CRUNCH FINISH SEASON SERIES WITH BEARS
 
The Syracuse Crunch (4-5-1-0) host their first and only Sunday home game of the season and welcome the Hershey Bears (7-7-0-1) to the War Memorial Arena. Today's matchup is the second and final between the two clubs who faced off on opening night; the Crunch skated to a 3-2 victory Oct. 6.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
Syracuse fell in overtime, 3-2, Friday night against the Rochester Americans. It was the second of 12 meetings between the longtime rivals; the Amerks have won both at home.
 
After a scoreless first period, Rochester struck first halfway through the second frame. Justin Bailey collected his third goal of the season. He raced down the left wing, cut across the slot and tucked the puck past the skate of Eddie Pasquale. The Crunch netminder made 22 saves on 25 shots in the loss.
 
Taylor Raddysh tied the game for the Crunch with a shot from the slot that squeezed through the five-hole of Adam Wilcox less than two minutes into the third. The Amerks grabbed a 2-1 lead at 7:05 on Andrew Oglevie's first AHL goal. Alexander Nylander carried the puck to the right circle, got bumped by a Crunch defender and went crashing into Pasquale. Oglevie collected the puck and shot it into the net as it was being knocked off due to the collision between Nylander and Pasquale.
 
The Crunch pulled even with 0.6 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. Alex Volkov fired a pass to Cory Conacher who blasted a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle as time was expiring to tie the game at two.
 
Two minutes into overtime, Rochester's Zach Redmond rocketed his team-leading 10th goal from the left circle to give the Amerks their third straight win.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
 Syracuse bagged a point for the third straight game with a 3-2 overtime loss at Rochester Friday. Cory Conacher's last-second goal to force overtime gives him eight points (4g, 4a) in just six games with the Crunch this season. In the team's previous outing, a 6-1 demolition of the Senators last Saturday, Conacher piled up four points (2g, 2a) for the fifth time in a Syracuse uniform and first time since Game 4 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals against Providence. The 28-year-old is tied for the team lead in scoring and stands as the only Crunch player averaging more than a point per game this year.
 
Syracuse's other goal Friday came off the stick of Taylor Raddysh, who has lit the lamp five times this season. The Lightning's 2016 second-round pick rides a five-game point streak (4g, 2a) into tonight's battle with the Bears, the team he scored his first professional goal against in the season opener.
 
Andy Andreoff (5g, 3a) is tied with Conacher for the team lead in points and Raddysh for the team lead in goals. The veteran—playing in the AHL for the first time since 2014-15, with 159 NHL games sandwiched in between—is one of eight Crunch players who has appeared in all 10 of the team's games this season. Andreoff has collected 10 goals over his last 17 AHL games (.59 goals per game) after scoring 25 goals in his first 150 career games (.17 goals per game).
 
 Eddie Pasquale stopped 22 of 25 shots Friday at Rochester en route to the overtime loss. It was the Toronto native's second straight start; he saved 26 of 27 shots in the win over Belleville last Saturday. Pasquale (3.19 goals-against average, .892 save percentage) and Connor Ingram (3.44, .890) have both started five times in goal this year.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARS
 
After a 0-5-0-0 start to the season, Hershey has won five of its last six games and is 7-2-0-1 over the last 10 games. The Bears (7-7-0-1) are sixth in the Atlantic Division with 15 points. Last season, Hershey won both matchups in the two-game series, the only team to go unbeaten against the Crunch in 2017-18.
 
Mike Sgarbossa, Riley Barber and Connor Hobbs are leading the way for Hershey this season with nine points each. In his fourth season in Hershey, Barber has four goals and five assists through 12 games played. Last season, the Pittsburgh native led the team in goals (20), power-play goals (10) and game-winning goals (5). Sgarbossa, in his ninth AHL season and first season with the Bears, has found the back of the net five times and has tallied four assists. The 26-year-old has picked up 208 points (77g, 131a) through 327 career AHL games.
 
Two Hershey goalies have split time evenly this season: Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov have both started seven games and have each spent 423 minutes between the pipes. Vanecek owns a 2.41 goals-against average and ranks 10th in the AHL with a .918 save percentage. Samsonov (3.41, .890) took the loss when the Crunch knocked off the Bears in the season opener after allowing three goals on 31 shots. Vanecek was the Capitals' second-round pick (39th overall) in 2014; Washington took Samsonov in the first round (22nd overall) one year later.
 
LAST-MINUTE STRIKES
 
Cory Conacher's last second game-tying goal against the Amerks was the Crunch's latest game-tying goal during the Lightning affiliation, which began in the 2012-13 season. It was the sixth time the Crunch have forced overtime in the final minute of regulation since the 2012-13 season and the first time since Adam Erne's tying marker at 19:12 of the third period Dec. 2, 2017 vs. Belleville, an eventual 5-4 Crunch win.
 
Tye McGinn netted tying goals in back-to-back games Feb. 28 and March 2, 2016, pulling even against Binghamton at 19:51 and against Lehigh Valley at 19:30. Syracuse also has game-tying goals in the final minute of regulation from Jonathan Marchessault on April 5, 2014 vs. Utica and from Mike Angelidis on March 15, 2013 vs. Norfolk.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
 
After scoring four goals on the man advantage in two games last weekend, Syracuse did not convert on five power-play opportunities against Rochester Friday night. In the first matchup of the season between the Crunch and Bears, Syracuse went 2-for-3 with the man advantage. Syracuse's 21.8% conversion rate (12-for-55) is tied for 10th in the AHL.
 
Last night against Springfield, Hershey scored three goals on six power-play chances in its 3-2 win. It was the second time this season (Oct. 19 at Charlotte) Hershey scored three power-play goals in one game, but the Bears are 24th in the AHL with a 15.5% power-play conversion rate (9-for-58).
 
On the other hand, Hershey has allowed just nine goals while shorthanded (55-for-64), which ranks seventh in the AHL (85.9%). They have not allowed a power-play goal in the last eight games since Oct. 20; they've killed off 33 straight power plays in that span. The Bears allowed a power-play goal in their first seven games this season.
 
The Crunch are 7-for-7 on the penalty kill in the last two games after turning aside all four Amerks power plays Friday. The Crunch penalty kill is currently operating at 78.4% which ranks 20th in the league.