Crunch Return Home to Face Checkers 
Syracuse is back home at the War Memorial Saturday after a four-game road trip over the past two weeks. The Crunch went 1-1-0-2 during the road swing. Syracuse is 1-3-0-2 away from home this season, as opposed to 2-3-1-0 at the War Memorial. 

Last time out
The Crunch made their first trip to Laval last weekend, falling to the Rocket in a shootout, 6-5, Friday and 5-2 Saturday. Laval is in its first season as the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens; Place Bell, the Rocket's home rink, is less than 18 miles from the Bell Centre, the Canadiens' arena.

Friday's back-and-forth game featured a 2-1 Crunch lead after the first period, a 4-3 Rocket lead after the second period, and a 5-5 tie game after regulation. After overtime went scoreless, Laval outscored Syracuse 2-1 in the shootout to claim victory. The wildest moment of the game came in the third period: after Daniel Audette scored at the 11:24 mark of the frame to make it 5-4 Laval, Mathieu Joseph scored five seconds later to tie the game for Syracuse. Joseph was among seven multi-point performers combined between the two teams. Both Joseph (2g, 1a) and Ben Thomas (2g, 1a) had three-point evenings, while former Crunch skater Matt Taormina (1g, 1a) was one of four Rocket skaters with at least two points in the game.

The fireworks in Saturday's game came in the third period. After Laval took a 2-1 lead into the third period, the Rocket outscored the Crunch 3-1 in the final stanza to cinch a 5-2 victory. Peter Holland scored twice in the frame, completing a hat trick and a four-point effort on the evening. Holland scored his third goal on an empty-net tally 18:24 into the third period.  
  
A new opponent
Syracuse hosts Charlotte tonight for the first time this season. The Checkers joined the Eastern Conference prior to this season after spending the last five campaigns in the Western Conference.

The current Charlotte Checkers are the third different iteration of the minor league hockey club in the city. The first team originally played in the Eastern Hockey League and then in the Southern Hockey League from 1956-77. A second Checkers franchise played in the ECHL from 1993 until the end of the 2009–10 season. The current franchise is the former Albany River Rats; the team relocated from Albany prior to the 2010-11 season. The Checkers have been affiliated with the Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) since their AHL inception.   

Scouting the Crunch
The Crunch, winless in their last three games (0-1-0-2), are seventh in the North Division at 3-6-1-2. They have surrendered the fewest shots against per game (23.58) in the AHL this season.

Cory Conacher scored points in all three Crunch losses, tallying five (3g, 2a) in total during the stretch. The 27-year-old forward leads the team with six goals and 10 points after tying for the team lead with 60 points (17g, 43a) in 56 games last season. 

Carter Verhaeghe picked up a point and assist in the loss at Laval last Saturday. It was Verhaege's first game in a Syracuse uniform after being traded to the Lightning organization from the Islanders in July. The former third-round pick of the Maple Leafs scored 29 points (16g, 13a) in 45 games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last year.

Transactions
Syracuse announced numerous roster moves Thursday, headlined by the official return of captain Erik Condra, who cleared waivers and was loaned to the Crunch by Tampa Bay. He is expected to make his season debut tonight. The 31-year-old delivered 48 points (15g, 33a) in 55 games last season and he was named captain Mar. 17. 

Defenseman Matthew Spencer and goaltender Connor Ingram have been reassigned to the Adirondack Thunder in the ECHL. Forward Jason Akeson has been released from his professional tryout agreement and goaltender Nick Riopel has been recalled from ECHL-Adirondack.

Scouting the Checkers
The Checkers enter tonight with 20 points (10-3-0-0), which ties the Toronto Marlies and Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the most points in the AHL. Tonight will be their fifth game in a season-long eight game road trip, with wins in the first four. Charlotte is 8-1-0-0 on the road; Charlotte didn't earn its eighth road win until Feb. 18 last season, in its 28th road game.

Forward Lucas Wallmark is sixth in the league and leads the Checkers with 15 points (4g, 11a). The Swede led the Checkers with 24 goals as a rookie last season.

Goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Jeremy Smith have both appeared in seven games this season. Nedeljkovic is a perfect 7-0-0 this season, with a 2.30 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. The Ohio native was drafted by the Hurricanes in 2014, and played in 25 games for the Checkers last season. Smith enters the evening 3-3-0 with a .905 save percentage and a 3.17 goals-against average.  

Special teams
The Crunch have scored power-play goals in a season-high four straight games. They went 6-for-23 (26.1%) in those four games, all played away from Syracuse. The Crunch doubled their season success rate to 10.8%, 29th in the AHL, just ahead of Cleveland. Meanwhile, Charlotte has power-play goals in its last three games (3-for-12). The Checkers are 10th in the AHL at 18.3% (11-for-60) with the power play. 

Syracuse has allowed power-play goals in four straight games and in all but three games this season. The Crunch's penalty kill operates at 82.1% (55-for-67) and has scored two shorthanded goals. The Checkers penalty kill holds opponents scoreless 85.2% (9-for-61) of the time, while scoring three shorthanded goals.

Lightning Flash
The Tampa Bay Lightning (13-2-2) have the most points in the NHL (28). The Bolts have won eight of their last ten games, including three in a row. Former Crunch defenseman Jake Dotchin (2014-17) scored his first NHL goal Monday in San Jose.