Crunch go for weekend sweep of Monsters
 
The Crunch and Cleveland Monsters conclude a two-game weekend set tonight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. 
 
Syracuse claimed its first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over the Monsters last night. The Crunch delivered Cleveland (2-1-0-0) its first loss of the season as the Monsters fell to 6-7-0-0 in their home openers in franchise history.
 
This is the last meeting in Cleveland between the clubs this season; the Crunch will host the Monsters Nov. 16 and Feb. 21.   
 
Last Time Out
 
Scott Wedgewood made 31 saves and the Crunch held off the Cleveland Monsters, 2-1, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse last night. 
 
The Crunch claimed their first lead of the season 9:16 into the second period. Cameron Gaunce moved the puck to Luke Schenn at the right point. He wrist shot was tipped by Alex Barré-Boulet and got past Matiss Kivlenieks to put the Crunch up 1-0. 
 
Syracuse capitalized on its first power play to begin the second period. Gemel Smith drew coverage along the left boards before sliding a pass to Cal Foote at the point. Foote set up Ross Colton, who immediately steered the puck to the right circle, where Peter Abbandonato wired home a one-timer for his first pro goal and a 2-0 lead at 1:24 of the period. The Monsters scored on a deflection of their own later in the period with Adam Clendening's point shot grazing in off Sam Vigneault's arm at 12:59.
 
Wedgewood made the lead hold up to earn the win in his Crunch debut.
 
Scouting the Crunch
 
The Crunch's win last night gives the Crunch three out of a possible four points to begin the season. It's the first time since 2016-17 (2-0-0-0) that the Crunch have collected a point in their first two games of the season (1-0-1-0).
 
In eight seasons as the Tampa Bay Lightning's affiliate, the Crunch have earn a point in their first two games five times (2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2019-20). The only time in that span they've had a point in three or more games in a row to start the year was 2012-13, when they got off to a 4-0-0-1 start in the first year of the affiliation. 
 
Alex Barré-Boulet opened the scoring and gave the Crunch their first win of the season last night with a deflection in the first period. The second-year-pro collected his first goal of the season after scoring a league-high 34 as a rookie last year. He won the AHL Rookie of the Year award after pacing all AHL rookies with 68 points (34g, 34a) in 2018-19. 
 
Through the first two games of the season, 11 different players have recorded a point, but no Crunch players has more than one point.
 
Not a bad first  
 
Rookie Peter Abbandonato scored his first professional/AHL goal in last night's win, firing home a power-play goal in the second period.
The goal comes in his second pro game and it stood up as the game-winner for the Crunch in their first win of the season. Abbandonato entered the season as one of three Crunch players—joining Jimmy Huntington and Mikhail Shalagin—looking for their first pro goals in North America.
 
Abbandonato led the QMJHL in scoring as an overager last year, compiling 111 points (29g, 82a) in 68 games for Rouyn-Noranda. He led the Huskies to the Memorial Cup, scoring the game-winning goal in the final against Halifax. He tallied 267 career points in 264 games over four seasons for Rouyn-Noranda; he played for current Crunch assistant coach Gilles Bouchard during his first two seasons.
 
Scouting the Monsters  
 
With last night's loss to the Crunch, the Monster (2-1-0-0)dropped to 6-7-0-0 in home openers, including a 1-1 mark against the Crunch. Now the Monsters are looking to avoid an 0-2 start on home ice for the fourth time in franchise history; Cleveland has not started its home schedule with back-to-back losses since 2011-12, when the Monsters went 0-4-0-0 at home—including one loss to the Crunch—in the midst of an 0-5-1-0 start overall.
 
The Monsters began the 2009-10 season with an 0-3-0-0 home record and in 2007-08—their first season in the AHL—it took eight games to collect their first home win. The Monsters started that year 0-6-0-1 at home and were 2-8-0-2 overall out of the gates.
 
Zac Dalpe, who led the Monsters with 55 points (33g, 22a) in 55 games last season, is off to a hot start in 2019-20. The veteran winger had a helper in Cleveland's season opening win against the Rocket and then added a pair of goals the next afternoon. He paces the Monsters with three points (2g, 1a) through the first three games of the season. He's tied with Adam Clendening for the team lead; Clendening extended his scoring streak to three games to open the season with an assist on Cleveland's lone goal last night.
 
Goaltenders Matiss Kivlenieks and Veini Vehvilainen have combined to stop 79 of 84 shots through their first three games, good for a .940 save percentage. Kivlenieks is in his third season with the Monsters and is 19-26-5 in 59 career AHL games. Vehvilainen made his AHL/North American debut Saturday against the Rocket and made 30 saves. In Finland, he won the  Urpo Ylönen Award as Liiga's top goaltender in 2018 and in 2019.
 
Close, close games
 
The Crunch have opened the season with a pair of one-goal games, dropping their opener in overtime against Rochester before claiming a 2-1 win last night over Cleveland.
 
That's a change from last year when the Crunch tied for the second fewest number of one-goal games played (29); they only trailed the Ontario Reign (27), who finished last in the AHL overall at 25-33-6-4. 
 
In one-goal games last season, the Crunch posted a 15-6-4-4 record en route to winning the North Division. They led the league in blowout wins of four or more goals, claiming 17 such victories.