CRUNCH SPLIT OPENING WEEKEND IN LAVAL
The Syracuse Crunch began their 33rd season with a two-game split against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell.
Syracuse improved to 5-0-0-1 in its last six season openers with a 2-0 win against the Rocket on Friday.
Nick Abruzzese scored both goals, and
Mads Sogaard turned aside 27 shots in his Crunch debut. The Rocket answered back with a 6-1 victory over the Crunch in the rematch on Saturday afternoon.
Week 2 features a rivalry showdown against the Rochester Americans on Friday before the Crunch hold their home opener against the Belleville Senators on Saturday.
TOP PERFORMERS
Returning forward
Nick Abruzzese began his season in style with his fourth career multi-goal game. Abruzzese opened the scoring on the Crunch's season with a slick backhand goal in the first period Friday night. He doubled the lead with a 5-on-3 power-play goal in the third period. It marked his first two-goal game since March 20, 2026, vs. Rochester.
The 27-year-old signed a one-year extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning after posting 51 points (15g, 36a) in 56 games for the Crunch last season. He has 196 career AHL points (64g, 132a) in 269 AHL games for Toronto and Syracuse.
•••
Goaltender
Mads Sogaard made his Crunch debut Friday and turned aside 27 shots for a shutout. The 6-foot-7 netminder was at his best in the third period, when he denied 19 shots to nail down his fourth career AHL shutout. It was the third season-opening shutout win in Crunch history (2004-05 and 2024-25).
Sogaard, 25, played the previous six seasons in the Senators organization for Ottawa and Belleville. He had a 57-51-11 record in 131 games for Belleville from 2020 to 2026.
ROOKIES GRAB FIRST POINTS
A pair of Crunch rookies collected their first points over the weekend in Laval.
Sam O'Reilly earned an assist in the first period Friday night. He helped force a turnover in the offensive zone and slid a pass to
Nick Abruzzese to pick up an assist. The 20-year-old enters the season following a 71-point campaign in the OHL between London and Kitchener. He was named regular season MVP, playoff MVP and Memorial Cup MVP for the Rangers, becoming the fourth player to sweep those awards in one season.
Defenseman
Tomas Kralovic recorded an assist in Saturday's loss. He picked up the primary helper on
Max Groshev's power-play goal. Kralovic earned 31 points (6g, 25a) in 52 games for Bratislava in the Slovak league last season. The 21-year-old was drafted in the third round at the 2026 NHL Draft.
CRUNCH TO HOLD HOME OPENER
The Crunch will contest their 33rd home opener in team history Saturday against the Belleville Senators. As part of the night, the first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a cowbell, courtesy of Upstate University Hospital.
The Crunch are 17-9-1-1 all-time in home openers, with four ties. They have won their last four home openers since 2022, including one win over the Senators in 2024.
The Crunch finished with a 23-11-1-1 home record in 2025-26, good for the seventh-best mark in the AHL.
UPCOMING WEEK
Friday, October 9 at Rochester | 7:05 p.m.
The Crunch and Rochester Americans renew their rivalry Friday at Blue Cross Arena. It's the first of 12 head-to-head meetings between the clubs this season after they split their 12 matches last season. They square off three times in October.
The Amerks began their season with a 3-1 win against the Toronto Marlies on Friday and then grabbed a point in a shootout loss in Belleville on Sunday.
Saturday, October 10 vs. Belleville | 7 p.m.
The Crunch hold their 33rd home opener, presented by Upstate University Hospital, Saturday against the Belleville Senators.
It's the first of eight games between the Crunch and Senators this season. Syracuse won five of the eight contests in 2025-26, but the teams split the four played in Syracuse.
The Senators split their first two games of the season. They lost to the Hamilton Hammers on Friday and picked up a shootout win against Rochester on Sunday.
WEEK 1 RESULTS
Friday, Oct. 2 | Game 1 at Laval | W, 2-0
Syracuse 1 0 1 - 2 Shots: 10-10-11-31 PP: 1/6
Laval 0 0 0 - 0 Shots: 5-3-19-27 PP: 0/2
1st Period-Abruzzese 1 (
O'Reilly), 14:13. 3rd Period-Abruzzese 2 (
Duke, Pelletier), 7:04 (PP).
Sogaard 1-0-0 (27 shots-27 saves), A-10,243
Saturday, Oct. 3 | Game 2 at Laval | L, 6-1
Syracuse 1 0 0 - 1 Shots: 6-9-9-24 PP: 1/4
Laval 0 3 3 - 6 Shots: 10-13-10-33 PP: 3/5
1st Period-Groshev 1 (
Kralovic, Bishop), 7:21 (PP).
Rodrigue 0-1-0 (32 shots-27 saves) A-9,330
| Category |
Average/Total |
AHL Rank (Prev) |
| Power Play |
20.0% (2-for-10) |
T-14th (N/A) |
| Penalty Kill |
57.1% (4-for-7) |
T-29th (N/A) |
| Goals For |
1.50 GFA (3) |
T-28th (N/A) |
| Goals Against |
3.00 GAA (6) |
T-13th (N/A) |
| Shots For |
27.50 SF/G (55) |
T-20th (N/A) |
| Shots Against |
30.00 SA/G (60) |
T-18th (N/A) |
| Penalty Minutes |
28.50 PIM/G (57) |
2nd (N/A) |
| Category |
|
Leader |
| Points |
2 |
Abruzzese |
| Goals |
2 |
Abruzzese |
| Assists |
1 |
5 Players tied at 1 |
| PIM |
14 |
Duke |
| Plus/Minus |
+1 |
Callahan|Santini |
| Wins |
1 |
Sogaard |
| GAA |
0.00 |
Sogaard |
| Save % |
1.000 |
Sogaard |
| North Division |
GP |
W |
L |
OTL |
SOL |
PTS |
PCT |
GF |
GA |
PIM |
HOME |
ROAD |
LAST 10 |
STREAK |
S/O |
| 1. Rochester |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0.750 |
5 |
4 |
28 |
1-0-0-0 |
0-0-0-1 |
1-0-0-1 |
1-0-0-1 |
0-1 |
| 2. Utica |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1.000 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
0-0-0-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
0-0 |
| 3. Laval |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.500 |
6 |
3 |
65 |
1-1-0-0 |
0-0-0-0 |
1-1-0-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
0-0 |
| 4. Toronto |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.500 |
6 |
6 |
26 |
1-0-0-0 |
0-1-0-0 |
1-1-0-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
0-0 |
| 5. Hamilton |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.500 |
8 |
7 |
20 |
0-0-0-0 |
1-1-0-0 |
1-1-0-0 |
0-1-0-0 |
0-0 |
| 6. Syracuse |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.500 |
3 |
6 |
57 |
0-0-0-0 |
1-1-0-0 |
1-1-0-0 |
0-1-0-0 |
0-0 |
| 7. Cleveland |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.500 |
7 |
9 |
42 |
1-1-0-0 |
0-0-0-0 |
1-1-0-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
0-0 |
| 8. Belleville |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.500 |
5 |
7 |
30 |
1-1-0-0 |
0-0-0-0 |
1-1-0-0 |
1-0-0-0 |
0-0 |
