Crunch square off with Checkers

The Crunch welcome the Charlotte Checkers to the War Memorial Arena for the second and final time this season. Charlotte took the first meeting in Syracuse, 4-1. The Crunch's lone goal of the night came from Oleg Sosunov, the first career goal for the 20-year-old defenseman.
 
Syracuse (2-4-0-0) lost its second straight game, a 4-1 loss to the Marlies in Toronto last night. After tonight, the Crunch host Belleville on Friday and Saturday.
 
Charlotte (7-1-0-0) picked up a 4-3 overtime win in Binghamton last night.
 
Last time out

The Crunch traveled north of the border and fell to the Marlies, 4-1, at Coca-Cola Coliseum last night. It was the first meeting between Syracuse and Toronto since last season's North Division Finals.
 
The Marlies got off to a strong start and built a two-goal lead in the first period. Rasmus Sandin scored his first professional goal with a shot from the blue line for the first Toronto tally. Just over two minutes later, Chris Mueller scored on a breakaway, beating Crunch goaltender Eddie Pasquale from the right circle. Syracuse cut the deficit in half late in the first period on Taylor Raddysh's second goal of the season at 18:15. Mitchell Stephens caused a turnover behind the net and fed Raddysh in front with Jeff Glass, the Toronto netminder, scrambling to get back in the crease.
 
The Marlies regained their two-goal advantage just 21 seconds into the second frame. Forward Mason Marchment notched his first goal of the campaign on an odd-man rush.
 
Toronto added a second insurance goal as Trevor Moore collected his team-leading seventh goal of the year, poking a rebound through the five-hole of Pasquale. That capped the scoring in a 4-1 Marlies win.
 
Scouting the Crunch
  
Syracuse is 2-4-0-0 to start the season and 0-2-0-0 at the War Memorial Arena. The last time Syracuse suffered two straight regulation losses in its first two home games came in the 2006-07 season. The Crunch have lost their first two home games three previous times in franchise history; their worst home start was four-straight losses in 1999-00 (0-4-0-0). Syracuse sits at the bottom of both the North Division and Eastern Conference standings with four points through six games; their six games are tied for the fewest in the Eastern Conference.
 
In his first season with the Crunch, center Alex Barré-Boulet leads Syracuse with five points (2g, 3a). The 21-year-old has recorded four of his five points (2g, 2a) on the man advantage. Last season in the QMJHL, Barré-Boulet tallied 116 points (53g, 63a) in 65 games, earning him the Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year award.
 
Last night against the Marlies, forward Mitchell Stephens grabbed his second assist of the year. After failing to record a point in the first three games, Stephens has three points (1g, 2a) in the past three matches.
 
Crunch goaltenders Connor Ingram and Eddie Pasquale have played three games each, both posting a 1-2-0 record. In his second season with Syracuse, Ingram has given up eight goals through three games, good for a 2.71 goals-against average. Ingram surrendered four goals in both home games—including the home-opener against Charlotte—while shutting out Binghamton on the road. Last night in Toronto, Pasquale stopped 27 of 31 shots in his first appearance since Oct. 10.
 
Scouting the Checkers

After a 4-3 overtime win last night in Binghamton, Charlotte is 7-1-0-0 to start the year. The Checkers are a perfect 6-0-0-0 on the road this season and have points in 14 consecutive games (13-0-1-0) away from Bojangles Coliseum dating back to last regular season. Through eight games, the Checkers have the second-most points (14) in the entire AHL, only trailing Milwaukee (15).
 
Center Andrew Poturalski, who leads Charlotte in scoring (2g, 9a), has a point in all but one of the Checkers' games this season. The Buffalo, New York native picked up his team-high ninth assist of the season last night on Jake Bean's overtime winner. Poturalski played in all 76 games for the Checkers last season—one of two Checkers and 18 AHL players to play in 76 games—finishing with 49 points (22g, 27a). The 24-year-old forward has been with the Hurricanes organization since 2015. Two weeks ago the Checkers topped the Crunch 4-1 at the War Memorial Arena. In that game, four different Checkers lit the lamp.
 
In goal, Alex Nedeljkovic leads the way for Charlotte. The Parma, Ohio native has appeared in six games this season, posting a 2.17 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Nedeljkovic hasn't played since last Saturday when the Checkers suffered their first loss of the season, 2-0, to the Hershey Bears. Rookie goalie Callum Booth played in his first game of the season last night, stopping 27 of the 30 shots he faced in a winning effort.
 
Special Teams

Despite the Crunch's 4-1 loss to Toronto last night, they went a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. The Crunch staved off three man-advantage opportunities in the second period alone, including 1:44 of 5-on-3 time. Overall, Syracuse ranks 25th in the AHL on the penalty kill; opponents have scored seven times on 28 chances, a 75.0% penalty kill.
 
Syracuse went 0-for-2 on the power play against the Marlies. This season, the Crunch have six power-play goals, converting on 20.0% percent of their opportunities (6-for-30). The Crunch have allowed two shorthanded goals, including one against the Checkers Oct. 13.
 
The Checkers' power play ranks fifth in the league, converting on 26.3% of their opportunities. Charlotte has scored 10 power-play goals, one of four teams in the league to reach double-digit goals on the man advantage. Charlotte is ninth on the penalty kill; the Checkers have killed off 86.0% of opponents' chances so far this year (37-for-43).
 
In the meeting between Syracuse and Charlotte on Oct. 13, special teams played a key role. Charlotte converted twice on four power-play opportunities with goals from Janne Kuokkanen and Clark Bishop. The Crunch had six power plays, but failed to find the back of the net.
 
Lightning Flash

The Lightning rolled into T-Mobile Arena last night and knocked off the Golden Knights, 3-2, to push their win streak to three and overall record to 7-1-1. Tampa Bay is the only team in the league with just one regulation loss and leads the Eastern Conference with 15 points. The Bolts wrap up a five-game road trip against the Coyotes tonight in Arizona with former Crunch goalie Louis Domingue slated to start in goal.
 
Five of the Lightning's top six scorers spent time in Syracuse: Brayden Point (5g, 3a), Yanni Gourde (4g, 4a), Nikita Kucherov (3g, 5a), Tyler Johnson (3g, 2a) and Ondrej Palat (5a).