Crunch Prep for North Division Semifinals
 
The Syracuse Crunch ended their 32nd regular season with a home-and-home split against the Belleville Senators in Week 28. That resulted in a second place finish in the North Division, giving the Crunch a bye to the North Division Semifinals.
 
The Crunch lost to the Senators on Friday in Belleville. The 6-4 setback locked the Crunch into a second place finish in the division. They picked up a 4-0 win in the rematch in Syracuse on Saturday to finish the campaign with 89 points (41-24-3-4), the most they've accumulated in a 72-game season.
 
Syracuse will face off against the Cleveland Monsters in a best-of-five North Division Semifinals. It's the second playoff series between the clubs in the last three seasons.
 
Pelletier Wins Scoring Title
 
Crunch forward Jakob Pelletier earned the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL's top scorer. Pelletier finished his first season as a member of the Crunch with 77 points (28g, 49a) in 63 games to become only the second Crunch player to win the scoring title (Carter Verhaeghe, 2018-19).
 
Pelletier finished the season on a 20-game scoring streak, which began on Feb. 20 and is the longest streak in the AHL in over 17 years. He logged a point in 29 of his 31 home games played and had home point streaks of 13 games and 16 games.
 
Pelletier, along with forward Mitchell Chaffee and captain Steven Santini finished the season on recall with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but all three have returned to the Crunch.
 
Team Notes 
 
The Crunch finished the regular season with the fifth-best power play in the AHL. Their 22.5% success rate was the best in team history, passing the 22.3% mark from 1994-95. Syracuse also set a new high-water mark at home with a 25.8% clip on the man advantage. Their 59 power-play goals were the most they've scored since 2018-19 (65).
 
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The Crunch returned to form at Upstate Medical University Arena and secured their highest home win total since the league shifted to a 72-game (36 home game) schedule. The Crunch went 23-11-1-1 on home ice for a 0.667 points percentage, which ranked seventh in the league. Their plus-39 goal differential at home was the second best mark in the league.
 
Crunch face Monsters in Division Semifinals
 
Game 1: Friday, April 24 at Cleveland | 7 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, April 26 at Cleveland | 4 p.m.
Game 3: Friday, May 1 vs. Cleveland | 7 p.m.
*Game 4: Sunday, May 3 vs. Cleveland | 3 p.m.
*Game 5: Saturday, May 9 vs. Cleveland | 5 p.m.
 
The Crunch clash with the Cleveland Monsters in the North Division Semifinals. The Crunch have home ice advantage in the series, but they begin with two games at Rocket Arena beginning Friday. The series shifts to Syracuse for the final three games, if necessary, with one guaranteed contest on May 1.
 
The home team won all four games of the season series. Cleveland won a pair, including one in overtime, at Rocket Arena in early December. The Crunch grabbed both wins at Upstate Medical University Arena last month.
 
Jakob Pelletier topped Crunch scorers with four goals and five points in the series. Luca Pinelli matched that with five points (2g, 3a) for the Monsters.
 
The teams have met twice previously in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Monsters have won both head-to-head matchups — the 2019 North Division Semifinals (3-1) and the 2024 North Division Finals (3-0).
 
Upcoming Week          
         
Friday, April 24 at Cleveland | 7 p.m.
Sunday, April 26 at Cleveland | 4 p.m.
The Crunch begin their postseason journey with Game 1 and Game 2 against the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Arena on Friday and Sunday. Game 1 marks the start of the Crunch's 20th postseason appearance in franchise history; it's their eighth straight playoff appearance. Syracuse has lost its last three Game 1s, dating to the 2024 North Division Semifinals, and they are 15-16 all-time in Game 1.
 
Since 2021-22 the Crunch are 3-3-4-2 in their last 12 regular season games at Rocket Arena. They lost their two playoff games in Cleveland in 2024.
 
WEEK 28 RESULTS
 
Friday, April 17 | Game 71 at Belleville | L, 6-4
Syracuse        0 0 4 - 4     Shots: 11-7-10-28         PP: 0/2
Belleville       0 1 5 - 6     Shots: 10-11-11-32       PP: 0/5
3rd Period-Samson 4 (Kersten, Szturc), 8:38. Szturc 8 (Miller), 12:47. Samson 5 (Newkirk, Meneghin), 13:06. Szturc 9 (Pietroniro, Gauthier), 17:03. Halverson ND (27 shots-24 saves), Meneghin 0-1-0 (4 shots-2 saves) A-3,839
 
Saturday, April 18 | Game 72 vs. Belleville | W, 4-0
Belleville   0 0 0 - 0         Shots: 9-5-7-21              PP: 0/3
Syracuse    1 1 2 - 4         Shots: 16-9-8-33           PP: 3/8
1st Period-Kersten 2 (Gauthier, Duke), 3:00 (PP). Flinton 5 (Samson, Allard), 15:28 (PP). 2nd Period-Kersten 3 (Mitchell, Gauthier), 2:37 (PP). 3rd Period-Grondin 1 (Lundmark), 6:14.  Gillies 3-0-0 (21 shots-21 saves) A-6,020