Crunch begin 2018 in Hartford
The Crunch (18-12-1-2) play their first game of 2018 and make their only trip to XL Center in Hartford to battle the Wolf Pack (14-15-3-3) for the first time this season. Hartford swept a two-game series with the Crunch in 2016-17. Syracuse enters the matchup on their second three-game winning streak of the season while Hartford opened the week with a win in Providence last night, which ended a three-game losing streak. 
 
Last time out
The Crunch ended 2017 with a 5-0 shutout win over the Binghamton Devils on New Year's Eve at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. Connor Ingram turned aside 29 Devils shots for his second career shutout.
 
Matthew Peca provided the only offense the Crunch needed late in the first period. He and Carter Verhaeghe teamed up to keep the puck alive at the blue line and Peca took the puck to the right circle before firing home his seventh goal of the season at 15:18 of the opening period.  
 
After a scoreless second period, the Crunch pulled away with four goals in the third. Mitchell Stephens opened up a two-goal lead by lifting a rebound under the crossbar at 2:25. A few minutes later Alexander Volkov rifled home a one-timer on a feed from Anthony Cirelli for a 3-0 lead. Volkov added his second of the game on a power-play goal at 14:22 and Stephens capped the scoring with his second of the game at 17:34.
 
Ingram faced just seven third period shots, but made a glove save with 20 seconds remaining to preserve his second shutout in December.
 
Hey now, you're an All-Star
Crunch forward Matthew Peca was named the lone Syracuse representative for the 2018 All-Star Classic presented by Turning Stone Resort Casino. The event will be held at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica Jan. 28-29.
 
Peca, 24, is a first-time All-Star in his third season with the Crunch. He leads the team with 26 points (7g, 19a) after ending 2017 with 13 points (4g, 9a) over the final nine games of the calendar year. He went on a career-high seven game point streak (3g, 9a) from Dec. 9-27. The seventh round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2011 NHL entry draft leads Syracuse with seven multi-point games this season.     
 
Scouting the Crunch
The Crunch (18-12-1-2) roll into the New Year with three straight wins and 14 wins in their last 17 games. They remain in third place in the North Division with a 0.591 points percentage.
 
Alex Volkov logged his second straight multi-goal game and his third in the last nine games, to give him a three-game scoring streak entering 2018. The rookie forward has 13 points (6g, 7a) over the last nine games and is tied for third on the Crunch with 21 points, including a team-leading 10 goals.
 
Carter Verhaeghe's 12-game point streak is tied for the second-longest run for a Crunch player during the Lightning affiliation, which began in the 2012-13 season. Only Vladislav Namestnikov (13 games) has a longer run than Verhaeghe's current stretch; he is tied for third on the Crunch with 21 points (7g, 14a) in 20 games.
 
Connor Ingram made consecutive starts for the Crunch for the first time since Oct. 21-27 and stopped 44 of 46 shots—a .957 save percentage—in a pair of wins last week. He made 29 saves Sunday in Binghamton for his second career shutout; his first was Dec. 9 vs. Belleville. With two shutouts in his last four starts, Ingram is tied for the AHL lead with two shutouts and is 6-5-1 with a 2.74 goals-against average and an .890 save percentage.
 
A December to remember
The Crunch won 10 games in December, marking just the fifth time in franchise history that the Crunch won at least 10 games in a calendar month. It was the first time since their affiliation with the Lightning began in the 2012-13 season. The last occurrence was March 2012 when the Crunch earned 11 wins in 15 games.
 
Three times in team history, the Crunch picked up 11 wins in a month—March 2012 (11-2-1-1), March 2011 (11-4-0-0) and March 2008 (11-0-0-1). They had 10 wins in 16 games (10-5-0-1) in December 2007. Their 0.769 win percentage this December is second-best among the five months, only behind the 0.917 win percentage put up in March 2008. 
 
Scouting the Wolf Pack
The Wolf Pack opened up a three-in-three weekend by defeating the Providence Bruins, 3-2, at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence last night to snap a three-game losing streak. The win gives Hartford six wins in its last 10 games (6-3-0-1), but the Pack are tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 0.486 points percentage (14-15-3-3). 
 
John Gilmour, Hartford's AHL All-Star representative, scored what proved to be the game-winning goal last night. The second-year-pro has 20 points (6g, 14a) to lead Wolf Pack defensemen. His sixth goal matches his production from his rookie season when he appeared in all 76 games for Hartford.
 
Peter Holland didn't register a point last night, but he has 11 points (3g, 8a) in 11 games with the Pack since being acquired in a trade from the Canadiens organization Nov 30. Between Laval and Hartford, Holland has 30 points (11g, 19a) in 31 games, including a hat trick against the Crunch for the Rocket Nov. 4.
 
Goaltender Marek Mazanec has appeared in seven games since being signed by the New York Rangers in early December. He is 5-1-1 with a 2.96 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage for the Wolf Pack after beginning the season in the KHL. He started and won last night in Providence, making 37 saves on 39 shots. Rookie Alexandar Georgiev is 4-9-5 in 20 appearances with a 3.44 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage. He's only appeared in two of the last 11 games since Mazanec arrived in Hartford.
 
Prolific first periods
The Crunch scored a first-period goal in 11 of 13 December games, totaling 21 goals. By comparison, the Crunch scored 16 goals in both the second and third periods throughout December.
 
Syracuse outscored their opposition, 21-11, in the first period in December and the Crunch are now +12 in the first period this season, their best period.
 
Syracuse's 43 first period goals leads the AHL, four ahead of Manitoba who is second with 39.