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. After the game, join Dan D'Uva and a guest in the War Memorial basement for “The Shootout Show” airing on The Score 1260. 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
The Devils have won two in a row and are 5-4-0-1in their last tens games. That puts Albany in third place in the Northeast Division and 10th overall in the Eastern Conference with a 22-19-1-9 record and 54 points, three behind Connecticut for the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot. The Devils lead the AHL in shootout losses, dropping their first eight before winning two of their last three (2-9). They've been stronger on the road (13-9-1-3) than at home (9-10-0-6) and have won four of their last five away games.

The Crunch have won eight consecutive games, their longest win streak of the season, tied for the second longest in the AHL this year. Cedrick Desjardins has started the last three of those games, allowing only one goal in that span, shutting out Springfield and Connecticut, 3-0 and 4-0, respectively. Syracuse has won three consecutive road games, tying a season best. Syracuse's power play is 11-for-39 (28.2%) during the team's seven-game win streak and is now seventh in the AHL at 19.6% (51-for-260), but no team has more power-play goals than Syracuse.

Scouting Report
Albany is led by right wing Matt Anderson (11g-23a-34pts), left wing Joe Whitney (16g-15a-31pts), and center Steve Zalewski (10g-21a-31pts).  Goaltender Keith Kinkaid is 17-11-5 with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. Friday will be the first of a three-in-three for Albany.  After visiting Syracuse, the Devils play road games against the Penguins and Phantoms Saturday and Sunday.

Tyler Johnson's ten points (7g-3a) lead the Crunch against the Devils.  He recorded his first career hat trick in the last match, a 5-3 Crunch win Feb. 18.  Johnson leads the AHL in goals, 28, and points, 53. Ondrej Palat has six points in the last two games, posting three assists Sunday vs. Connecticut and a hat trick Tuesday at Rochester, his first two three-point games of the season. Palat's 33 assists are tied for second in the AHL, two behind Hershey's Jeff Taffe. Goalie Cedrick Desjardins has won four straight since joining the Crunch, stopping 104 of 108 shots while upping his save percentage from 0.905 to 0.913 and shrinking his goals-against average from 2.94 to 2.64. Overall, he is 11-13-2 with four shutouts.

Last Meeting: Feb. 18
Syracuse won its fourth straight game with a 5-3 victory at Albany President's Day afternoon. The Crunch took a 2-0 lead halfway through the first period after Dana Tyrell buried a 3-on-1 rush at the 10:20 mark and Tyler Johnson scored just 34 seconds later. The Devils' Mike Sislo scored a power-play goal with 5:28 left in the first frame. After a scoreless second, the third period had a plethora of goals. Johnson and Albany's Steve Zalewski traded tallies in the first half of the third. Then, Johnson completed his first career hat trick with a power-play goal with 5:33 left. The Devils cut the deficit to 4-3 before a Brett Connolly empty-net goal extended his point streak to nine games. Goalie Cedrick Desjardins made 22 saves in his Syracuse debut to get the win.