SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Laval Rocket, 4-1, tonight at Place Bell.
 
Twelve Crunch skaters recorded a point in the win, with four different goal scorers and eight others notching assists. The Crunch advanced to 12-9-4-3 on the season and 1-2-1-1 in the eight-game season series against the Rocket. 
 
Crunch goaltender Matt Tomkins stopped 22-of-23 shots. Connor Hughes turned aside 19-of-23 for the Rocket. The Syracuse power play was held scoreless on four opportunities, while the penalty kill was a perfect 5-for-5.
 
The Crunch opened scoring 6:08 into the first period. Hughes made the initial save on Max Groshev's shot, but the puck bounced to Daniel Walcott who potted it from the slot. 
 
Just 1:21 into the second frame, Milo Roelens extended the Syracuse lead. A turnaround shot from Joel Teasdale created the rebound off the back boards for Roelens to stuff in from the right post. With 5:41 left in the period, the Crunch extended their lead, 3-0. Gabriel Fortier won the face-off in the right circle and dished it back to Declan Carlile. Carlile fed the puck to Roman Schmidt at the right point who fired a long shot through traffic and past Hughes. 
 
The Rocket found the back of the net for their first goal of the night at the 10:56 mark of the final frame. Tyler Wotherspoon hammered a one-timer off the face-off to trim the Crunch lead, 3-1. Jack Finley reestablished Syracuse's three-goal lead with just under eight minutes remaining. Fortier picked up his second assist of the night on a breakaway chance as he turned and dished the puck to Finley who netted a one-timer from the slot. 
 
The Crunch and Rocket close out the weekend series in Laval tomorrow afternoon.
 
Single game tickets and ticket packages for the 2024-25 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), X (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch).
 
Crunchables: Jack Finley notched his first goal of the season… Derrick Pouliot has recorded four points in the last three games against the Rocket (2g, 2a).