Crunch Try to Salvage Trip to Toronto 
Syracuse concludes a three-game road trip looking to snap a five-game road winless streak (0-3-0-2) as they play the second straight game in Toronto against the Marlies. The Marlies squeaked out a 2-1 win over the Crunch yesterday to open the weekend series at Ricoh Coliseum.  

Last Time Out
Syracuse scored first, but couldn't hold on and lost to the Toronto Marlies, 2-1, Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum.

For the third straight game the Crunch struck first for a 1-0 lead. With Syracuse on an early power play, Adam Erne popped in a rebound just five seconds into the man advantage for the ice breaker at 3:05 of the first. Ben Thomas and Dennis Yan were credited with the assists on Erne's first goal of the year.

The Marlies would answer with a pair of power-play tallies later in the first. Andreas Johnsson tied the game with a redirection in the slot for his seventh goal of the year at 13:54. Kasperi Kapanen put Toronto ahead with a wrist shot from the right circle at 18:56.

The Crunch would generate 25 shots over the final two periods, but Garret Sparks shut the door as the Marlies fended off the Crunch, 2-1. Louis Domingue, making his Crunch debut, stopped 25 of 27 shots in the loss.   
  
Scouting the Crunch
The Crunch (4-8-1-2) are winless in their last five road games; they are still searching for their first road win in November (0-3-0-2). Tonight ends the stretch of seven out of eight games played on the road.

Adam Erne scored his first goal of the season yesterday against the Marlies. The third-year Crunch forward has netted 14 goals in each of the last two seasons. His 30th career AHL goal was his 11th career power-play goal. With points in back-to-back games, Erne has seven points (1g, 6a) this season.

Louis Domingue made his Syracuse Crunch debut yesterday against the Marlies. The 25-year-old goaltender, appearing in his first AHL game since the 2015-16 season, stopped 25 of 27 Marlies shots, but absorbed the loss.

Head-to-Head
The Marlies have won the first two games of the eight-game season series. Including last night, the Crunch and Marlies meet three times at Ricoh Coliseum over a 12-day stretch. 

Adam Erne and Dennis Yan are the only two Crunch players with points in both games against the Marlies. Erne posted an assist in the first match, Oct. 27 in Syracuse, before his power-play goal yesterday. Yan has logged an assist in both meetings.

Andreas Johnsson had two points yesterday and he leads all scorers in the series with three points (2g, 1a) in the two games. 

In net, Garrett Sparks has stopped 59 of 62 shots in two games against Syracuse, good for a 1.51 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage in the series. 

Scouting the Marlies
The Marlies (12-4-0-0) have won six of their seven games in November, surging to first in the North Division with a 0.750 points percentage.

With a power-play goal last night, Andreas Johnsson moved to a tie for second on the Marlies in scoring with 12 points (7g, 5a) in 14 games. He leads the team with seven power-play points (3g, 4a).

Toronto's 2.07 goals against per game is the best mark in the AHL. In 10 games, Garrett Sparks leads the AHL with a 1.51 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage. His two shutouts are tied for the most in the league, posting a 8-2-0 record for Toronto.   

Special Teams
Through 15 games this season, the Crunch power play has done something it did not do at all last season, score power-play goals in seven straight games. Adam Erne extended the Crunch's run with his first goal of the season, pushing the Crunch to 10-for-39 (25.6%) over the last seven games. The Crunch have surged from 3.9% to 13.3% in those seven games. 

The Marlies power play struck for two yesterday, improving to 14-for-94 (14.9%) on the season. 

Syracuse has allowed at least one power-play goal in six of the last seven games, giving up 10 goals in that span. The Crunch enter at 81.2% on the penalty kill this season.

The Marlies gave up just their ninth power-play goal of the season last night to the Crunch. Overall, Toronto is second in the AHL, successfully killing 87.3% of opponent's power plays.

First Goal Woes
Syracuse has scored the first goal in its last three games, winning once and losing the last two in regulation. 

Overall this season the Crunch have scored the first goal in eight of their 15 games, including in five of the last six games. At 3-3-0-2, the Crunch's 0.500 points percentage when scoring the first goal is tied with the Texas Stars for the worst mark in the AHL.

Last season the Crunch lost three times in regulation when scoring first, posting a 28-3-3-3 record in 37 games when they scored the first goal.

The Crunch have scored the first goal in both matches against the Marlies, but have zero standings points as a result.