SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch fell to the Laval Rocket, 5-1, tonight in the regular season finale at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
The Crunch finish their 2021-22 campaign with a 41-26-7-2 record. They also end the eight-game season series against the Rocket, 3-4-1-0.
Crunch goaltender Hugo Alnefelt turned aside 26-of-31 shots, while Kevin Poulin recorded the win stopping 24-of-25. The Crunch were unable to convert on two power play opportunities and went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The Crunch were first on the board 8:03 into the game. Nick Perbix fired a shot that was blocked by Poulin, but kicked back out to Gage Goncalves who bodied it down and poked it in.
Laval responded to even the score at the 11:54 mark. Brandon Gignac sped down the right wing and centered the puck last minute for Nate Schnarr to chip in. With just 30 seconds remaining in the opening frame, the Rocket took the lead with a power-play goal. Rafael Harvey-Pinard took a shot intentionally wide from the right circle for Cedric Paquette to finish off back door.
Paquette potted his second of the night at the 7:44 mark of the middle frame when he redirected a centering feed from Gignac past Alnefelt. Three minutes later, Joel Teasdale sent the puck across the goal line with a close-range shot.
Laval scored again at the 3:30 mark of the third period when Corey Schueneman sent in a shot from the left circle.
The Crunch will face the Laval Rocket in the North Division Semifinals beginning with Game 1 on Friday.
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