CRUNCH CONTINUE BUSY NOVEMBER 
 
The Crunch (7-6-2-0) welcome the Monsters (8-6-1-1) to the War Memorial  Arena tonight, wrapping up a two-game homestand that concludes a stretch of six games in nine days.
 
Tonight marks the fourth chance this week for the Crunch to grab points and make up ground against North Division opponents. The Crunch took two of a possible four points in two games against the Utica Comets, and Syracuse left Rochester without any points after suffering the team's first regulation loss to the Americans this season Wednesday night.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch lost, 5-2, to the Utica Comets last night at the War Memorial Arena.
 
Utica opened the scoring early on a Reid Boucher goal on the power play, the first on the way to a hat trick for the winger. Syracuse answered back with an Alex Barré-Boulet marker on the man advantage. The score was 1-1 through one period, but Utica broke out for three goals in the second, one of which was on the power play. Boris Katchouk managed the Crunch's lone goal in the frame—again on the man advantage—on a feed from Ross Colton. 
 
Boucher put home the final goal of the game late on an empty-net chance to seal the Comets' win. Crunch goaltender Spencer Martin made 17 saves on 21 shots faced, while Scott Wedgewood made seven saves in relief.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH 
 
Tonight's faceoff against Cleveland marks the last of six games in nine days for the Crunch. Syracuse has earned a 2-3-0-0 record in the first five games of this stretch, including back-to-back losses this week. The Crunch sit in seventh place in the North Division with 16 points, and they're just two points behind the fifth-place Monsters.
 
The Crunch have struggled to put together a complete 60-minute performance in their last two outings. In Rochester Wednesday night, Syracuse surrendered three goals on six shots in the opening frame en route to a 4-3 loss. The second period was the Crunch's undoing against the Comets last night: they allowed three goals on 11 shots and took five penalties in the period, including two of three too many men bench minors they committed during the game.
 
"We've got to find more flow to our game, more consistent five-on-five shifts because that's when we play our best," veteran winger Cory Conacher said after last night's loss.
 
Reigning AHL Rookie of the Year Alex Barré-Boulet has continued to shine on Syracuse's top power-play unit, as he scored from the left circle for his team-leading fifth power-play goal against the Comets Friday night. With the primary assist on Barré-Boulet's snipe, veteran defender Cameron Gaunce extended his active points streak to three games. Barré-Boulet (8g, 5a) and Gaunce (1g, 12a) lead the Crunch in scoring.
 
Second-year pro Boris Katchouk has been productive for Syracuse of late as well. He's earned more power-play ice time over the last few weeks and scored three goals over his last three games, including a power-play marker last night. The winger's six points on the season (4g, 2a) are the eighth-most among Crunch skaters.
 
In his fifth start in a Syracuse sweater, goaltender Spencer Martin was relieved mid-game for the first time in his Crunch career last night against the Comets. Coach Ben Groulx changed goaltenders after the second period, and Scott Wedgewood made his second appearance of the week after starting Wednesday night against the Rochester Americans. Martin holds a 2-3-0 record and a .890 save percentage, while Wedgewood sports a 3-2-1 record and a .884 save percentage.
 
SCOUTING THE MONSTERS 
 
The Cleveland Monsters fell in overtime, 3-2, to the Rochester Americans last night. The defeat marks the fourth consecutive loss for Cleveland, three of which came at home. Those four losses follow a five-game win streak, and overall the Monsters sit in fifth place in the North Division with 18 points, two points ahead of the Crunch. Cleveland lost both meetings with Syracuse earlier this season, 2-1 on Oct. 11 and 6-3 on Oct. 12, at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
 
Nathan Gerbe leads the Monsters in scoring with 12 points (4g, 8a) on the strength of three multi-point games. Zac Dalpe is the only other Monster with a double-digit point total. He paces the team with seven goals and ranks second with 11 points (7g, 4a). Dalpe scored last night in Rochester, marking the second straight night with a goal for the 30-year-old.
 
Veini Vehvilainen and Matiss Kivlenieks have shared the Cleveland net this year. Kivlenieks has won five of the eight games for the Monsters, posting a 5-1-2 record with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. Vehvilainen is 3-4-0 with a 2.17 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS 
 
The Crunch recorded two power-play goals on nine opportunities last night against the Comets. Alex Barré-Boulet added another man-up tally yesterday, his team-leading fifth power-play marker of the season, tied for second in the league. Syracuse remains second in the North Division and sixth in the AHL at 21.6%, but the Crunch feel there is room for improvement.
 
"Our percentage is pretty good on the year, but I think a lot of our goals are off faceoffs or broken plays like both of them [yesterday]," said forward Chris Mueller. "We have to step up for this team and create momentum and create chances."
Meanwhile, the Monsters are 23rd in the AHL with a power-play conversion rate of 12.3%. Zac Dalpe and Justin Scott are the only players on Cleveland with multiple goals on the man advantage.
 
Both teams have not allowed much while down a man. The Crunch kill off penalties 88.2% of the time, second in the North Division and fifth overall. The Monsters aren't far behind; Cleveland's penalty kill is third in the North Division and sixth in the AHL at 87.3%. And the Monsters don't sit back when shorthanded. Cleveland has tallied six shorthanded goals this season, one of only two teams in the league to accomplish that.
 
During Syracuse's two games at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse Oct. 11-12, rookie Peter Abbandonato scored both of the team's power-play goals in seven chances. For Cleveland, it couldn't put one past the Crunch in eight man-advantage opportunities.
 
HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER 
 
Tonight the Crunch host their Hockey Fights Cancer night, benefiting Upstate Cancer Center. The Crunch will wear special Hockey Fights Cancer lavender jerseys, 12 of which will be auctioned following the game.
 
The jerseys include personal "I Fight For" patches, and Crunch players are honoring cancer-impacted individuals by writing their names on the patches.
 
Jerseys from Nolan Valleau, Dennis Yan, Alex Barré-Boulet, Boris Katchouk, Taylor Raddysh, Ross Colton, Dominik Masin, Luke Witkowski, Scott Wedgewood, Danick Martel, Alex Volkov and Daniel Walcott will be featured in the auction.