A night after 2016 first rounder Brett Howden made his professional debut, 2015 third rounder Dennis Yan made his own debut. The Syracuse Crunch played with nine defensemen in the lineup these past two games. With Yan drawing in, the team was able to go down to just eight defensemen on the ice. Defensemen Adam Comrie and Jonathan Racine played up front with Brett Howden centering them.
Despite playing with two defensemen at forward, the Crunch played well throughout the night. They dominated play for many stretches of the game and outshot the Devils 32-26. After the first period, the Crunch were better at hitting the net and pulled away in shots on goal during the second.