CRUNCH BEGIN WEEKEND SET IN CANADA
 
The Crunch play the first of two games north of the border tonight at Place Bell against the Laval Rocket.
 
It's the eighth and final matchup of the season series. The Crunch earned an overtime win in Laval a month ago and have won four of the first seven.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
Matt Tomkins made 30 saves and the Crunch shut out the Providence Bruins, 4-0, Saturday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
The Crunch, who adopted the Canal Mules identity for the night, opened the scoring late in the first period. An extended offensive zone sequence resulted in Alex Barré-Boulet setting up Cole Koepke for the ice breaker at 14:10 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. Koepke's 20th goal of the season ended up standing as the game-winning tally.
 
Neither team scored in the second period despite a 25-shot barrage by the Crunch. Then Tomkins was called upon early in the third to maintain their lead before Daniel Walcott added insurance with a marker from the left circle at 2:16 of the final frame. The Crunch added a power-play goal by Max Crozier and an empty-net goal by Gage Goncalves as the period progressed to help slam the door on the Bruins and earn a sweep of their four-game season series.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch capped off a six games in nine days stretch with Saturday's win, finishing 3-3-0-0 in that span. The team posted an 8-5-1-0 record during their frantic March, stretching their North Division lead to three points with 80 on the season (37-22-4-2).
 
Syracuse began the month five points out of the top spot in the division. The eight point swing with Cleveland took place despite the Crunch not winning back-to-back games since their four-game winning streak ended on March 8.
 
Daniel Walcott netted a crucial insurance goal in Saturday's win for his 14th goal of the season. That marks a new career high for the veteran who holds the franchise record for games played (426). Walcott scored 13 goals in 67 games last season and has 14 in only 48 games this season. His 22.2% shooting percentage is second among Crunch regulars this season.
 
TOMKINS EARNS SHUTOUT, RECALL 
 
Veteran goaltender Matt Tomkins earned his first career AHL shutout in his 65th career AHL appearance Saturday against the Bruins. 
 
Tomkins leads the Crunch with 15 wins. He is 5-3-1 with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in his last nine appearances since Feb. 28.
 
He became the third different goalie to post a shutout this season for the Crunch, joining Hugo Alnefelt (3) and Brandon Halverson (1). It's the first time since the 2018-19 season they've had three different goalies record a shutout (Eddie Pasquale, Connor Ingram, Atte Tolvanen).
 
Tomkins, who spent the previous two seasons in the SHL, entered the season with 11 career AHL victories.
 
He was recalled to Tampa Bay Tuesday on an emergency basis due to an injury to Jonas Johansson. He earned his second career NHL win last night in Montreal.
 
SCOUTING THE ROCKET
 
The Rocket have a precarious hold on the final playoff spot in the North Division. They are 31-27-6-2 and have 70 points, but the lead on the final spot is only one point and they have played the most games in the division. After tonight's game, the Rocket face Springfield, Cleveland twice and Belleville twice to end the regular season.
 
The Rocket, who dropped their final game last week against Belleville, have not lost consecutive games since a three-game skid to begin March. They are 8-3-0-0 since that drought. That coincides with Brandon Gignac finding his scoring touch with Laval after a stint with Montreal. Gignac leads the Rocket in scoring with 55 points (19g, 36a) in 60 games; he has 12 points (5g, 7a) in that last 11 games.
 
Jakub Dobeš has been a factor of late too. The rookie, who ranks second in the AHL for minutes played, is 6-2-0/1.90/.938 since March 8.
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD  
 
The Crunch and Rocket meet for the final time in the regular season tonight at Place Bell. The Crunch have won four of the seven matches, although both teams have earned eight standings points with Laval dropping the two games past regulation. Syracuse hasn't won the season series against Laval since 2018-19, when the Crunch went 5-1-0-0.
 
Gage Goncalves leads the Crunch with five goals and nine points in the series. That accounts for nearly half of his 11 total goals scored this season. He had both regulation goals in the Crunch's win at Laval last month; Gabe Fortier scored the overtime winner that night and has three tallies against the Rocket.
 
Philippe Maillet tops the Rocket in both goals (3) and points (6) against the Crunch this season. In net, Jakub Dobeš is 2-1-2/2.34/.919 in five starts against the Crunch.
 
KOEPKE CARRIES ON 
 
Cole Koepke ended March on a high with three goals over the final two games of Week 25, reaching 20 goals on the season for the second time in his three-year pro career. After notching his fourth career two-goal game in Friday's loss to Lehigh Valley, Koepke potted the opening goal Saturday against the Providence Bruins for his team-leading 20th tally of the season. The goal stood as the game-winning goal – his team-leading sixth of the season.
 
Koepke has matched his career high for goals (20), assists (19) and points (38) in 51 games this season after reaching those totals in 69 games as a rookie in 2021-22. The 25-year-old led the Crunch with 14 points (7g, 7a) in 14 games in March and ranks second overall on the team this season.
 
THE APRIL AHEAD 
 
Tonight marks the first game of April for the Crunch, who have seven games on the docket over the final three weeks of the regular season. 
 
Four of their final seven games are slated for the road and all seven come against the four teams who seem to be fighting for the final two North Division playoff spots. They face off against Laval tonight, Belleville tomorrow and again on April 17, Toronto twice at home next weekend and then they finish with a home-and-home against the Utica Comets April 19-20.
 
The Crunch are a combined 17-12-1-1 against those four opponents; their best record is against the Marlies (6-0-0-0) and their worst is against the Senators (1-3-1-1).