Crunch clash in Cleveland with Monsters
 
The Crunch (11-5-2-0) and Cleveland Monsters (11-7-3-0) play the second game of a back-to-back set at Quicken Loans Arena this afternoon. Last night, the Monsters ended the Crunch's seven-game winning streak with a 4-3 comeback win over Syracuse.
 
This is the second game of a four-game season series between the teams. It is the last regular season meeting in Cleveland; the Monsters come to Syracuse twice later in the season. 
 
Last time out
 
Kole Sherwood scored 3:33 into overtime and the Monsters knocked off the Crunch, 4-3, in overtime last night at Quicken Loans Arena.
 
The Crunch lost their first game when scoring the game's first goal. Carter Verhaeghe netted the opening tally with a sharp backhand bid from the slot at 4:49 of the first period. Cleveland responded with a pair of goals later in the first. Paul Bittner swept in a rebound to tie the game 1-1 at 13:50 and Kevin Stenlund did the same to give the Monsters a 2-1 lead at 16:22. The Crunch pulled even before the end of the period on a power-play goal from Andy Andreoff, good for his team-leading 10th marker of the season.
 
The Crunch claimed their second lead early in the second period. Andreoff saucered a pass to Alex Barré-Boulet at the bottom of the right circle and he finished for a power-play goal and a 3-2 lead at 3:03. That held until the third period when Adam Clendening blasted a tying goal from the right circle 10:25 into the final frame.
 
In overtime Sherwood potted a rebound to capitalize on a 3-on-1 rush for the Monsters, giving Cleveland the 4-3 win in its fourth straight overtime game.
 
Scouting the Crunch 
 
Syracuse enters tonight with an 11-game points streak, which is the longest by the Crunch during the Lightning affiliation. Twice last year the Crunch rattled of 10-game points streaks. This current 11-game run is the longest by the Crunch since March 11-April 4, 2012 when the Crunch posted a 9-0-1-1 record. The Crunch have also collected points in their last five road games (3-0-2-0).
 
The Crunch dropped to third place in the North Division last night, slipping one point behind the Monsters. With 24 points, the Crunch trail the division-leading Rochester Americans by four points with two games in hand on the Amerks.
 
Cory Conacher paces the Crunch with 26 points (9g, 17a), which is tied with Phil Varone (Lehigh Valley) for the AHL lead; Verone has played five more games than Conacher. He has 23 points (8g, 15a) during a 10-game points streak, which is a new career high. Conacher has notched at least one point in 12 of his 14 games played this season. Carter Verhaeghe is second on the team with 21 points (8g, 13a) in 18 games and Andy Andreoff has 18 points (10g, 8a) in 18 games as Syracuse has three players playing at a point per game. Verhaeghe and Andreoff had multi-point games last night.
 
Eddie Pasquale returned to the Crunch after a two-week stint in Tampa Bay. The 28-year-old netminder played his first game since Nov. 14 and made a season-high 34 saves in last night's overtime loss. He is 4-2-2 this season with a 2.98 goals-against average and an .896 save percentage.
 
Scouting the Monsters 
 
In their first season in the Eastern Conference, the Monsters moved past the Crunch for second place in the North Division with 24 points. Cleveland (11-7-3-0) has collected points in their last five games (3-0-2-0) and each of the last four games has gone past regulation.
 
Veteran forward Zac Dalpe is off to one of the best starts of his AHL career. Now in his third season with Cleveland, the 29-year-old is third in the league with 25 points (13g, 12a) in 20 games; he trails Conacher and Varone by one point. He has three multi-point performances in the last four games, including in each of the last two. His 13 goals are tied for second in the league with Rochester's Zach Redmond.
 
In net, three goalies have seen action for Cleveland, led by Jean-Francois Berube. The 27-year-old has played in a team-high 14 games and is 7-5-2 with a 3.27 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage. He is 4-0-1 in his last four starts since Nov. 10. Matiss Kivlenieks is next with six games played and a 2-1-1 record with a 3.43 goals-against average and an .875 save percentage.
 
Near perfect November
 
The Crunch collected 20 of a possible 22 points in November, posting a 9-0-2-0 record. Syracuse's only two losses were in overtime—Nov. 9 at Rochester and last night in Cleveland. Sandwiched between those losses was a league-high seven-game winning streak.
 
This is only the fourth full calendar month in Crunch history without a regulation loss. It's the first time since April 2008 when Syracuse closed the regular season 7-0-0-0. That came on the heels of a 11-0-0-1 March in 2008. The only other instance on a regulation loss-free month was March 2001, when the Crunch posted an 8-0-2-0 record with three ties.
 
Nine wins is the most the Crunch have ever posted in November and their 0.909 points percentage also set a new franchise record for best percentage in November.
 
Special teams
 
The Crunch scored a power-play goal for the eighth straight game last night, despite receiving only two full man advantages (three total). They are 18-for-39 (46.2%) over the eight games. It's the Crunch's longest consecutive games streak with a power-play goal since an eight-game streak Jan. 10-24, 2018. The Crunch have scored at least one power-play goal in 15 of their 18 games. Syracuse leads the league with 30 power-play goals and a 31.9% success rate (30-for-94). The Crunch have three of the top four power-play points producers—Carter Verhaeghe (14 points), Cory Conacher (13 points) and Alex Barré-Boulet (13 points). The Crunch have played both nine home and nine road games and they have the league's best percentage at home (31.7%) and on the road (32.4%), however Syracuse only has 34 chances on the road as opposed to 60 chances at home.
 
Cleveland's power play is 1-for-18 in the last four games. That dropped the Monsters to 27th in the AHL on the power play at 12.9%. Only Manitoba (10) has scored fewer than the Monsters' 11 power-play goals. Eight of their 11 goals have come at home, where Cleveland has a 19.5% conversion rate, 14th in the league on home ice.
 
Syracuse has stopped 24-of-25 opponent power plays in the last four games. During their 11-game points streak, the Crunch are 53-for-61 (86.9%), bringing their penalty kill percentage from 74.3% before the streak to its current spot at 82.3%, which ranks 14th in the AHL. The Crunch have the league's top rated road penalty kill; Syracuse has allowed a league-low three power-play goals on the road in 41 chances, a 92.7% penalty kill percentage. All three road power-play goals allowed came in one game—Oct. 10 at Rochester.
 
The Monsters have allowed two power-play goals in each of the last two games. They are 11-for-15 on the kill over the last four games and Cleveland's penalty kill has dropped to 18th in the AHL at 80.4%.