CRUNCH AND ROCKET WRAP UP SERIES  
 
The Crunch finish the road portion of their 2022-23 schedule tonight against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell. 
 
The match closes the eight-game regular season series between the teams, with Laval leading with five wins through the first seven games.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
Simon Ryfors scored four goals and the Crunch survived a late Utica surge to defeat the Comets, 6-4, Wednesday at the Adirondack Bank Center.
 
Ryfors began his night by giving the Crunch a 1-0 lead with a right circle one timer just 4:18 into the game. Gabriel Dumont doubled the lead with a power-play goal just over two minutes later.
 
The Comets netted a power-play goal of their own late in the first period, but Ryfors answered with a penalty shot goal in the second to make it 3-1. 
 
Declan Carlile made it 4-1 early in the third period, and then Ryfors completed the hat trick at 9:57 for a 5-1 lead. The Comets charged back, including goals 10 seconds apart, to pull within 5-4 before Ryfors iced it with an empty-net goal for his fourth tally of the game and a 6-4 Crunch win.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch found the win column Wednesday in Utica to leap back into second place in the North Division. They are 35-25-6-4 and have 80 points; they lead Rochester by one point for second place in the division.
 
The Crunch arrive at their final road game of the season with more road wins (18) than home wins (17). A win today would ensure they finish with more road victories for just the third time in franchise history; they last had more road wins than home wins in 2012-13 (24 vs. 19).
 
Syracuse, which locked up its 17th playoff berth in franchise history last week, are still battling for playoff positioning to begin the weekend. They can finish second, third or fourth in the division. The Crunch can nail down a top three finish — and thus a place in the North Division Semifinals — by either earning one standings point, or by either a loss or an overtime result for the Comets tonight. 
 
CALL HIM RYFOURS
 
Simon Ryfors became the sixth player in franchise history to score four goals in a game Wednesday at Utica. It was last accomplished by a Crunch player on Jan. 2, 2011, when Trevor Smith netted four against Albany. Ryfors is the second player in the AHL this season to score four goals, joining Bakersfield's Raphael Lavoie.
 
In the process, Ryfors retook the team lead in goal scoring with 26 tallies. He ranks second on the Crunch in overall scoring with 57 points (26g, 31a) in 70 games. 
 
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK
 
Alex Barré-Boulet extended his scoring streak to eight games with an assist Wednesday night.  The newly minted 2022-23 AHL First All-Star Team representative has racked up a career high with 59 assists and 82 points - he has set the single season franchise record for assists and is tied for the single season franchise record for points.
 
He trails Tucson's Michael Carcone by two points in the race for the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL's leading scorer. Only one player in team history - Carter Verhaeghe in 2018-19 - has won that award. Verhaeghe set the single season franchise record with 82 points that season. Both Syracuse and Tucson have two games remaining.
 
SCOUTING THE ROCKET
 
The Rocket have won three straight games and seven of the last 10 to inch closer to securing a position in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Rocket are 32-29-7-3 and have 74 points, good for fifth place in the North Division. Laval, however, is playing its regular season finale tonight, becoming the first team in the AHL to finish its schedule. 
 
The Rocket have a three point lead on Cleveland for the final playoff spot, but the Monster have three games remaining, including tonight. A Rocket win tonight would force Cleveland to go 3-0-0-0 to catch Laval.
 
They are in this position because of their success at Place Bell. Laval is 17-10-5-3 on home ice this season versus 15-19-2-0 on the road.  
 
Anthony Richard (3g, 2a) and Raphael Harvey-Pinard (5a) are coming off five-point performances in their win Wednesday over Toronto. Richard leads Laval with 65 points (29g, 36a). Harvey-Pinard has split time between Laval and Montreal; he has 31 points (16g, 15a) in 39 games for the Rocket, while adding 20 points (14g, 6a) in 34 games for the Canadiens.
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
The Crunch and Rocket wrap up their season series tonight. The Rocket have won the season series for the third straight campaign, posting a 5-2-0-0 record against the Crunch through the first seven games. Syracuse has lost nine straight regular season games at Laval, going 0-7-2-0 since their last regular season win at Place Bell (March 13, 2019).
 
Simon Ryfors used a multi-point game against Laval last weekend to take the team lead in scoring against the Rocket with seven points (2g, 5a) in seven games. Joel Teasdale has also picked up seven points (5g, 2a) in seven games for Laval.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
 
The Crunch rank 16th in the AHL with an 18.9% power play. They've been better on the road at 20.4%, despite receiving a league-low 108 power play opportunities in those games.
 
The Rocket feature a prolific power play that leads the league with 68 goals and ranks fifth with a 22.6% conversion rate.
 
Syracuse has the edge on the penalty kill compared to Laval (79.9% vs. 75.5%).
 
Both teams have scored five power-play goals in the series, with the Crunch converting on 23.8% of chances and the Rocket on 18.5% of opportunities.