CRUNCH BEGIN FINAL HOMESTAND OF 2023 
 
The Crunch kick off a three-game homestand – their final three home games of the calendar year – with a mid-week match against the Laval Rocket at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
It's one of three Wednesday home games all season for the Crunch, with the other two coming in March. Tonight is the third of eight head-to-head meetings after the Crunch secured a pair of home wins over the first two months of the season.  
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
Gabriel Dumont scored twice and the Crunch netted the final four goals to defeat the Providence Bruins, 4-1, Sunday at Amica Mutual Pavilion. 
 
The Bruins scored first with a power-play goal in the first period. Fabian Lysell fired a shot into the top corner at 11:12 for a 1-0 Providence lead. 
 
It remained 1-0 until the just past the halfway point of regulation when Dumont converted on a give-and-go with Waltteri Merelä to tie the game at one. Cole Koepke put the Crunch in front by depositing a power-play goal less than three minutes later. 
 
Syracuse pulled away in the third period. Felix Robert made it 3-1 at 6:06 by finishing off a pass from Jack Thompson. Dumont iced the game with an empty-net goal for a 4-1 win.
 
Matt Tomkins made 22 saves as the Crunch earned their first win this season when surrendering the first goal.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch won their final two games last weekend to salvage a split (2-2-0-0) of a stretch of four straight road games. Syracuse is in second place in the North Division with 32 points and a 15-8-0-2 record.
 
Cole Koepke had a strong two games to help the Crunch get back on track last weekend. He set up Tristan Allard's eventual game-winning goal Saturday at Utica. Koepke then notched his first multi-point game of the season Sunday in Providence. He scored a power-play goal – which became the game-winner – and added an assist later in the game. 
 
The Minnesota native has nine points (4g, 5a) in 14 games this season with the Crunch; he also played in eight games with Tampa Bay. It was his first game-winning goal in over a calendar year (Dec. 10, 2022), and gives him four career winning goals.
 
SCOUTING THE ROCKET
 
The Rocket are trying to turn their season around as the new year approaches. Laval is last in the North Division with 19 points and a 7-13-3-2 record. The team suffered a nine-game winless spell from Nov. 17 to Dec. 8 that saw the club go 0-5-2-2. The Rocket then won back-to-back games before losing in Hershey last weekend.
 
Laval has struggled against North Division clubs this season. The Rocket are 3-7-3-1 against the division, scoring wins over Rochester, Toronto and Belleville. That's the worst record in intra-divisional games among North Division squads.
 
Laval signed goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo to a PTO earlier this week to bring a veteran in with the rookie pair of Strauss Mann and Jakub Dobeš. Mann's last win was Nov. 15 vs. Belleville; he is 2-8-2/3.67/.879 this season. Dobeš is 5-5-3/3.97/.882 this season, including a 2-0-3 mark in his last five decisions. 
 
DUMONT'S 800TH PRO GAME 
 
Captain Gabriel Dumont busted out of a scoring slump with a pair of goals in Sunday's win in Providence. The veteran had gone six-games without a point – his longest personal drought since March 2022.
 
The two-goal effort came 24 hours after leaving Saturday's game at Utica twice for two separate incidents resulting in cuts to his face. First he took a shot off his face, then he was on the receiving end of a vicious cross check resulting in a major penalty near the end of the game. Dumont battled through to notch his sixth and seventh goals of the season.
 
The veteran is in line to play his 800th pro game tonight against Laval. He has 90 NHL games and 709 AHL games to his credit, including 389 with previous Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliates Hamilton (2010-15) and St. John's (2015-16).
 
DAY BACK FROM RECALL 
 
Defenseman Sean Day returns to the Crunch following a brief call up to Tampa Bay. Day did not play during his stint with the Lightning at the tail end of their western road trip.
 
The 25-year-old has eight assists in 16 games for the Crunch this season. Day ranks 10th in Crunch history in scoring among defensemen with 77 points (11g, 66a) in 177 Crunch games. 
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
The Crunch and Rocket have met twice this season and will now go head-to-head three times in a little over a week. The Crunch won the first two matches, including a 4-3 shootout win in the most recent meeting. After tonight, four of the final five meetings will take place in Laval, including a two-game set next Friday-Saturday.
 
Felix Robert (2g, 2a) and Gage Goncalves (1g, 3a) lead the Crunch with four points in two matches. Their linemate, Mitchell Chaffee, also has a pair of goals and three points against Laval.
 
Brandon Gignac, Riley Kidney and Jan Mysak have scored the Rocket's three goals against the Crunch.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Crunch snapped an 0-for-16 drought on the power play with Cole Koepke's tally Sunday at Providence. It was his first power-play goal of the season, and it gives the Crunch 12 different power-play goal scorers for their 20 power-play goals scored. The Crunch are 4-for-11 in two matches against the Rocket; they've scored twice in both games.
 
Laval's power play, which ranks 24th in the AHL at 15.7%, has struggled on the road (11.1%) compared to at home (18.6%). The Rocket are 0-for-9 in two games against the Crunch.