CRUNCH CLOSE OUT 2023 IN LAVAL
 
The Crunch play their final game of 2023 this afternoon in a rematch against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell.
 
The Rocket fended off the Crunch for a 3-2 win last night in the opening game of this two-game set, giving them two straight head-to-head wins in barely over a week.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch fired 38 shots on goal, but lost to the Laval Rocket, 3-2, last night at Place Bell.
 
Syracuse grabbed the opening goal in the first period on a redirect by Gabe Fortier at 11:49. Late on a power play, Gage Goncalves collected a puck on the right wall and passed toward Fortier for the tip to convert a power-play goal. The Rocket answered late in the period on their first power play when Philippe Maillet fired a shot from the right circle to tie the score.
 
It remained deadlocked late in the second period until Joshua Roy cashed in a rebound. A point shot was blocked in front, but Roy beat everyone to the loose puck and deposited his ninth of the season for a 2-1 lead. Nathan Legare upped the lead to 3-1 8:32 into the third when he deked around a defender and roofed a shot for his fourth of the year.
 
The Crunch surged looking for a two-goal comeback and ended with 18 third period shots, but only Gage Goncalves' rebound strike at 19:28 bested Kasimir Kaskisuo, who made 36 saves for the win in his first appearances of the season.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch have lost four of their last five games (1-2-2-0) heading into the final game of 2023. Syracuse remains in second place in the North Division with 36 points (16-10-2-2). The Crunch are six points clear of Toronto, but five points behind Cleveland in the standings.
 
With his third multi-point performance in the last four contests, Gage Goncalves extended his scoring streak to six games, matching a career high (Jan. 7-18, 2023). He has nine points (3g, 6a) in that span and leads the Crunch with 28 points (7g, 21a) this season. He is now tied for eighth overall in the AHL in scoring.
 
Tonight marks the 75th and final regular season game of the calendar year. So far, the Crunch are 38-25-7-4 in 2023, good for 87 standings points and a 0.588 points percentage during the year.
 
SCOUTING THE ROCKET
 
The Rocket have won five of their last seven games entering the final contest of 2023. The team has also split the first two games of a three-in-three stretch which brings them to 10-14-3-2 this season.
 
Laval has gone 3-0-0-1 in its last four contests at Place Bell to reach 0.500 (6-6-1-1) on home ice this season. They have finished with at least a 0.600 points percentage at home every season since 2019-20 (excluding the Covid-shortened 2020-21 season). 
 
Rookie Joshua Roy earned first star honors with a two-point game last night. His go-ahead goal was in line to be the game winner until the waning moments of regulation. He ranks second on the team with 25 points (9g, 16a) in 29 games. Arber Xhekaj also had a multi-point game with a pair of assists, plus a third period fight against Shawn Element.
 
Kasimir Kaskisuo earned the win in his season debut, making 36 saves. Jakub Dobes started Thursday's game in Belleville, a 4-1 loss for the Rocket. He is 7-6-3/3.67/.887 this season. 
 
HITTING THE ROAD 
 
The Crunch continue a stretch of five straight road games this afternoon in Laval. This is the longest stretch of road games all season for the Crunch. Syracuse will next play at home Jan. 12, a span of 19 days between home games (Dec. 23).
 
The trip began Wednesday in Rochester; after two games in Laval, the team will begin 2024 with a pair of games in Toronto Jan. 6-7.
 
The Crunch have more wins on the road (9) than at home (7), but had their three-game road win streak snapped last night. 
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
The Crunch and Rocket have split the first four games of their season series. After two wins to start for the Crunch, the Rocket (2-1-0-1) have earned the last two wins by identical 3-2 scores.
 
With another multi-point outing, Gage Goncalves leads all scorers with seven points (3g, 4a) in four games. He had four points (2g, 2a) in 16 career games against Laval entering the season.
 
Tobie Bisson (2g, 2a) and Joshua Roy (1g, 3a) are the top scorers for Laval against the Crunch with four points apiece.
 
THE CRUNCH'S HOUSE OF HORRORS 
 
Last night marked the 11th straight regular season defeat for the Crunch at Place Bell (0-9-2-0). Their last regular season win in Laval was a 4-2 win on March 13, 2019.
 
Since that victory, the Crunch have fallen six times in one goal games. They have been outscored in the 11 games 43-20. Only twice have the Crunch scored more than two goals in a game, and they have not scored more than three once.
 
Syracuse has had eight different goalies appear in those 11 games. Seven have suffered a defeat: Zach Fucale, Spencer Martin, Max Lagace, Corbin Kaczperski, Amir Miftakov, Jack LaFontaine and Hugo Alnefelt. The lone goalie without a loss for the Crunch is Scott Wedgewood, who left with an injury in an eventual overtime loss Jan. 22, 2020.
 
Including Kasimir Kaskisuo last night, five goalies have earned wins over the Crunch for Laval.
 
TIGHT GAMES 
 
The Crunch's last four losses have all been in one-goal games, including a pair of regulation defeats against Laval. Syracuse is now 4-2-2-2 in one-goal games, with both regulation losses coming against the Rocket.
 
The Crunch also have one-goal losses in overtime/shootout against Rochester (twice), Cleveland and Belleville.
 
Three of four matches against Laval this season have been one-goal games.
 
Last season, the Crunch were 15-7-7-4 in one-goal games.