CRUNCH AND ROCKET CONTINUE SERIES

The Crunch and Rocket play their third straight game over four days this afternoon at Place Bell.
 
The Crunch (17-17-4-1) look to salvage a win in Laval after dropping the first two games this week, including last night's overtime loss. They are 0-2-1-0 at Place Bell this season.
 
The Rocket (19-13-3-0) collected their third straight head-to-head win against the Crunch in 2022.
 
LAST TIME OUT

Gabriel Dumont scored a first period goal for the Crunch, but the Rocket responded in the third period before Jean-Sebastien Dea scored in overtime as the Rocket edged the Crunch, 2-1, last night at Place Bell.
 
Dumont gave the Crunch the lead in the first period by firing home a one timer from the slot on a setup from Andrej Sustr at 14:19.
 
The Crunch maintained that 1-0 lead into the third period until Brandon Baddock whipped in a rebound following a point shot from Troy Dello at 5:10. After two consecutive unsuccessful Crunch power plays midway through the third, the game ended up in overtime. Laval possessed the puck most of the extra frame and Dea finally snuck behind the defense to snap in the game-winning goal at 3:24.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH

Despite the loss last night, the Crunch remain at 0.500 with a 17-17-4-1 record. They are in sixth place in the North Division behind the streaking Belleville Senators, who have won three games in a row.
 
Captain Gabriel Dumont is on another goal streak. With tallies in both games this week against the Rocket, the Quebec-born forward has scored goals in three straight games; it's the third streak of at least three games with a goal this season for Dumont. He had one run of four straight games Oct. 30-Nov. 10.
 
Dumont leads the Crunch in goals (18) and points (33) as one of two players to play in all 39 games. His 18 goals are two shy of matching his career high of 20 set in 2014-15 and he enters today tied for sixth overall in the league in goals, just three back of the league lead.
 
SCOUTING THE ROCKET

The Rocket go for a perfect record during their three-game homestand this afternoon. At 19-13-3-0 Laval holds fourth place in the North Division with a 0.586 points percentage and they have closed the gap on third place Rochester (0.595).
 
Jean-Sebastien Dea returned to the lineup for the Rocket last night after missing Wednesday's game with an injury and he promptly provided the overtime game-winning goal. The veteran has tormented the Crunch in recent seasons after spending the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns in Rochester. Over his last 17 games against Syracuse, Dea has 17 points (9g, 8a).
 
Kevin Poulin was only called on for 19 saves last night, but many were impressive as he improved to 6-3-1 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage this season. He is 2-0-0 this week against the Crunch with a .933 save percentage.
 
LOOKING FOR GOALS

Last night was the ninth time in 2021-22 that the Crunch were held to one goal in a game. Syracuse ranks 27th in the AHL in scoring with 2.74 goals per game, which is currently in line to be the lowest for a Crunch team since 2013-14 (2.61).
 
In the last full regular season (2018-19), the Crunch were held to one or fewer goals just 11 times all season and it wasn't until game 67 that they were held to that mark for the ninth time. That last time they were limited to one or fewer goals for the ninth time in a season quicker than this year was in 2016-17, when it happened in game 34.
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Rocket have won three straight games in this season's eight-game regular season series. It also give Laval a slight edge in wins all-time in the series. Syracuse is 11-8-3-1 and Laval is 12-10-0-1 head-to-head. The Rocket have won all three matches in Laval, dropping the Crunch to 3-6-2-1 in Quebec since 2017-18.
 
Gabriel Dumont leads the series with three goals in four games against the Rocket. He has scored goals in both games this week and also netted one in the Crunch's win against Laval in Syracuse on Nov. 6. Peter Abbandonato was held pointless last night, but still maintains the overall lead in the series with four points. J-S Dea and Cameron Hillis are the only two Laval players with two goals against the Crunch.
 
ROAD WOES

After starting the season as a strong road team, the Crunch have struggled away from Upstate Medical University Arena in recent weeks. The Crunch started 6-4-2-0 in their first 12 road games, but have slipped to 8-9-4-0 by going 2-5-2-0 in their last nine games outside of Syracuse.
 
During this nine game stretch, the Crunch have scored just 22 goals, a 2.44 goals per game average. They have allowed 31 goals for a 3.44 goals against per game average.
 
Part of the offensive struggles on the road surround their power play, which has converted just once in the last nine road games, going 1-for-22 (4.5%). Their 5-for-5 performance on the penalty kill last night also snapped a streak of five straight road games in which they allowed at least one; their kill was just 11-for-20 (55.0%) in that five game stretch.
 
LAVAL'S BIG ADVANTAGE

Despite playing their home games in 2022 without or with minimal fans, the Rocket continue to be one of the best home teams in the AHL. Their win over the Crunch last night was their seventh straight on home ice stretching back to Dec. 3; they also have points in their last eight home games (7-0-1-0). Laval's last regulation home loss was Nov. 26 vs. Belleville.
 
At 12-3-2-0 at Place Bell, the Rocket's 0.750 home points percentage ranks fifth in the AHL and second in the Eastern Conference behind Utica.
 
The Crunch last won in Laval on March 13, 2019, losing their last five games at Place Bell (0-3-2-0).