CRUNCH EYE PLAYOFF BERTH
 
The Crunch finish off their weekend in Canada and have their first chance to nail down a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs tonight as they face the Belleville Senators at CAA Arena.
 
It's the seventh of eight head-to-head matches between the teams. The Senators have won five of the first six meetings, including both in Belleville.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch moved closer to a playoff position with a 3-1 win over the Laval Rocket at Place Bell last night.
 
Syracuse scored the last three goals after falling behind in the first period. The Rocket capitalized with a power-play goal at 13:13 for a 1-0 lead. Justin Barron followed up after his first shot was blocked and ripped home the opening goal.
 
After a flurry of saves early in the second period by Crunch netminder Brandon Halverson kept it 1-0, the Crunch seized control and tied the game at 8:33. Tristan Allard grabbed the puck off the left wall, made a power move to the net and backhanded the equalizer.
 
The Crunch broke the tie with a power-play goal in the third. Max Crozier held an attempted Laval clear, dished to Gage Goncalves who set up Jack Finley on the doorstep for the go-ahead goal. Shawn Element iced it with an empty-net goal late for the 3-1 win, earning the Crunch the season series win against the Rocket for the first time since 2018-19.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch made it back-to-back wins for the first time in a month with last night's victory at Laval. It also marked their 20th road win. It's the fifth time in franchise history, and the first since 2018-19, that the Crunch have reach 20 wins on the road. It's the first time in the 72-game AHL season.
 
Syracuse stretched its lead in the North Division to four points. The Crunch are 38-22-4-2 and have 82 points.
 
Tristan Allard powered the Crunch to their win with his first career multi-point game. He scored the Crunch's first goal and then set up the empty-net tally to seal the win. With points in back-to-back games, the rookie is now at 18 points in 58 games this season.
 
CLINCHING SCENARIOS 
 
The Crunch trimmed their magic number to two with their win last night in Laval. That makes tonight their first opportunity to officially clinch a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
 
Syracuse clinches a playoff berth on Saturday with:
(a) a win at Belleville, OR
(b) a Utica regulation loss at Toronto, OR
© an OTL/SOL at Belleville AND a Utica OTL/SOL at Toronto.
 
The Crunch have qualified for the playoffs in five straight eligible seasons since 2016-17 (no playoffs were held in 2019-20 and 2020-21). 
 
SCOUTING THE SENATORS
 
After losing four straight games, the Senators have picked up back-to-back wins with last night's 3-0 shutout against Springfield. The Senators moved into a tie for the final playoff spot in the North Division with 70 points; Laval holds the tiebreaker (regulation wins), but Belleville has two games in hand. The Sens are 32-27-3-3 this season.
 
That is despite leading scorer Angus Crookshank being recalled to Ottawa. The AHL All-Star had picked up points in his previous seven games, but has been unavailable for the last six Belleville games. That has allowed Garrett Pilon to close within two points of the team lead with 44 points (16g, 28a) in 56 games.
 
Mads Sogaard, who lead the Senators with a 14-9-3 record, including a 4-1-0 mark against the Crunch, has missed the last four games due to injury. Kevin Mandolese has started and won their last two games, notching his first career AHL shutout last night.
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD  
 
The Crunch and Senators will meet twice over the final three weeks of the season (also April 17). Belleville has gone 5-1-0-0 against the Crunch this season, although Syracuse (1-3-1-1) earned a win in the most recent game.
 
Cole Koepke leads the Crunch in scoring against the Senators with a team-high four goals and six points in five games. Sean Day is a close second with five points (2g, 3a) in five games. 
 
Angus Crookshank leads all scorers with seven points (4g, 3a), but he's on recall to Ottawa. That leaves Egor Sokolov as the top active scorer with six assists in six games. 
 
SHUT IT DOWN 
 
Once the Crunch grabbed control of last night's game, they didn't let their foot off the gas. Syracuse clamped down and went 25:55 of game time between shots allowed. Laval's 18th shot of the game was registered at 5:29 of the second period. They had a 1-0 at that point. The Rocket didn't notch their 19th bid on Brandon Halverson until 11:24 of the third period, at which point they trailed 2-1.
 
The Rocket finished with 26 shots on goal in the game, with eight coming in the third period.
 
AS THE CROW FLIES 
 
Rookie defenseman Max Crozier continues to elevate his game for the Crunch, eating major minutes and contributing offensively. Crozier earned an assist on last night's game-winning goal, giving him points in three straight games. He has also racked up points in six of the last seven contests with seven points (1g, 6a) in that span.
 
The Providence College product has 15 points (2g, 13a) in 43 Crunch games this season. He has also played in 13 games for Tampa Bay. The Crunch are 9-3-0-1 when Crozier picked up at least one point.