The Syracuse Crunch turned a quiet week into a statement Friday night, burying the Hamilton Hammers 7-0 at Upstate Medical University Arena behind Jakob Pelletier’s second straight hat trick and another shutout from Mads Sogaard.
It was the only game the Crunch played in Week 5, but they made it count. Pelletier scored three times and added an assist for his second career four-point game, while Sogaard turned aside all 21 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season. Syracuse finished October by going 4-1-1-0 over its last six games and closed the month at 5-4-1-0.
Pelletier’s night put him in rare company. The 25-year-old matched a team and league record by recording his second consecutive hat trick.
He became the first Crunch player since Alexandre Picard in 2009 to score three or more goals in back-to-back games, and the first AHL player since Justin Bailey in 2020 to do it. Pelletier also had a hat trick last Saturday, Oct. 24 at Lehigh Valley, giving him three career hat tricks.
He is the first Crunch player to have more than one hat trick in a single season since Tyler Johnson in 2012-13. He now shares the team lead with 11 points, collecting seven goals and four assists in 10 games.
Dyllan Gill kept building on a strong start of his own. The defenseman put together a career-best three-point game with two assists in the first period and his first goal of the season in the second.
Gill has points in three straight games and in three of his four appearances for Syracuse this season. His five points - one goal and four assists - are a new AHL career high, and his plus-8 rating leads the club.
Nick Abruzzese also stayed hot, piling up three assists against Hamilton for his second straight three-assist performance. All three were primary assists, and seven of his eight assists this season have been the primary helper.
It was his fourth career three-assist game and his ninth career three-point game. Abruzzese is tied for the team lead with eight points and leads the Crunch with eight assists.
The game had plenty of edge, too. Syracuse and Hamilton combined for 119 penalty minutes, with 60 going to the Crunch and 59 to the Hammers.
That marked the second straight Crunch game to go over 100 combined penalty minutes. The previous Saturday’s game at Lehigh Valley reached 149 penalty minutes, making those two contests the highest penalty-minute games in the AHL this season.
Syracuse is averaging 28.10 penalty minutes per game, a pace that would be its highest since the inaugural 1994-95 season, when the club averaged 29.00. Opponents are averaging 30.30 penalty minutes per game against the Crunch through 10 games.
A few other notes from the week: Sogaard’s shutout was his second in six starts this season, matching his career high, and Jansen Harkins has scored in back-to-back games.
The Crunch now turn to a road trip to Utica on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at the NBT Bank Arena, where the teams begin a 12-game season series. Syracuse and Utica will meet twice in Utica in November, including Nov. 14, before the Comets visit Syracuse on Dec.
- Utica enters at 6-2-0-0, its best start since 2021-22, and has won two straight after a comeback victory over Hamilton on Sunday.
Lenni Hämeenaho leads the Comets with seven points, including four goals and three assists in eight games.
The Crunch then return home to face Hartford on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. It will be Syracuse’s only meeting with the Wolf Pack this season.
The Crunch won both matchups last season, including a 7-2 win in Syracuse on Dec. 13.
Hartford is 6-6-1-0 to start the year, has played a league-high nine road games, and is in the middle of an eight-game road trip. Saturday will be its third game in four nights.
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