Last Time Out
The Crunch held the lead four times during a back-and-forth contest at Blue Cross Arena Wednesday. Each time, the Rochester Americans climbed back and topped the Crunch, 6-5, in overtime.

Matt Taormina opened the scoring with his ninth goal, momentarily tying for the team scoring lead at 27 points. Jeff Tambellini, one of 10 Crunch players to notch at least a point, earned an assist later to reestablish the team high in scoring.

Syracuse built its largest lead in the third, 4-2, when Mike Blunden and Yanni Gourde scored 19 seconds apart. Both had three-point performances, including Blunden's 10th and 11th goals.

Once the Amerks tied the game at 4-4 in the third period, Syracuse took its fourth and final lead on Brian Hart's second AHL goal. The lead lasted nearly 11 minutes before Jerry D'Amigo answered back for the Amerks to force overtime. Phil Varone capped his four-point effort with the winning goal.

Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 21 of 27 shots, while his counterpart Linus Ullmark turned aside 20 of 25. Syracuse's power play was 0-for-2 while the Amerks were 2-for-6.

Two familiar faces boost Crunch roster
The Crunch signed forwards Ryan Martindale and Kevin Lynch to professional try-out contacts Thursday, adding two centermen to a lineup without rookie Matthew Peca who was injured Saturday.

Martindale, 24, has skated in 22 games with the Florida Everblades this season, posting five goals, 12 assists and eight penalty minutes. During the 2014-15 season, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound center appeared in 19 games with the Crunch, tallying eight goals and six assists to go along with four penalty minutes and a plus-5 rating after joining the team from the San Antonio Rampage. With the Rampage, Martindale put up 13 points (8g, 5a) in 45 contests.

Lynch, 24, has played in five games with the Manitoba Moose this season, recording two penalty minutes. He has also posted eight goals and 18 assists along with a plus-9 rating with the Everblades. Last season, he registered four points (3g, 1a) and 20 penalty minutes in 53 games with the Crunch and seven points (2g, 5a) and 12 penalty minutes with the Everblades.

Season series
Syracuse is 3-0-1-0 in the six-game season series against Hershey, earning a win in the last meeting, 4-2, Jan. 9 at the War Memorial. Jeff Tambellini notched two points in the game (1g, 1a) and leads Syracuse against Hershey with seven points (3g, 4a). Tye McGinn's five goals in the season series are two more than any player on either side. Sean Collins and Christian Djoos each have two goals vs. Syracuse. The only Bears win against Syracuse in the last two years was Dec. 20, 5-4 in overtime.

Scouting the Bears
The Bears are third in the Atlantic Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference at 22-13-3-6 (.605). They have points in seven consecutive games (4-0-2-1) after an overtime loss to Albany Wednesday, 3-2. Hershey's eight shootouts lead the AHL (2-6).

Chris Bourque is tied for the AHL scoring lead at 43 points (along with Toronto's T.J. Brennan) with 10 goals in the last 11 games and points in 19 of his last 21 games (14g, 14a). Paul Carey is next on the team at 29 points (13g, 16a). NHL veteran Scott Gomez has joined the Bears and has posted six points (1g, 5a) in his first five career AHL games. 

Dan Ellis (13-6-4, 2.60) and Justin Peters (9-6-5, 2.99) have each made 24 appearances. Ellis earned his third shutout Jan. 22 at Binghamton but suffered an overtime loss Wednesday in Albany, 3-2. Peters allowed five goals in Monday's shootout loss to Lehigh Valley. 

Special Teams
Syracuse ranks 11th in the league on the power play (17.6%), improving one spot despite an 0-for-2 Wednesday. They're 1-for-6 in the last four games. At home, the Crunch rank eighth (21.1%). Syracuse is 19th on the penalty kill (82.8%) overall and fourth in the AHL at home (88.2%). Last season the Crunch scored seven shorthanded goals (15th in the AHL), but have one this year (28th).

Hershey's power play ranks 25th in the league at 13.9% (25-for-180) with nine power-play goals in 20 road games. The Bears' penalty kill ranks 23rd in the AHL at 80.9%, having allowed 36 shorthanded goals for a special teams differential of minus-11. The Bears were scoreless on three power plays Wednesday in Albany, while the Devils solved the Bears' penalty kill once in three tries.

Lightning Flash
Tampa Bay has won eight of nine, including a 1-0 win Wednesday against Toronto at Amalie Arena. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves in his second career NHL shutout. The Bolts next play Wednesday  against Detroit, tied with the Red Wings for second in the Atlantic Division at 58 points.