Coverage
Listen to live play-by-play on The Score 1260 with pregame coverage starting at 4:45 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
The Bears have won their last two and secured points in 12 of their last 14 games. At 27-21-3-5, the Bears are fourth in the East Division and their 62 points are seventh best in the Eastern Conference. Hershey is 13-13-3-2 at home where a league-best average of 9,883 fans have filled the Giant Center this season; no Eastern Conference team has played more games so far than Hershey.

The Crunch have dropped two straight after winning eight in a row, but still lead the Eastern Conference at 34-15-3-4. A point against the Amerks Saturday keeps Syracuse in a tie with Texas for most points in the AHL, 75. The Crunch lead Binghamton by four points in the East Division and Springfield by two atop the Eastern Conference

Scouting Report
The Bears are led by center Jeff Taffe (13g-34a-47pts), left wing Jon DiSalvatore (14g-23a-37pts), and center Casey Wellman (10g-26a-36pts) who played his first 37 games of the season with San Antonio. Wellman has 13 points in 13 games since joining the Bears. Goaltenders Dany Sabourin and Philipp Grubauer have split time since Braden Holtby was promoted to parent-club Washington following the NHL lockout. Holtby was 12-12-1, suffering all three of the Bears' losses to Syracuse, though Sabourin has appeared in two games versus the Crunch, allowing four goals in nearly 42 minutes, a 5.75 goals-against average and 0.789 save percentage. Sabourin won Friday vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, allowing two goals on 34 shots; Grubauer notched the victory Saturday, allowing two goals on 21 shots against Norfolk.

Brett Connolly and Tyler Johnson both have three goals in three games against the Bears, while Riku Helenius earned one of the team's three victories over Hershey, stopping 23 of 26 shots in Syracuse's first home game of the season Oct. 13. Ondrej Palat has seven points (4g, 3a) in the last four games, including his 11th goal of the year Saturday vs. Rochester. 

Last Meeting: Nov. 18
Syracuse snapped a three-game home winless streak Nov. 18, beating the Hershey Bears, 6-1. Tyler Johnson opened the scoring 59 seconds into the contest to set the tone, but P.C. Labrie stole the show with with two fights, his first two goals of the season and first-star honors. Other multi-point performers included the game's second star Mark Barberio (1g, 1a) and third star Cory Conacher (2a). Brett Connolly scored his then team-leading third power-play goal and Danick Gauthier scored his first professional goal to cap the scoring. Syracuse stopped both of Hershey's power-play chances, extending it's kill streak to five games (18 chances).