Three wins in Week 21 moves the Crunch up the AHL standings

Last Week
Wed., Feb. 21 - Crunch at Rochester - W, 2-1
Fri., Feb. 23 - Crunch vs. Lehigh Valley - W, 2-1
Sat., Feb. 24 - Crunch vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - W, 3-1
This Week
Wed., Feb. 28 - Crunch at Toronto - 11 a.m.
Fri., March 2 - Crunch vs. Binghamton - 7 p.m.
Sat., March 3 - Crunch vs. Laval - 7 p.m.

Crunch charge into second with three wins in week 21
Syracuse swept three games against current playoff teams and allowed a total of three goals in Week 21. The Crunch improved to 33-18-2-3 to climb to second place in the North Division for the first time this season. They're within eight points of Toronto and lead Rochester and Utica by three points.
Syracuse beat Rochester, 2-1, at KeyBank Center in Buffalo to open the week, getting two goals in 10 seconds to open the second period. The Crunch then knocked off the top two teams in the Atlantic Division-Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton-2-1 and 3-1 respectively.
The Crunch look to build on their four-game winning streak with games against Toronto, Binghamton and Laval in Week 22.
Top Performers
Michael Bournival powered the Crunch with three points (2g, 1a) in three games in Week 21. He scored the only two Crunch goals in a 2-1 win over Lehigh Valley Friday for his second multi-goal game of the season. The next night, Bournival collected an assist for his 100th career AHL point (40g, 60a).
The assist established a new career-high 31 points (15g, 16a) in 49 games. His previous high was 30 points set as a rookie with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2012-13. Bournival is tied for fifth on the team in scoring.
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Gabriel Dumont returned to the Tampa Bay Lightning organization and was loaned to the Crunch prior to their Wednesday matchup against Rochester. The 27-year-old picked up his first points with the Crunch this season with a goal and an assist Saturday against the Penguins. He tied the game with a shorthanded goal in the second period and assisted on Anthony Cirelli's power-play goal in the third.
Dumont began the season with the Lightning, appearing in seven games, but was claimed off waivers by the Ottawa Senators in November. He skated in 23 games with the Senators before missing three weeks with an injury. After being placed back on waivers by Ottawa, the Lightning reclaimed Dumont Wednesday.
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Matthew Peca returned from a month-long, 10-game stint with the Lightning Wednesday to pot the game-winning goal for the Crunch. Peca, 24, scored the second of two goals for the Crunch in a 10-second span to give the Crunch a 2-1 win over Rochester.
He has 33 points (9g, 24a) in 45 games with the Crunch this season. The 24-year-old netted five points (2g, 3a) in 10 games with the Lightning, including a four-game scoring streak Jan. 25-Feb. 3.
Crunch clamp down defensively
The Crunch allowed just one goal in each game in Week 21, pushing their current streak of allowing two or fewer goals to eight games, tied for the second-longest streak in Crunch history. It was last done Dec. 6-26, 2014 when the team allowed a total of eight goals over eight games.
The Crunch's franchise record is nine straight games Feb. 23-March 14, 2008. Current goaltending coach Karl Goehring started seven of those nine games for Syracuse.
Upcoming: Toronto, Binghamton, Laval
The Crunch take on three North Division opponents in Week 22. They have a morning match with Toronto Wednesday, then host Binghamton and Laval starting Friday at the War Memorial Arena.
The Crunch wrap up their season series with the Marlies Wednesday morning. Syracuse has pulled within eight points of the division-leading Marlies (39-15-0-1), who have stumbled with four losses in their last six games. Toronto has clinched the regular season series with the Crunch winning five of the first seven matches between the clubs.
Syracuse opens a four-game homestand with a Friday battle with Binghamton. The Devils (17-28-6-3) had a season-high four-game winning streak snapped Saturday against Lehigh Valley, but they've allowed just five goals in the last five games. The Crunch have four straight wins over the Devils with five games left in their 10-game season series.
The Crunch end the week at home against the Laval Rocket (21-26-6-2) in the seventh of eight head-to-head matches. The Rocket have won back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game streak Dec. 27-30.
Week 21 ResultsWednesday, February 21 | Game 54 at Rochester | W, 2-1
Syracuse 0 2 0 - 2 Shots: 9-14-8-31 PP: 0/4
Rochester 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 10-3-7-35 PP: 0/5
2nd Period-Stephens 18 (Verhaeghe, Masin), 1:26. Peca 9 (Verhaeghe, Bodie), 1:36. . . . Ingram 14-9-2 (20 shots-19 saves). A-16,675
Friday, February 23 | Game 55 vs. Lehigh Valley | W, 2-1
Lehigh Valley 0 0 1 - 1 Shots: 7-14-11-32 PP: 0/4
Syracuse 0 0 2 - 2 Shots: 7-8-16-31 PP: 0/3
3rd Period-Bournival 14 (Condra, Stephens), 8:53. Bournival 15 (Condra, Bodie), 17:16. . . . Pasquale 10-6-5 (32 shots-31 saves). A-5,803
Saturday, February 24 | Game 56 vs. W-B/Scranton | W, 3-1
W-B/Scranton 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 4-8-15-27 PP: 0/4
Syracuse 0 1 2 - 3 Shots: 17-11-8-36 PP: 1/5
2nd Period-Dumont 1 (Bournival), 1:35 (SH). 3rd Period-Volkov 16 (Walcott, Peca), 6:02. Cirelli 12 (Joseph, Dumont), 8:46 (PP). . . . Ingram 15-9-2 (27 shots-26 saves). A-5,940
Category Average/Total AHL Rank (Prev)
Power Play 14.3% (36-for-251) 27th (26th)
Penalty Kill 85.1% (235-for-276) 7th (7th)
Goals For 3.09 GFA (173) T-12th (T-10th)
Goals Against 2.57 GAA (144) 4th (4th)
Shots For 29.98 SF/G (1584) 19th (18th)
Shots Against 26.13 SA/G (1385) 2nd (2nd)
Penalty Minutes 16.11 PIM/G (902) 3rd (3rd)
Category Leader
Points 35 Cirelli, Joseph
Goals 18 Stephens
Assists 26 Joseph
PIM 154 Gallant
Plus/Minus +26 Cernak
Wins 15 Ingram
GAA 2.20 Domingue
Save % 0.919 Pasquale