)
Shots Against	25.38 SA/G (1650)	1st (1st)
Penalty Minutes	14.31 PIM/G (930)	8th (9th)

 

Category		Leader
Points	73	Pelletier
Goals	31	Duke
Assists	46	Pelletier
PIM	126	Mercuri
Plus/Minus	+32	Mitchell
Wins	23	Halverson
GAA	2.32	Halverson
Save %	.908	Halverson

 

North Division	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	PIM	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STREAK	S/O
1. x Laval	66	39	20	2	5	85	0.644	211	175	1055	21-7-1-3	18-13-1-2	5-3-0-2	0-1-0-2	5-3
2. x Syracuse	65	39	20	3	3	84	0.646	216	167	930	21-8-1-1	18-12-2-2	5-3-0-2	1-0-0-1	1-3
3. Toronto	64	32	22	5	5	74	0.578	206	200	847	18-8-1-3	14-14-4-2	5-4-1-0	0-1-0-0	3-5
4. Cleveland	65	33	25	6	1	73	0.562	190	202	796	16-11-4-1	17-14-2-0	3-7-0-0	0-5-0-0	3-1
5. Rochester	62	28	25	5	4	65	0.524	191	195	719	14-13-3-2	14-12-2-2	4-5-0-1	1-0-0-0	1-4
6. Utica	64	25	30	5	4	59	0.461	172	202	765	14-13-2-3	11-17-3-1	5-5-0-0	3-0-0-0	3-4
7. Belleville	65	25	31	8	1	59	0.454	203	234	921	12-18-3-1	13-13-5-0	4-5-0-1	0-1-0-0	3-1