7:30 p.m., Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec

The Crunch (sixth in the Eastern Conference) and Bulldogs (12th in the Western Conference) meet for the first of four times this season Friday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, home of Hamilton's NHL affilaite, the Montreal Canadiens. Last season Syracuse won three of the four games between the two teams including a 4-1 victory at Bell Centre Nov. 9.  Hamilton's lone victory against the Crunch last season was a 1-0 win Mar. 22 in goaltender Dustin Tokarski's return to Syracuse.

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Who's in the lineup?
The Crunch have defenseman Dmitry Korobov back on their roster in time for Friday's game. The second-year pro had been recalled by Tampa Bay last week, making his NHL debut for the Lightning Tuesday in Los Angeles with 13 minutes of ice time. Korobov, who's plus-7 leads the Crunch, was absent for Syracuse's two losses last weekend.

Injured defensemen Matt Taormina and Nikita Nesterov have been practicing with the team and may be available to play Friday in Montreal.

Taormina had points in each of his first eight games, but was injured in his ninth, Nov. 1, leaving the game early without a point. Taormina is among the team leaders in power-play points (7), and the Crunch man advantge has sunk from second to fifth in the AHL without him in the lineup. With Taormina out the last six games, the Crunch have only three power-play goals.

Nesterov last played Nov. 9 in Norfolk, missing the second half of that game and both losses last week. The rookie has also contributed greatly on the power play, scoring two goals and registering four assists when the Crunch are a man up. Only two of his eight points have come at even strenghth.

Last Time Out
The Crunch dropped back-to-back games for only the second time this season as Albany defeated Syracuse, 2-1, in a shootout on Saturday. The Crunch had won their first three shootouts of the season.

Neither team was able to score in the first period as Albany's Keith Kinkaid and Syracuse's Cedrick Desjardins kept the score at 0-0.

In the final minutes of the second period the only two goals of regulation were scored 24 seconds apart. Albany took advantage of a penalty to Phil Paradis late in the period, scoring on the power play to take a 1-0 lead, defenseman Reece Scarlett's first career goal. Nikita Kucherov tied the game almost immediately, taking a stretch pass from J.P. Cote and beating Kinkaid to the glove side. The score extended Cote's career-high point streak to five games and kept Kucherov atop the AHL scoring leaders with 24 points (13g, 11a).

The third period and overtime resulted in no goals so the two teams went to a shootout to decide the game. Albany's Reid Boucher scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Devils a 2-1 victory.

Cedrick Desjardins made 32 saves on 33 shots in the loss. The Crunch power play was once again held off the board going 0-for-5.

Scouting the Bulldogs
The Bulldogs have won their last two games after snapping a six-game losing streak.  With 17 point Hamilton is 12th in the Western Conference and fourth in the North Division.

With 11 points each, Hamilton is led by Sven Andrighetto (7g, 4a), Martin St. Pierre (6g, 5a), and Louie Leblanc (3g, 8a.  Andrighetto is tied for the team lead in goals with Luke Tarnasky with seven.

In net former Crunch goalie Dustin Tokarsky has played in 12 games posting a 6-3-1 record with a 2.16 GAA and a .924 save percentage.  Tokarsky's 2.16 goals against average is the fourth best in the AHL. Robert Mayer has appeared in seven games for Hamilton this season posting a 1-4-2 record with a 3.39 GAA and a .891 save percentage.

In addition to Tokarsky the Bulldogs have two other former Crunch players on their roster.  Mike Blunden and Maxime Macenauer both played for the Crunch earlier in their careers.  Blunden played for the Crunch from 2008 to 2010 appearing in 64 games and totaling 37 points (16g, 21a). Macenauer suited up for the Crunch in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. He appeared in 92 games scoring 38 points (17g, 21a). Macenauer also appeared in 29 games for Anaheim in the 2011-12 season when they were the Crunch's NHL affiliate..

