Game 17: Syracuse Crunch (9-4-3-0) at Adirondack Flames (9-6-1-0)
7 p.m., Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, N.Y.
 
Syracuse has one more stop before the Toyota Frozen Dome Classic, a trip to Glens Falls to face the Adirondack Flames. A win would extend the Crunch's streak to five, and extend the point streak to nine. The Flames have their own win streak going, six-straight games, giving them the second-best record in the North Division and sixth overall in the Western Conference. The Crunch are fourth in the Eastern Conference, one point short of the conference leader, Manchester.
 
Broadcast Coverage
Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m. 
Radio: ESPN Radio 97.7 FM, 1200 AM Syracuse; 100.1 FM, 1440 AM Oswego | Listen Live | 
Mobile: Free audio on your mobile device with the TuneIn App 
Streaming: Pay-to-watch video on AHL LIve.com and on your mobile device with the AHL Live App
 
Last Time Out 
Philippe Paradis scored the game-winner in the third period, a redirect of a Luke Witkowski point shot, to give the Crunch a 5-4 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack Wednesday at XL Center. The win ties the longest Crunch point streak since 2013, eight games. The win tied Syracuse with Bridgeport for the top spot in the Northeast Division at 21 points.

Yanni Gourde scored two more goals for the Crunch and now has seven goals on the season, all in the last six games, eclipsing his career-high of six goals in 43 games last season. He's scored 10 of his 12 points on the season in the six game stretch. Mike Angelidis also potted two goals, his fifth and sixth of the year. The Crunch captain has five points (4g, 1a) in the last three games. Tanner Richard added two assists. Paradis' goal was his first of the year and sixth with the Crunch in 80 regular season games. He added an assist for three points in the last two games.

The Crunch scored their first four goals in the opening period and led 4-2 at the first intermission, two goals by Hartford tied the game heading into the third, where Paradis scored the game-winner. Syracuse's power play was 1-for-3 and the team's penalty kill was 5-for-5. Andrei Vasilevskiy improved to 3-2-3 with 16 saves on 20 shots, the fewest Syracuse has allowed this year. 

Scouting the Flames
The Flames (9-6-1-0) are on the same upward trend as the Crunch, winning six-straight games since a 5-4 loss, Nov. 1, to Utica. Ben Hanowski and Bill Arnold lead the Flames in points with nine each. Michael Ferland had nine points in his first nine games, but was recalled to Calgary Oct. 30. 

Goalie Joni Ortio (7-3-1) has a 3.56 goals-against average in 12 starts. Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender Brad Thiessen has split duty with Ortio this season and is 2-3-0 in six starts with a 2.27 goals-against average.

Adirondack has the league's sixth most potent offense, scoring 3.19 goals per game, but give up more goals per game (3.31) than they score.

Unfamiliar Foes
It's been eight years since the Crunch last played a Flames affiliate. In 2006, the Crunch were affiliated with Columbus when they played Calgary's Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights. It's been even longer since affiliates of Tampa Bay and Calgary squared off. It was April 4, 2003, when the Lightning's AHL franchise was in Springfield and the Flames were in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Special Teams
The Crunch went 1-for-3 on the power-play for the third game in a row Wednesday. Yanni Gourde scored on the man advantage against Hartford after a Justin Vaive roughing call. Syracuse has eight power-play goals on the season and ranks 27th in the league. The Crunch have killed 18 of their last 20 penalties and rank 20th in the league (82.6%).

The Flames have scored 18 power-play goals and are tied for third in the league with the Texas Stars in power-play efficiency (21.7%). Adirondack is 23rd in the AHL on the penalty kill (81.0%), allowing 15 goals.