Crunch look to even series with Marlies
The Crunch (24-12-2-2) return to the War Memorial Arena tonight to face the Toronto Marlies (28-11-0-0). In five meetings between the teams this season, Syracuse is 2-3-0-0 against Toronto, but has won the past two games. The Marlies lead the North Division, with the Crunch four points behind them in third. 
 
Last time out
Syracuse had their nine-game winning streak snapped, but earned a standings point in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Belleville Senators at Yardmen Arena Wednesday night.
 
The Crunch struck first on an early power play in the first period. Mat Bodie teed up Mathieu Joseph for a one-timer from the right circle. The puck trickled past goaltender Danny Taylor and was poked over the line by Mitchell Stephens for his team-leading 13th goal at 3:22.
 
The Senators tied the game late in the second period. Jim O'Brien sprung past the Crunch defense on a breakaway and fired a shot past Connor Ingram to even the score at one. The game remained tied into overtime, but Belleville took the win when Max McCormick sniped a left circle shot on a 2-on-1 to end the game 2:13 into overtime. The Crunch earned a point for the 10th straight game.
 
Scouting the Crunch
Syracuse has points in 10 straight games for the second time this year. The Crunch won 10 straight games Nov. 22-Dec. 15. Syracuse (24-12-2-2) sits third in the North Division, but are four points behind division-leading Toronto.
 
Syracuse's one goal Wednesday night was the fewest the Crunch have scored in a game since a 2-1 loss to Utica Dec. 23. The Crunch are fourth in the league with 3.38 goals per game. They've allowed just 16 goals in the last 10 games and are third at 2.63 goals against per game.
 
In his fourth year wearing the Crunch blue, Matthew Peca leads the team in scoring with 31 points (8g, 23a). He has a point in 13 of the last 16 games since Dec. 9. 
 
Eight different Crunch forwards have scored goals this year against the Marlies. Dennis Yan, who is expected to return from injury tonight, leads Crunch players with five points (2g, 3a) in his first four games against Toronto.       
 
Young guns
Four of Syracuse's top eight scorers are rookies: Mathieu Joseph, Alex Volkov, Anthony Cirelli, and Mitchell Stephens. All four skaters are among the top 20 rookie scorers in the AHL, most by one team in the AHL.
 
Mathieu Joseph is tied for second on the Crunch with 26 points (8g, 18a). The 20-year-old has five multi-point games this season, including four separate three-point games. Alex Volkov's 11 goals put him second among Crunch rookies, while his 13 assists this season add up to 24 points, sixth on the team.
 
Anthony Cirelli's 23 points (6g, 17a) are seventh-best among all Crunch skaters and third-best among the rookies. Cirelli is expected to return to the lineup Friday after missing the previous six games with a lower-body injury.
 
Mitchell Stephens paces the Crunch with 13 goals this season. The 20-year-old has scored a goal in three straight games and seven goals in his last eight games. Stephens has 10 points (7g, 3a) in the last eight games, and is eighth on the Crunch with 21 total points (13g, 8a).
 
Connor Ingram's overtime loss Wednesday snapped a six-game winning streak for the rookie netminder. In his past seven appearances, the 20-year-old has recorded a 1.82 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage to go along with his 6-0-1 record. Ingram is second among AHL rookie goalies in goals-against average (2.52).
 
Rookie defenseman Erik Cernak leads all AHL first-year players with a +23 rating.  He  hasn't been a minus since Nov. 3 and has only been a minus three times all year. 
 
 "This team's a young team. I like the phrase young and dumb,'' captain Erik Condra said. "They don't know any better. They are just going out and playing and having fun. It rejuvenates me and some of the older guys to enjoy the game sometimes.''
 
Scouting the Marlies
Toronto (28-11-0-0) enters tonight's game on a six-game winning streak and in first place in the North Division.  During their current streak, the Marlies are outscoring their opponents 26-8. Toronto, which is in the midst of a five-game road trip, is the best road team in the AHL (17-4-0-0). The Marlies are the only team in the AHL that has yet to lose a game in both a shootout and in overtime. 
 
Ben Smith paces all Toronto skaters with 32 points this season (17g, 15a). At 26.6%, Smith has the fifth-best shooting percentage in the AHL and his +27 rating is second in the league. The highest scoring player for the Marlies against the Crunch this season is Andreas Johnsson. The left-winger has registered five (3g, 2a) of his 26 total points this season against Syracuse.
 
Garret Sparks (22 games) and Calvin Pickard (17 games) have split time between the pipes for the Marlies this season. Sparks has a 1.79 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage, while Pickard has a 2.06 goals-against average and owns a .926 save percentage. Sparks has started four of the five games against Syracuse this season, going 2-2-0-0 in those games with a 2.55 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
 
Special teams
Syracuse made it five straight games with a power-play goal Wednesday at Belleville when Mitchell Stephens opened the scoring just over three minutes into the first period. The Crunch finished the night 1-for-3 on the man advantage, bringing their total this season to 30-for-186 (16.1%, 20th in the AHL).
 
Syracuse extinguished all five of Belleville's power-play chances Wednesday, extending the Crunch's perfect streak of penalty-killing to five games. Dating back to Jan. 10, Syracuse's opponents are 0-for-28 on the man advantage. During the team's current 10-game point streak, the Crunch have killed off 41-of-43 (95.3%) penalties. For the entire season, Syracuse's penalty kill rate (86.9%) ranks fifth in the AHL. 
 
Toronto tops that leaderboard at 88.8% (143-for-161); the Marlies are on track to post the best man-down performance the league has seen since 2006-07, when the Manitoba Moose killed off 89.7% of penalties.
 
One year after leading the Eastern Conference in power-play success (22.3%), the Marlies are one of seven AHL teams with a conversion rate below 15% this season. Toronto's man-up unit is 29-for-194 (14.9%), which ranks 24th in the league.