Crunch Play First Game Against Belleville
The Belleville Senators (0-2-0-0) meet the Syracuse Crunch (0-1-1-0) for the first time in Belleville's inaugural season in the AHL. Belleville joins the league after 15 seasons in Binghamton. 

Both teams will be looking to register their first win of the season. Belleville is playing the third game of a month-long, nine-game road trip to begin the season. The Senators dropped their first two games to the Laval Rocket last weekend.

Last Time out
The Crunch dropped their home opener, 3-2, to the Rochester Americans Saturday.  

Amerks forward C.J. Smith struck first on the power play 10:33 into the opening period with his first of the season. Cory Conacher picked up where he left off in the playoffs and answered just over five minutes later, ripping home a great backdoor feed across the slot from Ben Thomas.  

The Amerks tallied the only second period goal 1:49 into the frame. Kyle Criscuolo converted on a two-on-one to give Rochester a one-goal lead.  

The Crunch tied the game in the third period, with Kevin Lynch picking up his first of the year.  He buried a shot from the left circle, set up by a touch pass from Mitchell Stephens. 

The game headed to overtime where Amerks captain Kevin Porter found himself on a two-on-one in the zone and beat rookie goaltender Connor Ingram to win the game for Rochester. The Amerks took both games in the home-and-home. Connor Ingram stopped 15 of 18 shots in his pro debut. Former Crunch goaltender Adam Wilcox made 24 saves for the Amerks.

Say Hello To Belleville
The Belleville Senators are in their inaugural season as the AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators. The franchise spent the previous 15 years in Binghamton as the Binghamton Senators.

The Ottawa Senators, who also own their AHL club, moved the Sens from Binghamton to Belleville prior to this season in an effort to have their AHL team closer to the parent NHL club. Belleville is 168 miles from Ottawa, about a two and a half hour drive.

The Sens' home rink, Yardmen Arena, is undergoing renovations in order to hold an AHL team. Belleville is playing its first nine games this season on the road before its home opener against the Crunch Nov. 1. 

Belleville had previously been home to the OHL's Belleville Bulls, who operated in Belleville from 1981 to 2015. The Bulls moved to Hamilton, Ontario to become the Hamilton Bulldogs after the AHL team of the same name became the St. John's IceCaps. The Senators are the first pro team to call Belleville home.

Scouting the Crunch
Mitchell Stephens (1g, 1a) and Ben Thomas ( 2a) are tied for the Crunch scoring lead through two games this season. Their combined age is 41 years old.

  Stephens, a 20-year-old, scored the Crunch's lone goal at Rochester Friday and followed it up with an assist on Syracuse's second and final goal Saturday. The Ontario native spent time with both the Saginaw Spirit and the London Knights in the OHL last year, totaling 53 points (22g, 31a) in 51 games.

  Thomas, a 21-year-old, recorded both his assists in the Crunch's loss to Rochester Saturday. The Calgary native did not have a multi-point game in 71 regular season games last year. Thomas did record three multi-point efforts in 22 Calder Cup Playoff Games, including two-point nights in the final two games (Games 4 and 5) of the Eastern Conference Finals against Providence.

  Connor Ingram made his pro debut in net for Syracuse Saturday, stopping 15 Rochester shots. The former third-round pick spent the previous three seasons with the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL. Ingram posted a 2.44 goals-against-average and a .927 save percentage in 45 games with the Blazers last season. The Saskatchewan native also played with the Canadian national team in the World Junior Championship in January.

The Crunch received support from Tampa Bay this week, adding forward Michael Bournival and defenseman Dominik Masin. Both players played a role in the Crunch's Eastern Conference Championship last season.

Scouting the Senators
Through two games, Belleville has allowed an Eastern Conference high nine goals, dropping both games to the Laval Rocket to begin the season. Senators goaltender Danny Taylor let in seven goals in his first two games, with an .892 save percentage.  

Chris DiDomenico (1g, 1a) and Thomas Chabot (1g, 1a) are tied for the team lead in both goals and assists. Chabot was recalled by Ottawa heading into the weekend and will not be in Syracuse. Filip Chlapik (1a) and Christian Jaros (1a) are the only other Senators with a point so far this season. 

DiDomenico played three games with Ottawa last season. The 28-year-old spent the rest of his time in Switzerland, scoring 10 goals and registering 38 points for the Langnau Tigers. 

Belleville was outshot 71-45 in its first two games of the season against Laval. On Saturday, the Senators were outshot 46-19 in a 6-2 loss. Belleville was up 2-0 before surrendering six unanswered goals to the Rocket.

Special Teams
The Syracuse Crunch power play has not connected yet in 10 opportunities this season. 
 
No team had more power plays during opening weekend than Belleville's 14. After going 0-for-8 in the season opener, the Senators came back with a 2-for-6 effort Saturday, putting them at 2-for-14 through two games. They rank 20th in the AHL at 14.3% and they also gave up one shorthanded goal.

While in the sin bin, the Crunch have killed off 10 of 12 opposing power plays. Belleville has given up two power-play goals in seven chances.