It’s a new day in Syracuse as they start the season with a roster filled with new faces. The new and the old started the season with a couple of wins as they went down to Hershey, Pennsylvania to get the year going on the right foot.
The goal is to have these up every Tuesday, but we’ll see how things go.
Game One
Syracuse Crunch 5 – Hershey Bears – 2
The Lines:
Dylan Duke – Wojciech Stachowiak – Jakob Pelletier
Brendan Furry – Lucas Mercuri – Cooper Flinton
Boris Katchouk – Dominic James – Nick Abruzzese
Tristan Allard – Gabriel Stzurc – Scott Sabourin
Max Groshev – Steven Santini
Charle-Edouard D’Astous – Roman Schmidt
Declan Carlile – Simon Lundmark
Brendan Halverson
Ryan Fanti
After giving up the first two goals the Crunch rolled off five in a row to open their season with a victory. Not bad for a line-up that featured nine new players (well eight if you don’t consider Boris Katchouk as a “new” Crunch). Jakob Pelletier was everything Syracuse could hope for as he scored twice and added an assist.
Dominic James marked his professional debut with a goal and an assist, while Charle-Edouard D’Astous posted a goal and two assists. Meanwhile, Brandon Halverson stopped 14 of 16 shots. Special teams was a big factor as the Crunch went 3-for-7 on the power play while killing off all four of their own infractions.
Game Two
Syracuse Crunch 3, Hershey Bears 2 (Overtime)
The Lines
Dylan Duke – Wojciech Stachowiak – Jakob Pelletier
Brendan Furry – Lucas Mercuri – Ethan Gauthier
Boris Katchouk – Dominic James – Nick Abruzzese
Tristan Allard – Gabriel Stzurc – Scott Sabourin
Charle-Edouard D’Astous – Steven Santini
Max Groshev – Roman Schmidt
Declan Carlile – Simon Lundmark
Ryan Fanti
Brendan Halverson
Ryan Fanti hasn’t had a lot of AHL experience, but when he’s played he’s been fantastic.He stopped 26 of 28 to pick up his first win of the season and improved his Syracuse career numbers to 4-1-0, .940 SV%, and 1.53 GAA. Dominic James continued the strong start to his career with the overtime game-winner. That’s that’s two in a row.
Top Players of the Week
- Jakob Pelletier – 2 Games, 2 Goals, 2 Assists
- Dominic James – 2 Games, 2 Goals, 1 Assis
- 3. Ryan Fanti – 26 saves, 1.96 GAA, .929 SV%
Week Ahead
Saturday October 18 – Rochester Americans at Syracuse Crunch, 7:00 PM EST
Sunday October 19 – Syracuse Crunch at Belleville Senators, 3:00 PM EST
Transactions
With the Orlando Solar Bears getting ready to gear up for the season, the Crunch sent some reinforcements. Harrison Meneghin, Milo Roelens, and Connor Kurth will start the season in the ECHL. Roelens might be the biggest surprise on the list as he spent 35 games with the Crunch last season. Meneghin will get a chance to play regularly in Orlando, but based on the way things go in the AHL, he’ll likely see a few call-ups as the season goes on.
After a few seasons of having minimal players with direct ties to the Lightning playing in with the Solar Bears, there will be four to start the year. Along with the trio that were sent down today, Dyllan Gill was loaned down south last week. It’s a sign that the Bolts have a lot of players in the system that need playing time.
