Game 15: Syracuse Crunch (8-5-0-1) vs. Toronto Marlies (9-5-0-1)
7 p.m., War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

Syracuse takes on Toronto for the first of eight times Friday at the War Memorial. After a loss Wednesday for the Crunch, Toronto returned to the top of the North Division standings. The Marlies (9-5-0-1, .633) are second in the conference while the Crunch (8-5-0-1, .607) are seventh.
 

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Broadcast Coverage | Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.
Radio: ESPN | 1200 AM Syracuse | 1440 AM Oswego | Listen Live | 
Mobile: Free audio on your mobile device with the TuneIn App 
Streaming Video: Pay-to-watch on AHL LIve.com and mobile devices via AHL Live App
Social: @SyracuseCrunch for in-game updates and @Dan_DUva for insights from the broadcast booth.

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Last time out
Syracuse lost to Utica Wednesday, 2-1, at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. After falling behind 2-0, Tanner Richard pulled Syracuse within a goal at 13:58 of the second during four-on-four action. Joel Vermin recorded the lone assist. Kristers Gudlevskis  (3-2-1) made 13 saves in defeat; his goals-against average improved from 3.23 to 3.08 while his save percentage held at .867. 

Rookie Thatcher Demko stopped 31 of 32 Syracuse bids while Alexandre Grenier and Derek Hulak deposited goals for Utica.

Utica leads the 12-game season series, 2-1, and leads the all-time series, 29 points to 22. The Crunch are 4-7-0-0 in 11 regular season games at Utica. The teams next meet Dec. 10 at the War Memorial

Who's in, Who's out
The Crunch were without three of their top forwards Wednesday: Erik Condra and Gabriel Dumont missed their first games of the year and leading scorer Cory Conacher missed his third. Condra was recalled by Tampa Bay Monday and made his Lightning season debut Wednesday vs. Philadelphia. Dumont and Conacher were out with injuries and were described as day-to-day by head coach Ben Groulx.

Defenseman Dylan Blujus missed his third straight game (seventh of the year) because of injury. Captain Luke Witkowski missed his third consecutive Crunch game while on recall with Tampa Bay.

Winger Brian Hart made his Crunch season debut Wednesday after appearing in 12 ECHL games with one goal for Kalamazoo. The Harvard alum appeared in 25 Crunch games as a rookie last year.

Give it a shot
The Crunch held the Comets to 15 shots Wednesday, the fewest for a Crunch opponent this year. Syracuse has kept teams under 20 shots three times in 14 games. For the season, Syracuse allows 24.36 per contest, fewest in the AHL. The category's No. 1 spot has been held by Syracuse all season. (Toronto is second at 26.20 shots allowed per game).

In Wednesday's game, the Comets raced out to a 7-1 shots advantage early in the first period. But with only one more later in the first, two in the second and five in the third, Syracuse held the Comets to eight shots over roughly 51 minutes of hockey. 

Scoring streaks
Tanner Richard has a five-game scoring streak (6g, 1a), featuring six goals in the last four games. The five-game streak equals a career best for Richard established Nov. 19-28, 2014 (1g, 6a). Prior to the current streak, Richard had scored goals in consecutive games two times in his career: March 4-6, 2016, and March 8-13, 2015. Richard leads the Crunch with six goals, while Yanni Gourde, Gabriel Dumont, Matthew Peca and Michael Bournival are tied for second most with four each.

Matt Taormina's scoring streak was halted at seven games Wednesday. The defenseman has points in all but two of the games he's played for Syracuse this year, totaling eight points (2g, 8a).

The seven-game streak equaled Taormina's career high, set in October 2013. He started the 2013-14 season with points in seven straight games (2g, 8a).

Special teams
Syracuse has allowed six power-play goals over the last three games on 15 times shorthanded (60.0%). Syracuse had allowed six power-play goals over the first 11 games on 46 times shorthanded (87.0%). Syracuse has slipped from 5th to 19th at 80.3%.

The Crunch power play is scoreless in three games (0-for-15) after potting one in three straight games (3-for-12). Syracuse is 22nd in the AHL at 14.3%. They had been as high as sixth and 26.1% on Oct. 28.

The Marlies power play was 0-for-4 Tuesday but remains top five in the AHL at 24.6%. Toronto's penalty kill has allowed one goal in the last three games (13-for-14) but ranks 21st in the AHL at 79.5%.

Scouting the Marlies
Brendan Leipsic is Toronto's and the league's leading scorer at 19 points (5g, 14a), including 10 power-play points. Kasperi Kapanen, who posted 25 points in 44 games as a rookie last season, has 14 points (8g, 6) in 15 games. He and Byron Froese lead the team with eight goals each. Rinat Valiev leads the league in penalty minutes (58) and major penalties (4); Toronto's 12 majors are second most in the league. Antoine Bibeau (6-4-1) is tied for the league lead in shutouts, three, and owns the league's 13th best goals-against average, 2.28. Garret Sparks, who last year played 17 NHL games, 21 AHL games and 1 ECHL game, is 3-1-0 with one shutout.

Head to head
In eight meetings last season, Syracuse was 2-3-3-0 against Toronto. The Marlies owned the AHL's best record at 54-16-5-1, 12 points more than the next best team, but lost to Hershey in the Eastern Conference Finals in five games.

T.J. Brennan and Mark Arcobello each scored 25 goals last year, including two and three, respectively, against Syracuse. Eight of Arcobello's 59 points came against Syracuse. The Marlies used 49 players  vs. Syracuse last year, but none appeared in all eight meetings with the Crunch. Among the 31 Crunch players used vs. Toronto, six appeared in all eight games. Tye McGinn and Matt Taormina had four goals and three assists each.

Kristers Gudlevskis was 1-3-2 in six games vs.  Toronto with a 3.29 G.A.A., and Andrei Vasilevskiy was 1-0-1 with a 2.45 G.A.A. Adam Wilcox did not face the Marlies. Among four Toronto goalies to face Syracuse last year, Antoine Bibeau saw the most action, posting a 2.96 G.A.A. and a 3-1-0 record.