By Michael Wax
The Crunch put together a big week after their first three-game losing streak. After a 4-1 loss against the WBS Penguins on Wednesday, Dec. 13, the Crunch shut out the Utica Comets 2-0 on Dec. 16 and won 4-1 against Providence on Dec. 17.
Syracuse sits at 15-8-0-2, one point behind the Cleveland Monsters for first in the North Division.
Before we get into what we saw this week, here is some admin:
F Cole Koepke was reassigned to the Crunch on Monday. Koepke's second stint in the NHL was much better, recording two assists and putting together solid two-way plays.
F Mitchell Chaffee and D Philippe Myers were recalled by the Lightning on Monday and reassigned on Thursday. While Myers didn't play, Chaffee suited up for Tuesday's loss against Vancouver. Chaffee played 6:56 and was a -1 with a block and two hits.
D Sean Day was recalled by the Lightning on Thursday.
F Bennett MacArthur was assigned to the ECHL's Allen Americans on Saturday.
F/D Daniel Walcott hit 400 Crunch games on Wednesday.
Here are three things we noticed over this week's games from the Crunch:
Cap Work
Forward Gabriel Dumont, the Crunch's captain, has put together yet another solid year for one of the AHL‘s best teams. Since returning to Syracuse, Dumont put up 30 goals in 2021-22, was on pace for over 25 last year, and has seven goals and 17 points in 25 games. Dumont punctuated his solid week with a multi-goal performance against the Bruins on Sunday.
His first goal came off a give-and-go passing play with F Waltteri Merelä, sending the return pass into the back of the net from the top of the right circle and past Bruins goaltender Brandon Bussi.
Dumont's second goal, which sealed one of the biggest ones of the season for the Crunch, came on an empty net.
It may surprise some, but Dumont has quietly been part of the Lightning/Crunch for six years. Again, the Lightning will need to sign him to a two-way deal if they want to bring him up during the regular season. Still, his leadership this year has been a decisive turning point for a team searching for its identity after last year’s postseason collapse.
Shut 'Em Out
While Matt Tomkins saw an up-and-down week in net, Hugo Alnefelt put together a big performance that hopefully served as a confidence booster against the Comets.
This game didn’t see many scoring chances for either side, as the two teams combined for just 40 shots on net. However, Alnefelt was steadfast in net and stopped all 18 Utica shots he saw for his fifth victory.
It’s been a tough season to gauge for the 22-year-old in his third season in the AHL. He started very promisingly but then fell into an extremely tough rut. These past few games have shown glimpses of what we saw at the beginning of the season, and hopefully, it’s something that he can build off of continuing into the new year.
Man Down
Sometimes, your special teams are the difference makers. In a week where the Crunch went 2-1-0-0, the penalty kill certainly came into play. Overall, the PK went a ridiculous 15/16, their only goal given up being the game-opening goal against the Bruins. In that game, the penalty kill saw seven opportunities and only allowed that one goal.
If we’re being honest, it’s not a great look that the Crunch are continuing to take this many penalties this season. After all, their 384 penalty minutes rank in the league's top third. But if their penalty continues to do its job and can sprinkle in a shorthanded goal occasionally, as they did a few weeks ago, opponents will always have to be aware of the dangerous crunch penalty kill.
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