Home cooking
Syracuse won the first game in its current six-game home stand Friday, giving it two home wins out of three to start the season. The Crunch were among the top teams in the Eastern Conference at home last season, going 22-10-6-0 at the War Memorial. Syracuse's 50 home points ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference; Calder Cup champion Manchester led the league with 61 home points. The Crunch also scored 20 more goals at home (119) than on the road (99). Only four other AHL teams had a larger home-to-road goals scored disparity. 

Last time out 
The Crunch erased a 1-0 deficit with two goals in the second and two in the third to defeat Hershey, 4-1, Friday at the War Memorial. Anthony DeAngelo had two points (1g, 1a), extending his goal streak to three games (a team season high). He has consecutive game-winning goals and is the only defenseman in the league with more than one. DeAngelo is tied with Jeff Tambellini for the Syracuse scoring lead at seven points. Tambellini scored his third goal of the year Friday.

Matt Taormina, the game's first star, posted a three-point performance for the fifth time in his 316-game AHL career. He last collected three points in one game while playing for Springfield March 9, 2014 (3a). His last three-point Crunch game was May 2, 2013, assisting on each goal in a series-clinching overtime victory at Portland. 

Mike Blunden provided late insurance with a goal, his third of the year, on the power play in the third. Andrei Vasilevskiy improved to 5-0 in his career against Hershey, stopping 27 of 28 shots. 

Scouting the Devils
After one win in four road games to star the season, Albany collected seven of 10 points in a five-game homestand. The Devils' .556 points percentage in nine games (4-3-2-0) ranks fourth in the division and eighth in the conference. The Devils missed the 2015 postseason by two points despite 10 wins in their last 13 games. Tom Fitzgerald is in his first year as Albany GM, replacing Chris Lamoriello.

Mike Sislo leads Albany with nine points (6g, 3a), followed by rookie Matt Lorito (2g, 6a) and defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani (8a). Gragnani ranks second among AHL defensemen in assists. Last year's top scorer Joe Whitney is now with Bridgeport. Lorito recorded five points (1g, 4a) in a game against Syracuse April 15, the 11th contest of his pro career.

Yann Danis, New Jersey's backup goalie in 2009-10, has four wins in seven starts for the A-Devils with a 2.12 goals-against average. Danis, 34, has played for five AHL teams in the last five seasons. Rookie Doug Carr, a UMass-Lowell alum, has allowed six goals in two starts, both losses. Scott Wedgewood, who started 36 games for Albany last season, has been unavailable since an Oct. 4 high ankle sprain.

Special teams
A 2-for-4 power play Friday vs. Hershey boosted the Crunch's season percentage from 6.3% to 10.5% (4-for-38). All four of Syracuse's power-play scores have been at home, 4-for-20 in three games, with the 20.0% home mark ranking 14th in the league. Albany, fifth in the AHL with a 23.5% (12-for-51) conversion rate on the power play, has scored a power play goal in each of its last five games (9-for-30).

The Crunch is 20th in the AHL on the penalty kill (81.0%). Syracuse killed off all four Hershey power-play chances on Friday, and ranks fourth in the league in home penalty kill (93.3%, 14-for-15). Albany is second in the AHL on the penalty kill (89.7%). The Devils have allowed just two power play goals in their last five games (2-for-21), all at home.

Lightning flash 
The Lightning picked up four out of a possible eight points since Saturday, splitting four games in six days. Thursday's 4-1 victory at Buffalo pushed Tampa Bay to 16 points in 15 games on the season, tied for second in the Atlantic Division with Ottawa.

Former Crunch players combined for 18 of Tampa Bay's 27 points in the same span, including six of the 10 goals. Nikita Kucherov has six points (3g, 3a) in the last four games, while Tyler Johnson (2g, 1a) and Ondrej Palat (3a) both have three. Andrei Vasilevskiy earned wins in his first two starts of the season, stopping 62 of 66 shots against Carolina on Sunday and Buffalo on Thursday.

What goes up...
Five players have shuttled between Syracuse and Tampa Bay in the last 10 days. Andrei Vasilevskiy began the cycle when he was assigned to the Crunch Oct. 28, starting and winning both of his Crunch appearances on the 28th and 30th. Jonathan Marchessault was called up to the Lightning Oct. 29, recording one shot in two games with Tampa Bay. Marchessault and Kristers Gudlevskis came back to Syracuse in a roster move Sunday that sent Vasilevskiy and Tye McGinn to the Bolts. Gudlevskis started one game for Tampa Bay on Oct. 24, stopping 31 shots in a 1-0 overtime loss to Chicago.

Earlier today, McGinn and Nikita Nesterov were reassigned to Syracuse. McGinn recorded one shot in two games with Tampa Bay. Nesterov had yet to record a point in six games with the Lightning. The 22 year-old played in 86 games for Syracuse the last two seasons, recording 30 points (7g, 23a). Thirty-five players have appeared in games for both the Crunch and Lightning since the clubs affiliated before the 2012-13 season.