CRUNCH AND AMERKS OPEN SEASON SERIES
 
The Crunch travel to Blue Cross Arena to duel with the Rochester Americans tonight in the first of two games in four days between the clubs.
 
The teams will go head-to-head 12 times in the 2023-24 season after they split last year's regular season series. Tonight is the first match up since they squared off in the North Division Semifinals.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
Pyotr Kochetkov denied all 19 shots he faced and the Crunch routed the Laval Rocket, 5-0, at Upstate Medical University Arena Saturday night.
 
Syracuse pounced on the Rocket to grab a quick 2-0 lead in the first period. Ilya Usau received a pass from Devante Stephens and ripped home the opening goal at 6:50. Just over a minute later, Daniel Walcott slipped loose near the bottom of the right circle to net his third goal of the season.
 
Mitchell Chaffee potted his first goal of the season, a power-play goal, 6:47 into the second period to build the lead to 3-0. Syracuse also saw goals from Declan Carlile and Felix Robert in the third period as the Crunch earned their second 5-0 shutout win of the season. 
 
ROBERT ROLLS ON
 
Felix Robert's goal streak was snapped in Friday's loss to Utica, but the center still earned three points (1g, 2a) in two games. That extended his scoring streak to six games to begin the season.
 
Robert leads the Crunch in scoring with eight points (5g, 3a) through six games. He earned his second multi-point game of the season (1g, 1a) Saturday against the Rocket. His six-game scoring streak is a career high.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch capped October with a 4-2-0-0 record following a weekend split versus Utica and Laval. Syracuse is tied with Cleveland for third in the North Division with eight points; the pair trail Rochester (11) and Toronto (10) in the standings. 
 
Mitchell Chaffee scored his first Crunch goal as part of his second multi-point effort of the season. The Michigan native leads the team in assists (6) and ranks second in points (7). It was his first goal since Nov. 11, 2022, which was his final game before suffering a season-ending injury last year. Chaffee has 70 points (31g, 39a) in 93 career AHL games. 
 
Syracuse enters tonight's match with the top goal differential in the North Division at plus-9. That has been aided by two shutouts through the first six games; the last time Syracuse accomplished that was in 2004-05.
 
ALL HANDS ON DECK
 
Declan Carlile's power-play goal Saturday against the Rocket was his first point of the season. He is the 20th skater to record a point this season for the Crunch; all skaters who have appeared in at least one game for the Crunch this season have logged a point.
 
Carlile's goal was the eighth power-play goal by the Crunch this season, tied with Rochester and Hershey for the most in the AHL. Syracuse has had eight different players score a power-play goal, which is the most in the league entering November.
 
SCOUTING THE AMERICANS
 
The Amerks ride a three-game winning streak and sit atop the North Division with a 5-1-1-0 record. They have earned wins over Charlotte, Laval and Utica during the winning streak. 
 
Rochester enters with the league's most prolific offense, with an average of 4.71 goals per game. Second-year-pros Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen are leading the way with nine points apiece. Both players have a pair of game-winning goals to their credit; Kulich's pair are overtime winners. Both Rosen and Kulich are first round draft picks by the Sabres, in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
 
The Amerks do rank 30th of 32 AHL teams in allowing 4.43 goals per game. They've allowed at least four goals in six of their seven games, winning four of those contests (4-1-1-0). Devin Cooley and Michael Houser have split the net while Dustin Tokarski began the season with an injury. Cooley is 3-0-1 and Houser is 2-1-0 over the first seven games of the season.
 
KOCHETKOV MAKES STRONG HOME DEBUT

Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov returned from a two-week recall to Carolina and posted a shutout Saturday against Laval. Kochetkov made 19 saves to nail down his third career AHL (regular season) shutout.
 
The 24-year-old has won both starts for the Crunch this season, allowing three goals (1.45 goals-against average) on 53 shots for a .943 save percentage.
 
Kochetkov has also skated in three games for the Hurricanes this season. He is 15-10-5 in 30 career NHL games, all with Carolina.
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
The Crunch and Americans faced off 17 times last year, including the regular season and playoffs. Both teams earned six wins during the 12-game regular season series. Six of the final 10 meetings, including the decisive Game 5 of the North Division Semifinals, were decided in overtime.
 
The teams have been very competative since the Lightning affiliation began in 2012-13. Since the start of that season, the clubs have met 113 times during the regular season, with the Crunch earning 58 wins to the Amerks' 55 wins.
 
Among last year's returners, Felix Robert had the most points for the Crunch against the Amerks. He logged eight points (3g, 5a) in 11 games. Lukas Rousek's nine points (1g, 8a) were second on the Amerks behind Brandon Biro (2-8-10), who was recalled to Buffalo on Monday.