Chaffee's Early Goal Secures Syracuse 2-1 Win, Sixth Straight

Mitchell Chaffee and Dylan Duke provided the decisive finishes as the Syracuse Crunch edged the Belleville Senators 2-1 at CAA Arena, handing Syracuse its sixth straight victory and improving the Crunch to 29-16-3-1. Chaffee struck just 1:13 into the opening period while Dylan Duke’s tally at 39:50, 10 seconds left in the second period, stood up as the game-winner in a tight defensive contest on Feb. 18.

The opening goal came on a textbook two-on-one; “Chaffee and Conor Geekie skated up the ice on a 2-on-1 and Geekie fed the puck from the right circle across the slot. Chaffee then connected with the pass and fired a one-timer home from the left circle.” Geekie picked up the assist on Chaffee’s 17th goal of the season. Belleville answered late in the first when Garrett Pilon initiated a tic-tac-toe sequence and, after “some patience from Hayden Hodgson,” Scott Harrington snapped home a shot from the bottom of the right circle at 18:08 for his third goal of the year.

Syracuse reclaimed the lead with a late second-period sequence that began with Tristan Allard’s interception at the red line. “Tristan Allard intercepted a pass at the red line and skated the puck into the offensive zone. He dished it over to the left circle for Dylan Duke to slide home under the pads of Meriläinen.” The goal was listed as Duke’s 24th of the season and proved decisive after a scoreless third frame.

Goaltending was pivotal. Brandon Halverson earned the win, stopping 21 of 22 shots, while Belleville starter Leevi Meriläinen made 21 saves on 23 Syracuse attempts. Belleville outshot Syracuse 11-7 in the third period as the home side pressed for the equalizer and generated a late power play, but the Senators could not convert. Syracuse also survived four penalty kills; “Syracuse was held scoreless on four power-play opportunities while keeping Belleville off the scoresheet on two-man advantages,” a Crunch report noted.

Individual performance lines to watch: Chaffee’s early finishing (17 goals) and Duke’s late-period scoring surge (24 goals) stand out for NHL scouts and front offices tracking pro-ready production. Xavier Bourgault poured seven shots on goal for Belleville, illustrating the home team’s ability to generate chances even in a narrow defeat. The game pushed Syracuse ahead 4-2-0-0 in the eight-game season series with Belleville.

Both teams turn the page quickly: the Crunch travel to face the Charlotte Checkers and Belleville heads to Providence to play the Bruins on Friday, Feb. 20. With Syracuse’s streak and late-game finishing, the Crunch have supplied concrete data points, goal totals, goaltender reliability, and special-teams resilience, that will matter as organizations evaluate midseason roster moves and playoff positioning.