The Syracuse Crunch scored four times in the first period to beat the Cleveland Monsters 4-1 in Game 2 of their best-of-five North Division semifinal series on Sunday. The victory evens the series at 1-1, with the next three games shifting to Syracuse. Jakob Pelletier contributed a goal and two assists in the win.
Syracuse built momentum from Game 1, where they rallied from a 3-0 deficit but lost 3-2 to Cleveland. On Sunday, Lucas Mercuri, Gabriel Szturc, Jakob Pelletier and Tommy Miller scored within the first 13:15 to give the Crunch a 4-0 lead. Pelletier, the AHL regular-season scoring champion with 77 points, added two assists for a three-point afternoon. The Crunch extended a streak of six consecutive goals across the two games, as reported by TheAHL.com. Brandon Halverson anchored the victory in net, stopping 32 of 33 shots after a perfect relief stint in Game 1 opener. For the Monsters, Mikael Pyyhtiä tallied their only goal. Starter Ivan Fedotov surrendered four goals on six shots before yielding to 20-year-old rookie Evan Gardner, a second-round Columbus pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, who stopped 10 shots in relief. Game 3 is set for Friday at Syracuse at 7:00 p.m. ET, followed by Game 4 on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET and a potential Game 5 on May 9 at 5:00 p.m. ET if necessary.
