CRUNCH OPEN POST HOLIDAY BREAK SERIES
The Crunch traverse the border to face off against the Laval Rocket in their first game after the holiday break tonight at Place Bell.
The teams meet twice in less than 24 hours to close out the 2024 portion of the schedule. The Rocket have won all four meetings this season, including two wins on home ice in October.
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 had their two-game win streak snapped in a 3-1 loss to the Rochester Americans last Friday at Blue Cross Arena.
After earning a win over the Amerks on Wednesday, the Crunch found themselves down 1-0 44 seconds into the rematch on Friday. Nikita Novikov deked to the right circle and snapped a shot past Brandon Halverson on the second shift of the game for a 1-0 Rochester lead.
Halverson kept the Crunch within one with 10 first period saves, but the Amerks capitalized with a shorthanded goal early in the second period for a 2-0 lead. Graham Slaggert received a drop pass and zipped in what turned out to be the game-winning goal at 3:15.
The Crunch cut the deficit back to one in the third period. Logan Brown set up a cutting Declan Carlile for a strike at 11:39, making it a 2-1 game. Rochester buried an empty-net goal at 18:16 to pull away with a 3-1 decision.
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
The Crunch hit the final weekend of 2024 with eight December games under their belt. The Crunch had won back-to-back games for the only the third time this season prior to last Friday's loss against Rochester. Syracuse is 3-2-3-0 so far in December. The Crunch are in sixth place in the North Division with 29 points and an 11-9-4-3 record.
Logan Brown picked up points in both games last week after missing the previous nine games due to injury. Brown has skated in eight games this season, logging five points (2g, 3a). He missed the entire 2023-24 campaign due to injury.
Declan Carlile's goal on Friday at Rochester was his second goal this season for the Crunch. He has four points (2g, 2a) in 23 Crunch games this season after earning team MVP honors last season with 27 points (10g, 17a) in 61 games. Carlile scored his first career NHL goal on Dec. 14 at Seattle.
ROAD WORK AHEAD
The Crunch are in the middle of their longest stretch of road games this season. The five-game swing began with a pair of games last week at Rochester, where the Crunch earned a split against the Americans.
Syracuse plays twice this weekend against the Rocket for the final two games in Laval this season for the Crunch. They then ring in 2025 with a New Year's Day contest against the Toronto Marlies at Coca-Cola Coliseum in the first of three visits to Toronto this season.
The Crunch are 6-6-2-0 on the road this season, including a 2-2-1-0 mark in December. Laval (9-2-1-1, 0.769) and Toronto (11-1-0-2, 0.857) have the two best home records in the AHL so far this season.
SCOUTING THE ROCKET
The Rocket are in the midst of a six-game homestand, which concludes next weekend with a two-game set against Abbotsford. The Rocket won the first two games of the homestand against Belleville and Springfield to stretch their winning streak to three games — their longest since Nov. 13-16. The Rocket lead the North Division with 38 points and an 18-8-1-1 record.
Joshua Roy leads the Rocket in scoring with 23 points (12g, 11a) in 23 games. He is tied for the team lead in goals with Jared Davidson and in game-winning goals (4) with Owen Beck. A rookie, Beck has surged to second on the team in scoring with 21 points (7g, 14a) in 28 games. His overtime game-winning goal in Syracuse on Dec. 4 was part of a six-game scoring streak.
Goaltenders Connor Hughes (8-5-1/2.43/.908) and Jakub Dobes (9-3-1/2.44/.910) have posted nearly identical numbers over the 14 games apiece this season.
TWO OF THE LEAGUE'S BEST
The matchup between Syracuse and Laval features two of the stingiest teams in the AHL. Entering tonight, the clubs rank first and second in the AHL in goals against per game. The Crunch are first in the league allowing 2.52 goals per game and the Rocket rank second with 2.57 goals allowed per contest.
The Crunch are on track for their best defensive season since 2018-19 (2.46 goal against per game). Their franchise record for fewest goals allowed per game was set in 2001-02 (2.41).
The Rocket have been particularly stout at Place Bell, where they allow 2.23 goals per game. They surrendered a total of two in two games against the Crunch in October.
YLONEN HEATING UP
Forward Jesse Ylonen led the Crunch with four points in their two-game set against the Rochester Americans in Week 11. Ylonen earned his second three-assist game of the season last Wednesday with three primary assists in the Crunch's 5-2 win against the Amerks. It marked his fourth career three-assist game in the AHL. He proceeded to earn another assist on the Crunch's lone goal in their 3-1 loss on Friday night.
After starting the season slowly — with only three points through the first 11 games of the campaign — Ylonen has come on strong since mid-November. The Finnish forward has 12 points (4g, 8a) in 15 games since Nov. 15, which puts him in a three-way tie for the most points on the team in that span.
His assist on Friday also marked his 100th career AHL point in 147 games with Laval and Syracuse. He has 15 points (4g, 11a) in 27 games this season.
