Dylan Duke Scores Twice, 11 Players Record Points in Crunch 6-4 Win

Dylan Duke’s two first-period goals set the tone as the Syracuse Crunch built a multi-goal cushion and edged the Laval Rocket 6-4 at Upstate Medical University Arena on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. The Crunch had 11 different players record a point, a depth marker highlighted on the team recap posted to the SyracuseCrunch site at 02/28/2026 10:52:00 PM.

The scoring unfolded early and often. Dylan Duke opened the scoring at 3:25 of the first period and struck again at 11:49, with Alex Belzile answering for Laval at 5:52 to tie the game briefly. Mitchell Chaffee extended the Syracuse lead with a goal at 19:11 to make it 3-1 after the first. The second period left Syracuse ahead 5-2 after a scoring run that included Sammy Blais’ 21:08 entry for Laval and Ethan Samson’s 31:10 goal for the Crunch. In the third period Laval pressed back with Owen Beck scoring at 45:00 and Joshua Roy cutting it to 6-4 with a 51:39 tally, while Ethan Gauthier roofed a Crunch marker at 46:31 one minute after Beck’s goal to restore a two-goal margin.

The team recap and Rink Live narrative both emphasize the breadth of contributors: sources state that 11 different Crunch players recorded a point. Named Syracuse contributors in the published material include Duke, Mitchell Chaffee, Ethan Samson and Ethan Gauthier, and the site’s players-mentioned blocks list Brendan Furry, Tristan Allard, Matteo Pietroniro, Jakob Pelletier and Brandon Halverson among those featured on the recap page. The full list of all 11 point-getters and official goaltender numbers were not embedded in the provided recap excerpts; the official AHL box score should be consulted to confirm goal-assist pairings, goalie saves and shots.

From a roster and development standpoint, a six-goal night with contributions across at least 11 players strengthens Syracuse’s case as a productive affiliate for the Tampa Bay Lightning linkage shown in the Crunch site footer. That kind of scoring balance matters for weekly call-up decisions and for internal competition as Syracuse prepares to play the Rochester Americans on Sunday, March 1, 2026 and to host Laval again on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.

Beyond the ice, engagement metrics suggest this game has shareable elements that could lift audience interaction. Performance analysis shows 96.9 percent of readers typically view without sharing while 3.1 percent spark comments, so emphasizing Duke’s multi-goal night, the 11-player scoring spread and concrete time-stamped moments like Duke’s 3:25 opener creates the kind of novelty hooks that convert passive viewers to sharers. Syracuse’s 6-4 win is a game story with roster implications and narrative hooks that can be leveraged across social and broadcast platforms as the Crunch roll into their March slate.