Crunch make final trip to Laval
The Crunch (24-14-2-2) open the final week before the All-Star Break with a road match in Laval against the Rocket. It's the final trip to Place Bell this season for the Crunch, who are looking for their first win in the newest AHL building. The Crunch have lost three straight games while the Rocket (17-19-5-2) won their last game and are 5-5-0-0 in their last 10. 
 
Last time out
The Crunch lost their second straight game in regulation, 4-2, to the Utica Comets at the Adirondack Bank Center Saturday night.
 
The Comets grabbed a 1-0 lead near the end of the first period. Goaltender Thatcher Demko flung a pass ahead to Nikolay Goldobin, who carried the puck toward the left circle. He set up Reid Boucher in the slot for a one-timer and the only tally of the first.
 
Utica outscored the Crunch 3-1 in the decisive second period. Darren Archibald lifted a rebound at 2:50 to give the Comets a 2-0 lead. Syracuse cut the deficit to one a few minutes later on a nifty deflection power-play goal by Jonne Tammela. The margin remained one for nearly 10 minutes before Boucher snapped in his second of the game from the right circle. Two minutes later Cam Darcy potted a rebound for a 4-1 Comets lead at the end of two period.
 
The Crunch dominated the third and Michael Bournival added an early marker just 29 seconds into the period to make it 4-2. Despite 20 third-period shots, however, the Crunch would lose by that score.
 
Scouting the Crunch
Syracuse has lost three straight games for the fourth time this season and for the first time since Nov. 15-19. The Crunch promptly followed that streak with a 10-game winning streak. Factoring in the recent slump, the Crunch (24-14-2-2) remain in third place in the North Division with a 0.619 points percentage.
 
The Crunch's offense has run dry in the last three games, scoring a total of four goals in the three losses. They had scored at least three goals in every game during their nine-game winning streak immediately proceeding this current downturn. The Crunch are 23-0-0-2 when scoring at least three goals in a game.
 
The Crunch's top two scorers—Matthew Peca and Michael Bournival—are on recall with the Tampa Bay Lightning. That leaves Adam Erne and Mathieu Joseph as the active leaders. Erne is day-to-day, but is expected to miss his fourth straight game with an injury; the Crunch are 0-2-1-0 without Erne in the lineup this season. Joseph, 20, has fared well against his hometown team, tying for the series lead with five points (3g, 2a).  
 
Roster moves
The Tampa Bay Lightning recalled forwards Michael Bournival and Matthew Peca from the Crunch Sunday. Both players, alternate captains for the Crunch, made their Lightning season debut in Monday's 2-0 win at Chicago.
Peca, 24, is the Crunch's leading scorer with 31 points (8g, 23a) and is one of three players (Mat Bodie and Ben Thomas) to appear in all 42 games this season. After logging just five points (5a) in the first 16 games of the season, the Crunch's lone AHL All-Star representative has 26 points (8g, 18a) over the last 26 games since Nov. 22.
 
Bournival, 25, is second on the Crunch with 27 points and has a career-high 13 goals in 40 games. He is three points shy of his career high of 30, set in 69 games as a rookie in 2012-13.
 
In response to their recall to Tampa Bay, the Crunch have signed two players to Professional Try-Out contracts (PTOs). Olivier Archambault joins the Crunch after potting 31 points (13g, 18a) in 19 games for the ECHL's Allen Americans. The 24-year-old forward also has five points (2g, 3a) in 12 games with the San Jose Barracuda this season. It's a bit of a homecoming for Archambault, who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 2011. He grew up just outside of Montreal and Laval.
 
Stephen MacAulay comes to Syracuse from the ECHL's Florida Everblades. The 25-year-old center leads the ECHL's top team with 40 points (20g, 20a) in 39 games. He skated in 39 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds last season, chipping in with six points (2g, 4a).     
 
Scouting the Rocket
The Rocket enter the night on the outside of the playoffs in the North Division. They are 5-5-0-0 in the last 10 games and 17-19-5-2 on the season. With a 0.477 points percentage, the Rocket are fifth in the division. Laval is 8-12-2-1 on home ice this season, but three of those wins are against the Crunch.
 
Chris Terry is the top Laval point producer with 41 (19g, 22a) in 36 games. He is one point behind Chris Bourque and Phil Varone for the AHL scoring lead, although he's played six fewer games than the pair. Terry has missed the last four games with an injury and his status for tonight's game is uncertain.
 
Matt Taormina is second on the team with 37 points and is one of two players (Daniel Audette) to skate in all 43 games for the Rocket this season. His 33 assists are second to Travis Morin's 35. 
 
Adam Cracknell has 23 points (15g, 8a) in 21 games with Laval after being acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers (Hartford) at the end of November. He has five game-winning goals—including the last three—for Laval, ranking second in the AHL.
 
Head-to-head
This is the fifth game of the eight-game series between the Crunch and Rocket and the fourth and final match at Place Bell. The Rocket have won all three games in Laval by a score of 16-9 and lead the series 3-1. The Crunch's win was a 2-1 triumph Dec. 1; it's the only game this season the Crunch have won when scoring fewer than two goals. 
 
Laval's power play has converted on 21.4% (6-for-28) of its chances against the Crunch this season. Chris Terry has paced the Rocket with five points (2g, 3a) in just two games against Syracuse. For the Crunch, Mathieu Joseph (3g, 2a) and Ben Thomas (2g, 3a) lead the way with five points in four games. They are the only active Crunch players with more than one goal against Laval.
 
In net, Connor Ingram has only appeared in one game against Laval, allowing four goals in a loss Nov. 4. Charlie Lindgren has started two games for the Rocket. He is 1-1-0 with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.