Syracuse, N.Y. — For all his offensive success this season, Syracuse Crunch defenseman Cameron Gaunce knows better than to binge on it.

Gaunce put up two goals for Syracuse in a win against Cleveland on Saturday night. That’s the first time in his AHL career of 614 games that he’s scored twice in one contest. He thinks the last time he might have done that was all the way back in juniors.

But go for a hat trick? Whoa, hold on there. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

“So when I didn’t get the third, I was almost happy about it because you don’t want to go from one to three. I want to have a bit of a progression,” he said. “You’ve got to leave yourself something to shoot for.”

That’s a true vet move, something that Gaunce, 28, has a duffel bag full of. But when it comes to scoring this season, Gaunce has been anything but measured. Offensive momentum can be a tough force to push back against, and Gaunce is shattering the scoring norms he established throughout his career. 

Gaunce’s nine goals are a career high by three and his 36 points in 40 games are one shy of his personal best set in 70 games with Portland in 2015-16 (last season he was 3-21 in 67 games for Cleveland). He is also tied for second in points among AHL blueliners.

“I’m not exactly the most prolific of goal-scorers. Warm up, maybe. But during the game itself, no,” Gaunce said. “So, it’s been nice to score, definitely.” 

Gaunce, signed by Tampa By as a free agent in the off-season, is not simply getting a lot better with age. It seems like almost a decade into his pro career, he’s found an organization that’s a great match for his talents.

Gaunce has certainly benefited skating among a Crunch offense that’s averaging a league-leading 3.81 goals per contest. But he’s also looked comfortable in a new role as the lead experienced orchestrator of that attack from the blueline. He’s a large reason why Syracuse has compiled a points percentage of .663, fourth-best in the league.

“Being put in situations like that usually garners more of an opportunity to get those points,” Gaunce said. “I think this year, until Jan (Rutta) got here, we didn’t really have an offensive go-to guy (on defense). In years past I played with some players that are extremely gifted offensively, and that was their role, which was straight offense, be the first power-play guy, be the guy who’s out late in games, be the guy who’s out with the first line against maybe other teams’ third or fourth lines. And so because I’m getting put in these opportunities, it kind of gives you more of a chance, and you’re leaned on a bit more to think more offensively.”

Gaunce played in 32 career NHL games before this season, but his consistency for the Crunch hasn’t yet given him the chance to add to that total. His one two-week recall to Tampa Bay came and went without him getting into any games with the Lightning.

“I feel like it’s hard to compare one season to the next because every one of them’s different. There’s so many things that go on in an AHL/NHL season that you can’t control,” he said. “I’m very happy with the season thus far. I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied. There’s still other things I want to achieve this year. But again, getting called up or not getting called up, yes, part of it is under my control, how well I play, how I do off the ice. But a lot of it isn’t. 

“They (the Lightning) are first place in the league by leaps and bounds. They haven’t really had any injuries, knock on wood. They’ve been keeping themselves healthy, so there’s been no real need for a change. So, to say I played better in years when I got called up, compared to this, wouldn’t be fair because you need to take in a lot of variables. So all I try to do is be the best I can.”

Gaunce is working under a one-year deal with the Lightning, which means he can hit the open market again next summer. And, much like his accelerated scoring pace, he’s taking a purposeful approach to that scenario as well.

“We’ll see how that goes. I never really make up my mind until (I) wait to see how things go,” he said. “I like to make calculated decisions. I don’t want to be impulsive. But everything so far has been wonderful here.”