Crunch open weekend set in Laval 
The Crunch (3-5-1-1) continue their Canadian road trip as they visit Place Bell, the brand new home of the Laval Rocket (5-4-2-0) for the first time. Both teams enter the night following a loss Wednesday; the Crunch dropped a 4-3 shootout in Belleville and the Rocket were shut out by Toronto, 3-0, on home ice. 

Last time out
The Crunch surrendered three one-goal leads and dropped the inaugural AHL game at Yardmen Arena to the Belleville Senators, 4-3, in a shootout Wednesday. 

Cory Conacher gave the Crunch their first lead 5:41 into the opening period, finishing a tic-tac-toe pass play involving Jason Akeson and Matthew Peca. Conacher scored the power-play goal from the left circle for a 1-0 Syracuse lead. The Senators tied the game in the final minute of the first period, but the Crunch would carry a 2-1 lead into the break after Dominik Masin buried a rebound with one second remaining in the period.

Belleville again tied the game with a power-play goal at 3:51 of the second, but Conacher potted his second power-play goal of the game to put the Crunch up 3-2 at 5:18. He received a cross-ice pass from Akeson for his fifth goal of the season. Ethan Werek responded at 14:46 of the middle frame for the final goal of regulation, knotting the game at three.

Syracuse had a power play in overtime, but after the Senators survived the 4-on-3 Crunch advantage, Gabriel Gagne scored the lone goal in the shootout to give the Sens the win.    

A rematch of sorts
Tonight is the first match ever between the Crunch and Laval Rocket, but eight players on each team are holdovers from last year's North Division Semifinals series between the Crunch and St. John's IceCaps. The Crunch won the series, three games to one, and ended the Canadiens' two-year run in St. John's, ushering in the Laval Rocket era for Montreal's AHL affiliate.

For the Crunch, Tye McGinn and Matthew Peca tied for the team lead with four points in the four-game series. McGinn delivered the series shifting goal with the double overtime game-winner in Game 2 in the final game played in St. John's. That tied the series 1-1 and the Crunch would win the next two to win the series.  

Scouting the Crunch
The Crunch have points in back-to-back games (1-0-0-1) for the second time this year, leaving Syracuse at 3-5-1-1, seventh place in the North Division with a .400 points percentage.

Cory Conacher lit the lamp twice Wednesday in Belleville to leapfrog Michael Bournival as the Crucnh's leader in goals (5) and points (8). Conacher, who also added an assist, recorded his first multi-point game of the season and first three-point game since posting back-to-back four-point efforts in Games 3 & 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Providence, a span of 17 games.

Matthew Peca had two assists Wednesday for his first multi-point game of the season. Peca, who has three assists in the last two games, had 10 multi-point performances in 2016-17, plus four more in the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs. He's tied with Adam Erne for the team lead with five assists.

Jason Akeson also picked up a pair of assists for his second multi-point game of the year. His first also came against the Senators on Oct. 13 with four of his five points coming against his former team.

Scouting the Rocket
Laval opened the week with a shutout loss at home against Toronto on Wednesday. It's the first time Laval has been shut out in team history and it leaves the Rocket with a 5-4-2-0 record, sixth in the North Division with a .545 points percentage.

The Rocket feature two players from last year's Eastern Conference Champion Crunch. Matt Taormina, who spent parts of four seasons in Syracuse, is in his first year with the Canadiens organization. The reigning Eddie Shore Award winner for top AHL defenseman is tied for the team lead and also tied for first among AHL defensemen with 11 points (1g, 10a) in 11 games. His 10 assists are tied for the AHL lead. Eight of his 11 points have come on the power play. 

Byron Froese, who joined the Crunch late in the regular season and for the entirety of the Calder Cup Playoffs, was named Laval's first captain in team history earlier today. He is fifth on the Rocket with eight points (2g, 6a) in 11 games. Froese had 13 points (6g, 7a), including two game-winning goals, in the playoffs for Syracuse.

Charlie Lindgren has seen the bulk of the action in Laval's net, appearing in nine of the team's 11 games. He is 3-3-2 with a 3.53 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage.  

Special teams
The Crunch have power-play goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season after striking for two in five chances Wednesday. They are 3-for-10 in the last two games, bumping the Crunch to 8.2% (5-for-61), 29th in the AHL.

Although the Crunch have allowed a power-play goal in seven of ten games this season, Syracuse still ranks 11th in the league on the penalty kill at 85.2%. Only Lehigh Valley has faced more shorthanded situations, 59, than the Crunch's 54.

Laval's power play is off to a hot start in its first season in the AHL, clicking on 21.6% of its chances. Chris Terry is tied for second in the league with four power-play goals and Matt Taormina leads the league with seven power-play assists and eight power-play points.

The Rocket have allowed a league-high 13 goals while shorthanded; their 78.0% penalty kill rate is 28th in the AHL. Laval has allowed at least one man advantage goal in 10 of its 11 games.

Leading to Laval
In July 2016, the Montreal Canadiens announced their intention to move their AHL affiliate from St. John's, Newfoundland to Laval, Quebec, a Montreal suburb, at the start of the 2017-18 season. The move brings the Canadiens' affiliate within a half hour drive from Place Bell, home of the Rocket, to Bell Center, home of the Canadiens.

Montreal's AHL club played in St. John's as the IceCaps for two seasons (2015-2017), replacing the IceCaps team that was moved to Manitoba to become the Moose. Before that, the Canadiens' top development team was based in Hamilton, Ontario as the Bulldogs from 2002 to 2015. 

The last time Montreal had its AHL affiliate in the Province of Quebec was a three-year run in Quebec City as the Quebec Citadelles from 1999 to 2002. The Rocket are the sixth AHL franchise based in Quebec.