Special Teams
The Crunch power play was 0-for-9 in two Week 7 games, and has only one power-play marker in its last four contests (1-for-17). Syracuse has slipped from second to fifth in the AHL at 22.7% (17-for-75). Nikita Kucherov, who had six power play goals in October, has yet to score on the man advantage in the month of November.

After stifling opposing power plays in six of seven games, the Crunch penalty kill allowed one power-play goal in each Week 8 contest (6-for-8). While dropping to 15th on the penalty kill overall (82.9%, 58-for-70), Syracuse's road penalty kill is unchanged, still best in the AHL at 90.9% (30-for-33).

Hamilton's power play is 22nd in the AHL (15%) with 12 goals in 80 chances, but they did go 1-for-2 Tuesday vs. Texas with Nick Tarnasky picking up his team-leading fourth power-play goal. Hamilton's penalty kill stopped both of the Stars' chances Tuesday, improving to 10th in the league at 83.9%.

Bienvenue chez vous à Montréal
A Week 8 trip to the Bell Centre in Montreal will be a sort of homecoming for several Crunch players.
Crunch forward Danick Gauthier was born and raised just outside of Montreal, in nearby Repentigny. Defenseman Charles Landry is originally from just across the St. Lawrence River, in Longueuil, and Joey Mormina was born in Montreal.

Although from Quebec City, a trip to Montreal is also a homecoming of sorts for J.P. Cote, who started his NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens. He made his NHL debut for Montreal in November 2005 and played eight games with the Canadiens. He spent five seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Cedric Paquette played two seasons with the QMJHL's Blainville-Boisbriand Armada who play 30 minutes from the Bell Centre.

Tanner Richard and Nikita Kucherov roomed together in Montreal last summer in order to train with Mark Lambert, the Tampa Bay Lightning's strength and conditioning coach.

Somebodies we used to know
Syracuse goaltender Cedrick Desjardins and Hamilton's Dustin Tokarski swapped places last season when Montreal and Tampa Bay completed a trade exchanging the two goaltenders Feb. 14.

In 33 games for the Crunch last season Tokarski posted a 18-8-4 record with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. He was 6-8 after the trade, posting a 2.22 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.

Desjardins played 22 games for Hamilton last year with a 7-13-2 record, a 2.94 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. He then won eight of 14 games for Syracuse with two shutouts and a 2.12 goals-against average. In the Calder Cup playoffs Desjardins set Crunch postseason records with 13 wins and three shutouts in 18 games.

Cedrick played in 114 regular season games for the Bulldogs between 2006-2010, and in 2012-13. He also appeared in ten playoff games for the Bulldogs in the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Hamilton forwards Mike Blunden and Maxime Macenauer also spent time in Syracuse. Blunden played for the Crunch from 2008 to 2010 appearing in 64 games and totaling 37 points (16g, 21a). Macenauer suited up for the Crunch in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. He appeared in 92 games scoring 38 points (17g, 21a). Macenauer also appeared in 29 games for Anaheim in the 2011-12 season when they were the Crunch's NHL affiliate.

Along with Desjardins, J.P. Cote and Eric Neilson are also former Bulldogs.

Inter-conference Matches
When the Crunch face the Hamilton Bulldogs this week, it will be the fourth and fifth time this year that Syracuse plays against the Western Conference. The Crunch play 18 games this season against the Western Conference, including eight against Rochester, four against Utica, four against Hamilton, and two against Toronto.

Syracuse is 3-0 in if first three games against the Western Conference this season. The Crunch beat the Amerks 5-1 Oct. 12 in the home opener. They also beat the Comets 2-1 in a shootout Oct. 25 and Rochester 5-4 in a shootout Nov. 1.

The Crunch played 18 games against Western Conference opponents last season. They went 7-8-2-1 in those games. The Crunch were 3-5-1-1 against Rochester, 3-1-0-0 against Hamilton, 1-1-0-0 versus the Toronto Marlies, and 0-1-1-0 against the Lake Erie Monsters.