CRUNCH PLAY FIRST DIVISIONAL GAME
 
The Crunch hit the road for their first match in the North Division this season, taking on the Rochester Americans tonight at Blue Cross Arena.
 
Last season, the Crunch and Amerks played 10 times in the regular season, plus three more times in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Crunch held a 6-2-1-1 record against the Amerks in 2017-18 then swept Rochester out of the playoffs in the North Division Semifinals.
 
The Crunch opened the season with a 3-2 win in Hershey over the weekend. Rochester lost twice at home to the Charlotte Checkers, getting outscored 10-4 in the two losses. 
 
LAST TIME OUT

The Crunch overcame two one-goal deficits to defeat the Hershey Bears, 3-2, in the season opener Saturday at Giant Center.
 
Liam O'Brien struck first for the Bears 3:45 into the opening period, but the Crunch's Carter Verhaeghe answered back four minutes later to tie the game at one. Verhaeghe fired a shot off a feed from Alex Barré-Boulet for a power-play goal. Mike Sgarbossa put the Bears back up by one in the final minute of the first period.
 
Syracuse tied the game in the second period on Taylor Raddysh's first pro goal at 14:02. He deposited a rebound near the left circle after two initials saves by goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Barré-Boulet gave the Crunch their first lead with his first pro goal 5:26 into the third period. He carried the puck out from the right corner and snapped a shot for a power-play goal, which held as the game-winning goal.
 
Crunch goalie Eddie Pasquale stopped 30 shots, including 24 in the final two periods, for his first win of the season.
 
STRONG DEBUT
 
The Crunch dressed six rookies in their lineup to begin the season. Five of those six players were appearing in their first professional game; only defenseman Cal Foote had previous pro experience prior to Saturday's game in Hershey. Foote finished last season with the Crunch.
 
The five players making their AHL and pro debuts were forwards Alex Barré-Boulet, Ross Colton, Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk, along with defenseman Oleg Sosunov. Four rookies recorded a point in the season opener.
 
Last season's opening weekend saw four Crunch players play in their first pro game. The Crunch maxed out with 11 rookies in their lineup in last season's regular-season finale against Rochester.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch opened the season with a 3-2 win over the Bears Saturday night. Syracuse is aiming for its seventh 2-0 start in franchise history. The Crunch start 2-0 in Ben Groulx's first season with the Crunch (2016-17) and a win today would give them two wins in their first two games in three of the last four seasons. Their previous 2-0 starts were in 1995-96, 1996-97, 2008-09, 2011-12, 2015-16 and 2016-17.
 
Syracuse remains one of three unbeaten North Division teams entering tonight's clash with the Amerks. Cleveland—which joined the division over the summer—is off to a 3-0 start and Binghamton won its only game last week.
 
Goaltender Eddie Pasquale got the nod in the Crunch's 25th season opener and he delivered a 30-save performance in the Crunch's 3-2 win in Hershey. After allowing two goals in the first period, Pasquale stopped 24 shots over the final two periods to clinch the Crunch win.
 
After joining the Crunch at the end of January last season, Pasquale went 10-1-3 in the regular season with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage. He is expected to start Wednesday night in Rochester.
 
SCOUTING THE AMERKS
 
The Amerks dropped both games to the Charlotte Checkers during opening weekend, losing by scores of 6-2 and 4-2. Rochester is one of two North Division teams (Belleville) without a win after the first week of the season.
 
Rookie defenseman Lawrence Pilut (1g, 1a) and forward Alexander Nylander (2a) lead the team in scoring with two points through two games. Forward Wayne Simpson scored his first goal as a member of the Amerks in Saturday's loss to the Checkers. The fourth-year-pro has 129 points (40g, 89a) over 226 career AHL games and is the only player in the league to appear in all 76 games each of the last two seasons.
 
In net, newcomer Scott Wedgewood started both games last week for the Amerks. He allowed 10 goals in the two games and is 0-2-0 with a 5.15 goals-against average and an .859 save percentage.  
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
Syracuse won the season series with Rochester in 2017-18, holding a 6-2-1-1 mark against the Amerks. Over the last two seasons under head coach Ben Groulx, the Crunch are 14-3-1-2 against Rochester. The teams will face off 12 times in 2018-19.
 
Among returning players, Mitchell Stephens leads the way offensively. As a rookie last year Stephens notched eight points (3g, 5a) in nine games against Rochester. Alex Volkov tied for the Crunch lead with four goals in the regular season series.
Rochester's Zach Redmond and C.J. Smith paced the Amerks with six points apiece against the Crunch.
 
In net, Eddie Pasquale won his only start against Rochester, allowing two goals. Connor Ingram went 2-0-1 in three appearances, with a 1.34 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage.
 
PLAYOFF REMATCH
 
Syracuse eliminated Rochester from the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs with a three-game sweep in the North Division Semifinals. It was the first time the Crunch defeated the Amerks in a playoff series.
 
The Crunch scored three goals in all three games of the series, only the third time in franchise history they scored six or more goals in three straight games. Prior to last postseason, the last time the Crunch accomplished that feat was Jan. 13-16, 1998. The 18 goals scored in the three-game series finished as the second-most ever in a three-game series in Calder Cup Playoff history.
 
The Crunch have 11 players on their current roster who played during the North Division Semifinals last spring. Of those players, Gabriel Dumont led the way with five points (3g, 2a) in the series, including a hat trick in Game 1; it was the third playoff hat trick in Crunch history. Rochester has 12 returning players from the playoffs. Their captain Kevin Porter led the Amerks with five points (1g, 4a) in the series.