CRUNCH FINISH WEEKEND AGAINST COMETS

The Crunch play their third game in four days tonight as they take on the Utica Comets at the Adirondack Bank Center.
 
It's the second of 14 head-to-head meetings and the first since the Crunch's 5-0 win in Utica in the season opener for both clubs. The teams play twice in a row with a rematch slated for Syracuse next Friday.
 
BROADCAST COVERAGE

Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.
Streaming: Pay-to-watch video via AHLTV on FloHockey | www.syracusecrunch.com/watch
Radio: ESPN Radio Syracuse | www.espncny.com
 
LAST TIME OUT

The Crunch were edged out by the Laval Rocket in a shootout, 4-3, last night at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
After a scoreless first period, the teams combined for five goals in the second frame. The Crunch opened a 2-0 lead early with back-to-back goals in the first four minutes of the period. Logan Brown fired home his first goal of the season 1:41 into the second to make it 1-0 and Tobie Bisson followed up with his first tally at 3:29.
 
The period flipped around when the Crunch took two penalties in 10 seconds. Jared Davidson converted with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 5:44 and then struck again mere seconds after the penalties ended for two goals in 32 seconds and a tied score. Vincent Arseneau made it 3-2 Rocket late in the second period.
 
The Crunch leveled things 4:57 into the third when Milo Roelens banged home a rebound for his second goal of the season.
 
Both teams had chances to take the lead in the third, but neither team found the winner in overtime. Davidson delivered the lone shootout goal for either team and Laval prevailed for its third win head-to-head this season.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH

The Crunch grabbed a standings point, but came up short in the shootout last night against the Rocket to move to 6-5-1-1 this season. It was the first time this season the Crunch did not win after scoring first (4-0-0-1); Syracuse had opened a 2-0 lead before the Rocket scored three straight goals. 
 
The Crunch have 14 points this season and are right in the thick of the North Division standings. They are tied for fifth place entering tonight's game.
 
Defenseman Derrick Pouliot extended his team lead with two more points last night, giving him 11 (3g, 8a) in 13 games. Pouliot has notched back-to-back multi-point games and he has seven points (1g, 6a) over the last five games. The veteran is in a three-way tie for fourth in the AHL among defensemen in scoring. He is one of four defensemen currently leading his respective team in scoring, and he is the only one doing so outright.
 
Milo Roelens found the back of the net for the second time in the last five games to give him points in consecutive games for the first time in his AHL career. The rookie tied the game with his third period goal last night; he scored his first pro goal two weeks ago against Belleville (Nov. 2). Roelens had an assist Wednesday against the Senators and has three points (2g, 1a) in 11 games.
 
BROWN BACK IN A BIG WAY

Forward Logan Brown returned to the Crunch lineup after missing the previous four games due to injury and converted his first goal of the season last night. Brown, who missed the entire 2023-24 campaign while rehabbing a lower-body injury, has been limited to three games this season as he works his way back to 100%. 
 
Brown's goal was his first in a regular season contest since March 30, 2023 — a span of 597 days — when he scored while playing for the St. Louis Blues.
 
It was also Brown's 100th career AHL point (30g, 70a), which he has amassed in 118 AHL games for the Crunch, Belleville Senators and Springfield Thunderbirds. The 11th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft has also skated in 99 career NHL games for Ottawa and St. Louis.
 
BISSON BREAKS THROUGH

Defenseman Tobie Bisson made his first mark on the scoresheet in the 2024-25 season with a goal and assist in last night's shootout loss against the Rocket. A former member of the Rocket, Bisson grabbed an assist on Logan Brown's opening goal of the second period. He then finished off his own rebound on a 2-on-1 rush for his first Crunch goal.
 
Bisson, 27, has those two points and a plus-5 rating in 13 games for the Crunch in his first season in the organization. He signed a two-way NHL contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 1. Bisson had a career-high 27 points (9g, 18a) in 69 games for the Rocket last season. In 227 career AHL games with the Crunch, Rocket, Ontario Reign and Rochester Americans, the Rosemere, Quebec native has logged 71 points (18g, 53a).
 
SCOUTING THE COMETS

The Comets have not played since Monday's 4-0 home loss against the Cleveland Monsters. That has allowed the Comets four days with interim head coach Ryan Parent — who took over for the fired Kevin Dineen — to prep for the first of two straight matches with the Crunch. 
 
Utica is still in search of its first win of the season (0-9-1-2), although the Comets had played three straight overtime games before Monday's setback. This is the second time in the Comets' 11 seasons that they've had at least a 10-game winless streak to open a season. 
 
In their first season (2013-14), the Comets went 0-8-1-1 before earning their first ever win Nov. 8 at the then Lake Erie Monsters. Including that first win, the Comets went 35-24-4-3 the rest of the season and missed the playoffs by four points.
 
Back to the 2024-25 Comets, they have a league-worst minus-30 goal differential through their first 12 games. Nolan Foote (4g, 5a) and Seamus Casey (1g, 8a) are tied for the team lead with nine points.