Crunch open final week of 2017 vs. Marlies
The Crunch (15-12-1-2) come out of the holiday break with a home match against the Toronto Marlies (22-9-0-0), the fifth meeting of their eight-game season series. Following a league-high 10-game winning streak, the Crunch have dropped three of their last four games while the Marlies have lost four of their last five after winning 12 of 13 games Nov. 10-Dec. 15. 
 
Last time out
The Crunch had their six-game home winning streak snapped at the hands of the Utica Comets, 2-1, Saturday at the War Memorial Arena.
 
After a scoreless first period which saw the Crunch muster just one shot on goal, Utica took a 1-0 lead in the opening minute of the second period. At the tail end of a Crunch power play, the Comets dumped the puck in the Crunch zone. It wound up in the corner where Griffen Molino fed Michael Chaput in the slot for a 1-0 lead 54 seconds into the period. Syracuse tied the game at one at 5:16 when Erik Condra buried a pass from Matthew Peca on an odd-man rush.  
 
Molino put the Comets ahead for good later in the second. The Crunch won an offensive zone faceoff, but lost the puck and Utica went in transition. Molino converted on the 2-on-1 rush at 16:54 to put the Comets up 2-1.
Syracuse peppered Thatcher Demko with 15 third-period shots, but he denied them all to preserve the Comets win.
 
No place like home for the holidays
Although the Crunch lost Saturday against the Comets, Syracuse still holds the best home record (8-4-1-0) in the North Division. In Saturday's game, the Crunch were held to one goal at home for the first time this season; Syracuse is averaging 3.46 goals per game in 13 games at the War Memorial. The Crunch are allowing 2.77 goals per game at home as opposed to 3.12 goal per game on the road.    
 
Scouting the Crunch
The Crunch (15-12-1-2) lost their third game in the last four to end last week, but remain in third place in the North Division with a 0.550 points percentage. 
 
Crunch captain Erik Condra returned to the Syracuse lineup last week for the first time since Nov. 15 after missing 14 games with an injury. He potted goals in both games he played last week and posted four points (2g, 2a). In just four games, Condra has six points (4g, 2a), scoring goals in three of the four games he's played.
 
Carter Verhaeghe picked up an assist on the lone Crunch goal Saturday against Utica, extending his point streak to nine games, the longest by a Crunch player this season. It matches the nine-game streaks of Cory Conacher and Yanni Gourde last season; Conacher had one during the regular season and the playoffs and Gourde's came in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The last Crunch player to register a point in at least 10 games was Vladislav Namestnikov's 13-game streak from Oct. 12-Nov. 15, 2013. With 18 points (7g, 11a) in 17 games, Verhaeghe is one of two Crunch players (Condra) playing to better than a point per game.
 
On the strength of his second-career six-game point streak, Matthew Peca has taken the team lead in scoring with 23 points (6g, 17a) in 30 games. He has logged 10 points (3g, 7a) during his six-game scoring streak, equaling the 10 points (1g, 9a) in his only other six-game scoring streak Mar. 23-Apr. 3, 2016.
 
Scouting the Marlies
In the last week and a half the Marlies have nearly seen their losses doubled from five to nine, losing four of their last five games. Prior to this dry spell, the Marlies had won 12 of 13 games, with their only loss in that stretch coming Nov. 29 against Syracuse. The Marlies (22-9-0-0) are tied with Rochester for the top spot in the North Division with a 0.710 points percentage. They came out of the holiday break with a Boxing Day matinee loss to the Belleville Senators at the Air Canada Centre, home of the Maple Leafs.
 
Despite allowing 17 goals in the last five games, Toronto is still the second-best defensive team in the AHL, allowing 2.13 goals per game, trailing only Manitoba (2.10). Backstopping that effort has been Garret Sparks, who leads the league with a 1.64 goals-against average. He has a .943 save percentage, second best in the league, while posting an 11-4-0 record. Calvin Pickard has appeared in 15 games and is 10-5-0 with a 2.20 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
 
Offensively the Marlies are led by Ben Smith, who has 27 points (15g, 12a) in 31 games to rank 13th in the AHL in scoring. He had a six-game point streak (6g, 4a) come to an end in yesterday's loss to Belleville. 
Kasperi Kapanen returned to the Marlies just prior to Christmas after a two-week stint with the Maple Leafs, his second of the season. The 21-year-old has 13 points (8g, 5a) for the Marlies and two goals in six games with the Leafs.
 
Head-to-head
The Crunch and Marlies play for the fifth time this season. Toronto won the first three games, including one in Syracuse Oct. 27, before the Crunch responded with a 3-1 win at Ricoh Coliseum in their most recent meeting Nov. 29. The Marlies have outscored the Crunch, 10-7, through the first four matches.
 
Cory Conacher was the Crunch's leading scorer with three points (1g, 2a) in the series, but while he's on recall with Tampa Bay five active Crunch players slot in with two points. Kevin Lynch leads the team with two goals in the series. Andreas Johnsson is the top producer in the series with four points (2g, 2a) in four games.
 
Louis Domingue has started three of the four games against Toronto, allowing a total of five goals and playing to a .940 save percentage. Garret Sparks has also started three games in the series, also giving up five goals with a .947 save percentage. 
 
Special teams
The Marlies and Crunch rank 23rd and 24th in the league respectively on the power play. Toronto (15.3%) snapped an 0-for-20 over five games by going 1-for-1 yesterday against Belleville. Syracuse was 3-for-14 in three games last week.
 
The Crunch killed off six Utica power plays to improve to 84.8% on the penalty kill. They are ninth in the league despite being shorthanded a league-high 171 times.
 
The Marlies lead the AHL with an 89.4% penalty kill, allowing a power-play goal in just three of the last 15 games since Nov. 19. The 14 power-play goals allowed is fewest in the AHL.