CRUNCH FACE OFF AGAINST ROCKET
 
The Syracuse Crunch take on the North Division leading Laval Rocket tonight at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
It's the sixth game of the eight-game season series; the Rocket have won three of the first five matches, including an overtime win in Syracuse in the most recent meeting (Jan. 30).
 
BROADCAST COVERAGE
 
Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.
Streaming: Pay-to-watch video via AHLTV on FloHockey | www.syracusecrunch.com/watch
Radio: ESPN Radio Syracuse | www.espncny.com
 
HALL OF FAME NIGHT
 
The Crunch will honor the Syracuse Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2025 with a pregame ceremony tonight. George McPhee, Mike Angelidis, Zenon Konopka and Gabriel Dumont were inducted into the Hall of Fame this afternoon.
 
Konopka (2006-08), Angelidis (2012-16) and Dumont (2016-19; 21-25) served as team captain for parts of or all of their respective tenures with the Crunch. 
 
McPhee was the vice president and director of hockey operations for the Vancouver Canucks and worked closely with Howard Dolgon and the AHL to bring an AHL team back to Syracuse.
 
Fans can view the Syracuse Hockey Hall of Fame wall on the second floor of the Upstate Medical University Arena, on the Montgomery Street side of the building.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch's seven-game win streak ended last Saturday with a loss to the Charlotte Checkers, 4-3, at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
It was a 1-1 game after 40 minutes, with Matteo Pietroniro's goal eight minutes into the second period supplying the offense for the Crunch.
 
Charlotte capitalized on a pair of Syracuse turnovers to jump in front, 3-1, with seven minutes left in the third. Dylan Duke cut the deficit to one with a power-play goal at 14:31, but the Checkers responded with an empty-netter four minutes later.
 
Lucas Mercuri's goal with 40 seconds remaining made it interesting at the end, but Charlotte held on to secure the 4-3 win.
 
The Crunch finish 1-3-0-0 against the Checkers this season.
 
FANTASTIC FEBRUARY
 
Both Syracuse and Laval have been scorching hot this month.
 
The Crunch are 7-1-0-0 in February and have outscored their opponents 31-14. Their seven straight wins to start the month constituted the Crunch's longest winning streak since Jan.18-Feb. 8, 2019 (eight games). Conor Geekie leads Crunch scorers with 12 points (1g, 11a) in February. Three others are also at a point-per-game pace this month.
 
Meanwhile, the Rocket rattled off five consecutive wins to begin February and are 8-2-0-1 this month. They've averaged four goals per game in their last 11 matches.
 
SCOUTING THE ROCKET
 
Laval enters tonight's contest at the top of the North Division and third place in the Eastern Conference with 73 points. They routed the Rochester Americans, 9-3, last night to snap a two-game skid.
 
Forward Laurent Dauphin is the AHL leader in points (56) and assists (41), but he is not on their current road trip because of an illness. Alex Belzile was one of eight goal scorers for the Rocket last night. He leads the team with 25 goals, and his 48 points rank seventh in the league. He has six points (2g, 4a) in five games against Syracuse this season.
 
Rookie Jacob Fowler (18-7-1/2.23/.915) is also out with an illness leaving Kaapo Kähkönen (15-5-4/2.61/.902) and Hunter Jones (0-2-0/3.11/.897) as the two goaltenders on their current trip.