CRUNCH LOOK TO STRING TOGETHER WINS
 
The Syracuse Crunch (17-14-2-1) have their sights set on their first instance of consecutive wins in three weeks when they visit the Laval Rocket (18-14-3-1) tonight at Place Bell.
 
The Crunch ended a three-game winless streak with an 8-2 win last night against the Toronto Marlies while the Rocket earned a shutout win for their third-straight victory. Tonight is the third head-to-head meeting of a six-game season series with both teams claiming one win in Syracuse.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch snapped a three-game winless skid with an emphatic 8-2 win over the Toronto Marlies in Syracuse last night. Thirteen Syracuse skaters recorded a point in the win with eight tallying multi-point performances.
 
For the second time this season, Gemel Smith scored on the first shot of the game, roofing a backhander 46 seconds after the opening faceoff. Later in the period, defenseman Ben Thomas added his own backhanded snipe and Taylor Raddysh buried a slot shot on the power play to put the Crunch up 3-0.
 
The Crunch extended the lead in the second period with a Ross Colton power-play goal, a Cory Conacher shorthanded finish and Smith's second even-strength goal of the night. Alex Barré-Boulet and Otto Somppi rounded out the Crunch attack with five-on-five markers in the final frame.
 
Syracuse finished Friday's game with 56 shots on goal, tied for the second-most in an AHL game this season. Spencer Martin made 20 saves en route to his sixth win of the season.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH 
 
The Crunch's eight-goal outburst was their strongest offensive performance since their franchise-record tying 10-goal night Dec. 28, 2018 versus Utica. It also marked the second time in two season they've dropped eight on the Marlies; Syracuse defeated Toronto, 8-1, Dec. 12, 2018.
 
It was the 18th time in franchise history the Crunch have scored at least eight goals in a regular season game. They've done it four times in the last three seasons after going over eight full years without hitting that mark.  
 
Gemel Smith set the tone with the opening goal 46 seconds into the game to give him at least one point in nine of the last 10 games since Dec. 11. In that span, Smith ranks second in the AHL with 15 points (9g, 6a), while his nine goals are the most in the league. He has also logged a point in seven-straight road games since Nov. 20, good for the second-longest active streak in the AHL.
 
Thirteen skaters recorded a point in the game last night. That included Jimmy Huntington—whose assist marked his first career AHL point—and Otto Somppi—who notched a career-high three points (1g, 2a).
 
Spencer Martin's win snapped a personal five-game winless skid and was his first victory since Dec. 11. The Crunch goaltending corps was supplemented by Zach Fucale, who was recalled from Orlando yesterday. He's coming off a Spengler Cup win for Team Canada, where he recorded back-to-back shutouts and stopped 72-of-73 total shots faced in the tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE ROCKET 
 
Laval enters Saturday night's faceoff in fifth place in the North Division, three points ahead of the Crunch. The Rocket are riding a three-game win streak, the third-longest unbeaten streak of their 2019-20 campaign. Tonight marks the 12th time the Rocket play games in consecutive days this season, and Laval has earned a 6-5-0-0 record in the second game of back-to-backs.
 
Riley Barber returned from a nine-game stint with parent club Montreal and tallied two assists in a 4-0 victory over Lehigh Valley last night. The American winger has notched nine points (2g, 7a) in his last six AHL outings. The fifth-year pro ranks second on the Rocket with 20 points (6g, 14a), three of which (2g, 1a) came in two games against the Crunch.
 
Xavier Ouellet's seven goals rank second among all AHL defensemen, and he's maintaining a career-best 8.8% shooting percentage. The Laval captain's 14 points (7g, 7a) are tied for sixth on the Rocket, and he's scored four points (3g, 1a) in his last three games. Ouellet netted one goal in two appearances against the Crunch this season.
 
Rookie Cayden Primeau earned his second career shutout with a 20-save performance against Lehigh Valley yesterday. The 20-year-old American paces Rocket netminders with nine wins, a 2.57 goals-against average and .906 save percentage. Veteran Keith Kinkaid, who has appeared in six games for the Canadiens this season, holds a 2-2-1 record through five appearances with the Rocket, representing his first AHL action since the 2014-15 season. The New York native allowed five goals in Laval's 5-2 loss in Syracuse Dec. 6.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS 
 
The Crunch's power play struck twice last night and marks the first time this season the Crunch have scored more than one power-play goal in consecutive games. With five goals in the last three outings, their power play is up to eighth in the AHL at 21.1%.
 
Laval's power play has recorded at least one goal in 11 of its last 13 games since Nov. 30 after being held off the scoresheet Nov. 29 in Syracuse. That sustained success has brough the Rocket to 10th in the AHL at 20.2% on the man advantage.
 
Syracuse's penalty kill has allowed six goals in the past three games, with four goals coming last Saturday in Belleville. That slump has knocked the Crunch down to eighth in the league at 84.1%.
 
The Rocket were perfect on the kill last night to end a four-game stretch of allowing a power-play goal. Last night's 3-for-3 moved the Rocket to 80.8% on the penalty kill, which is tied for 21st in the AHL.
 
A LOVE-EIGHT RELATIONSHIP 
 
Over the span of a week, the Crunch played reciprocal 8-2 games. They loved one result—last night's 8-2 win over the Toronto Marlies—but they hated the other—an 8-2 loss in Belleville Dec. 28.
 
The two games occurred over the course of just three Crunch games and essentially canceled each other out. The per-period scoring was exactly the same between the two games with the Crunch scoring three goals in the first period, three goals in the second period and two in the third last night after allowing the same per-period breakdown last Saturday against Belleville. In that game they scored their only two goals in the second period, but last night is when they allowed their only two goals against.
 
HOMECOMING 
 
A road game in Laval represents a homecoming of sorts for a handful of Crunch players. Rookies Jimmy Huntington—who logged his first career AHL point last night—and Peter Abbandonato both grew up in Laval about 10 minutes from each other. Mathieu Joseph is also from Laval and has fond memories of playing against the Rocket; his breakout game as a rookie came at Place Bell with three points, including his first pro goals, Nov. 3, 2017.
 
Forwards Daniel Walcott, Danick Martel and Alex Barré-Boulet played part or all of their junior careers with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, who located just over the Rivière Mille Îles.