SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch fell to the Laval Rocket, 5-1, tonight in their final game at Place Bell this season.
 
Sam O'Reilly scored the lone Crunch goal and his second in as many games as the Crunch move to 3-4-0-0 on the season and 1-2-0-0 in the six-game season series against the Rocket.
 
Crunch goaltender Mads Sogaard turned aside 32-of-36 shots on net. Laval's Kaapo Kähkönen stopped 14-of-15 shots to earn the win. 
 
The Crunch opened scoring on a delayed penalty with just 34 seconds remaining in the first period. O'Reilly was in front of the net to redirect Brendan Furry's one-timer from the right circle and give the Crunch a 1-0 lead.
 
The Rocket responded during 4-on-4 play early in the second period. After a series of quick passes, Filip Mešár set up Riley Wash for a wrister from the slot. They took over the lead with a power-play goal at the 14:13 mark. The Crunch attempted to clear the puck out of the zone, but Luke Mittelstadt kept it in at the blue line. He skated the puck back down between the circles and fed Sasha Pastujov for a one-timer from the right faceoff dot.
 
Laval added three more goals in the final frame. Samuel Poulin set up Walsh for his second goal of the night at 6:16. At 14:41, Brett Berard forced a turnover and allowed Owen Beck to grab the puck and score into the empty net. Two minutes later, David Reinbacher beat Sogaard on a breakaway during 4-on-4 to make it 5-1.
 
The Crunch return home this Friday for a 7 p.m. puck drop against the Rochester Americans. 
 
Ticket packages for the 2026-27 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: Jakob Pelletier skated in his 300th pro game tonight…Sam O'Reilly has goals in back-to-back games.