CRUNCH OPEN DECEMBER IN BELLEVILLE
 
The Crunch begin a two-game trip to Canada tonight as they visit the Belleville Senators at CAA Arena.
 
It's the third game of the six-game regular season series between the clubs. The Crunch have won the first two games, including a 5-4 win in Belleville two weeks ago.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch overcame a 4-1 deficit to force overtime before falling to the Providence Bruins, 6-5, Saturday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
Luke Toporowski scored twice in the first period to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead before the Crunch cashed in with a power-play goal by Felix Robert late in the frame to cut the deficit to 2-1.
 
Providence opened a 4-1 lead with two more tallies in the second period, including a goal at 4-on-4. Simon Ryfors rifled home a goal late in the period to get the Crunch within two.
 
Ilya Usau scored another Crunch power-play goal to make it 4-3, but Toporowski completed his hat trick a minute later to give Providence a 5-3 edge. The Crunch rallied with a deflection goal by Gabe Fortier at 9:14 and a rebound goal by Robert at 19:16 to send the game to overtime. Chris Wagner's wraparound goal won it for the Bruins 1:13 into overtime.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch have earned points in seven of their last nine games (6-2-1-0). Despite back-to-back setbacks against the Bruins, the Crunch are at 0.500 (7-7-2-2) exactly one quarter of the way through the season. The Crunch are in fourth place in the North Division with 18 points.
 
Forward Simon Ryfors had the hot hand last week en route to leading the Crunch with five points (1g, 4a) in three games. He notched a point in each game, culminating with his third career three-point outing (1g, 2a) Saturday versus Providence. Ryfors goal against the Bruins gives him a team-leading 10, making him one of 13 players across the league with at least 10 goals. He had 11 in 72 games last season.
 
Darren Raddysh took over the lead in scoring on the Crunch from Alex Barré-Boulet by extending his scoring streak to six games. He has posted 12 points (3g, 9a) during the streak, which is now one game shy of his career long (seven-game streak March 25-April 15, 2021).
 
Raddysh, who has registered a point in 15 of his 17 games played this season, leads the Crunch and ranks second in the AHL in scoring with 25 points (8g, 17a).
 
SCOUTING THE SENATORS
 
The Senators snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win against Laval Saturday at CAA Arena. They are in the middle of a 15-game stretch against North Division competition; through their first nine games, the Sens are 4-5-0-0 and two of those wins required shootouts. Overall this season, Belleville is 7-5-1-0 against North Division teams.
 
Jake Lucchini continues to power the Belleville offense. He leads the way with 19 points (6g, 13a) in 18 games this season. Twelve of his points have come on the power play (2g, 10a). Egor Sokolov is right behind Lucchini with 18 points (5g, 13a), including 14 power-play points. His goal against the Crunch two weeks ago made Sokolov the all-time leader in Belleville Senators history with 39 career goals.
 
Goaltender Antoine Bibeau made a Belleville Senators record 49 saves in their win over Laval last weekend. Bibeau has been pressed into action in both games against the Crunch this season—once due to injury and once due to performance. He has taken the loss in both games, but overall he is 4-4-0 with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
 
THERE AND BACK AGAIN
 
Forward Alex Barré-Boulet earned his first recall of the season last week. The fifth-year-pro saw action in one game for the Tampa Bay Lightning before being returned to the Crunch earlier this week.
 
Barré-Boulet—who led the league in scoring at the time of his recall—is now third overall with 24 points. He has a five-game scoring streak during which he has totaled 11 points (2g, 9a). Barré-Boulet has picked up a multi-point game in half of his games played this season (8-of-16) and he has two in two matches against the Senators.
 
LABRIE SET TO JOIN 700 CLUB
 
Veteran forward P.C. Labie is on the cusp of becoming the 83rd player in league history to appear in 700 AHL games. The winger has made stops in nine different AHL cities—Manitoba, Peoria, Norfolk, Syracuse, Rockford, Milwaukee, Tucson, Bakersfield and Hartford. He captured a Calder Cup with Norfolk in 2012.
 
He has played 246 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning's NHL affiliate, split between Norfolk (2010-12) and Syracuse (2012-14; 2021-23). He has played in 126 games for the Crunch over four seasons, posting 33 points. The most games he's played with one AHL team is 178 with the Rockford IceHogs (2014-17).
 
Labrie, 36, ranks 93rd all-time in the AHL with 1195 penalty minutes. He has also skated in 46 NHL games, all with the Lightning, collecting five points.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
 
The Crunch went 3-for-10 on the power play in their two-game set against the Providence Bruins last week. They broke through with a pair of goals Saturday, which marked the first time since the first game of the season that the Crunch scored more than one power-play goal. Overall, Syracuse is 13-for-63 (20.6%) on the man advantage this season.
 
The Senators are a team that earns a lot of power plays and is efficient on those chances. Their 89 opportunities are the third-most in the AHL, while their 24 goals are tied for second behind Calgary (27). The Senators rank fifth in the league at 27.0%.
 
The Crunch penalty kill had a strong week, successfully killing 12-of-13 chances in three games. That brings the team to 76.0% this season.
 
Like the Crunch, the Senators have allowed 18 power-play goals this season, but they have been shorthanded 12 more times. Belleville's penalty kill operates at 79.3% overall, but at a sparkling 87.0% at home.