Game 22: Syracuse Crunch (11-7-3-0) vs. Hartford Wolf Pack (11-8-2-0)
7 p.m., War Memorial, Syracuse, N.Y.

The Crunch are back at the War Memorial Friday night looking to stay ahead of their Northeast Division rivals, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Syracuse is second in the division with 25 points, ahead of Hartford by one point. The Crunch trail the Eastern Conference's best Springfield Falcons by six points in the division, and is tied with Albany and Bridgeport in the Northeast. Syracuse has points in its first two games against Hartford (1-0-1-0).

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Vladdy returns to Syracuse
Vladislav Namestnikov makes a stop back in Syracuse after spending the beginning of the season with Tampa. The Russian center, who was sent down from Tampa Wednesday, skated in 23 games with the Lightning, totaling three goals and four assists.

Namestnikov spent parts of the last two seasons in a Syracuse sweater, racking up 26 goals and 69 points in 100 games. He had seven points (2g, 5a) in his first Calder Cup playoffs in 2012-13 when the Crunch made it to the Calder Cup Finals, where Vladdy recorded two assists against Grand Rapids?. ?Namestnikov lead the Crunch in points and was tied for the team lead in assists at the time of his February call-up last season.  ?He was drafted 27th overall in the 2011 NHL Draft.  

Last time out
Cody Kunyk had his first professional multi-goal game (2g), Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 of 29 shots to earn his fifth win, and Syracuse downed the Hershey Bears, 4-1, Saturday in Chocolatetown. Syracuse has won both meetings against Hershey this year, outscoring the Bears, 9-2. 
 
Philippe Paradis gave the Crunch a 1-0 lead in the first period on his sixth goal of the season, and his fifth goal of the week. Syracuse broke a 1-1 tie on Kunyk's consecutive goals in the final frame. Jonathan Marchessault clinched the victory with an empty-net goal in the last minute of play.
 
Joey Mormina returned to the lineup and notched his first two assists of the year, having not played since Oct. 18. It was the Crunch Alternate Captain's first multi-point game since he had two goals in a 6-5 overtime loss against Binghamton, Jan. 4. 
 
Yanni Gourde earned two assists to finish his November with a league-leading 18 points (9g, 9a).

An award for Gourde
In his first 111 AHL games, Yanni Gourde scored 15 goals (.135 goals per game). Then he scored nine goals in nine games, Nov. 8-26. Gourde was selected CCM/AHL Player of the Month, having totaled 18 points (9g, 9a) in 13 November games, tops in the league during that span. The run includes a plus-13 rating, six multi-point performances, two game-winning goals and a shootout tally. 

An offensive explosion not seen in Syracuse since Nikita Kucherov was CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month last October (12 goals and 10 assists in 11 games Oct. 12-Nov. 8, 2013) vaults Gourde into a tie with Jonathan Marchessault for the Crunch scoring lead at 19 points, 10th in the AHL.

The Crunch last claimed CCM/AHL Player of the Month in February 2013 when Brett Connolly posted 15 points (7g, 8a) in 13 games. 

Scouting the Wolf Pack
The Wolf Pack are led by eighth-year forward Chris Bourque, who has a team-high 17 points (7g, 10a). The Boston, MA native tallied at least one point in nine of 13 November games, scoring a goal in six of those contests. In the season-opener on Oct. 12, the 28-year-old had two assists in a 4-3 win against the Crunch. Bourque was held off the score sheet on Nov. 19 when Syracuse bested Hartford, 5-4, at the XL Center. Forward J.T. Miller's 15 points (6g, 9a) rank second on the Wolf Pack, but the 21-year-old was recalled by the New York Rangers on Nov. 29.
 
Hartford's November began with three wins in four games before dropping five consecutive contests. Since snapping the losing streak on Nov. 22, the Wolf Pack are 3-1-0-0. Hartford last played on Nov. 29, beating Bridgeport, 3-1, at Webster Bank Arena. The Wolf Pack utilized two power-play goals to get past the Sound Tigers.

Special Teams
The Crunch were 1-for-6 on the power-play against Hershey Saturday and 10-for-91 on the power play (11%) this season, 28th in the league. Hartford netted two power-play goals against Bridgeport Saturday and rank 17th in the league (16.5%) 

Three Syracuse players are tied for the team lead in power-play goals with two: Nikita Nesterov, Jonathan Marchessault, and Yanni Gourde. Oscar Lindberg leads the Wolf Pack with four power-play goals. 

The Crunch are 72-for-90 on the penalty kill this season (80%), 24th in the AHL. The Wolf Pack rank 17th in the league on the penalty kill, stopping 76 of 93 opportunities (81.7%) by their opponents.

Phillippe Paradis has the lone shorthanded goal on the season for Syracuse. Marek Hrivik is the only Hartford player with a shorthanded goal. 

Lightning Flash
The Tampa Bay Lightning's six-game point streak (5-0-1) has catapulted them back into the top spot in the NHL, 39 points. Strong performances from Crunch alumni Tyler Johnson (28pts) and Nikita Kucherov (22pts) have been a trend for the Lightning all season, as the two rank second and tied for third in points, respectively.

Brett Connolly is off to a hot December for the Lightning and has three goals in three games this month. The Lightning have made some moves in recent days, trading Eric Brewer to Anaheim for a third round draft pick and sending Vladislav Namestnikov to Syracuse.