Game 45: Syracuse Crunch (26-12-2-4) vs. Albany Devils (18-16-1-8)
7:30 p.m. at War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

For the third time this season, and for the first time at the War Memorial, the Crunch face the Albany Devils Saturday night. The Crunch won the first two meetings this season, 3-2 Oct. 19 and 4-1 Nov. 24. Including Saturday, the Crunch and Devils play six more times over the final three months of the regular season, with four of those matchups coming over the next month.  

Coverage
Listen to live play-by-play on The Score 1260 with pregame coverage starting at 7:15 p.m. Pay-to-watch video is available on AHL Live. For in-game updates on Twitter, follow @SyracuseCrunch and broadcaster @Dan_Duva. For post-game recap, visit SyracuseCrunch.com and join the conversation on Facebook.

Where they Stand
Albany is fourth in the Northeast Division at 18-16-1-8 and 12th in the Eastern Conference with 45 points. The Devils snapped a two-game losing skid Tuesday with a 4-3 shootout win at Connecticut, Albany's first victory in nine games decided by a shootout. Their eight shootout losses are the most in the AHL; no other team in the league has more than five shootout losses while San Antonio is the only AHL club wihout a shootout victory (0-4). The Devils were scheduled to visit the Springfield Falcons Friday, but winter storm Nemo forced a postponement until Apr. 2.

The Crunch have the third highest points percentage in the Eastern Conference (0.659) and are two points behind Binghamton and Springfield for the conference lead. The Crunch are 26-12-2-4 after breaking a two-game losing streak Friday vs. Adirondack, a 4-2 win. Syracuse had lost six of seven, but now have two wins in their last four contests.

At home Syracuse is 10-7-2-2 while Albany is 10-8-1-3 on the road, not including their home games played at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.

Scouting Report
Aside from Bobby Butler, who was Albany's leading scorer before leaving for New Jersey, the Devils are led by left wing Joe Whitney (11g-14a-25pts), right wing Matt Anderson (8g-16a-24pts) and center Steve Zalewski (7g-17a-24pts).  Keith Kinkaid has played in the majority of the games in goal for the Devils with a 15-9-4 record,  2.47 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in 28 contests.  

For the Crunch, both Dustin Tokarski and Riku Helenius have a win against the Devils.  Offensively, Tyler Johnson's two goals and two assists lead the Crunch in two games against Albany.  Richard Panik had his team leading 21st goal for Syracuse Friday, his fifth game-winner of the season. The second-year pro has three goals and three assists in four games since returning from a three-game suspension. Brett Connolly had two goals Friday, his 18th and 19th of the season, and has four goals in the last three games. The right wing has is second on the team in scoring (19g-19a-38pts), one point behind Tyler Johnson (20g-19a-39pts).