Crunch with an early riser in Hartford  


The Crunch (8-6-2-0) open a two-game set with the Hartford Wolf Pack (11-1-0-5) this morning at the XL Center in downtown Hartford.
 
The teams play twice in a four-day span, with the rematch slated for Saturday night at the War Memorial Arena. They are the only two meetings between the clubs during the regular season. Last year, the Crunch swept the two-game season series with Hartford, including a 6-0 win at the XL Center Feb. 8.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Crunch snapped a two-game losing streak and concluded a stretch of six games in nine days with a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Monsters on Hockey Fights Cancer night at the War Memorial Arena.
 
Cleveland defenseman Andrew Peeke beat Scott Wedgewood with a shot from the right point to open the scoring 8:07 into the opening frame. The Crunch responded just over four minutes later, as Danick Martel took a pass from Luke Witkowski at the bottom of the left circle and fired a wrister past Veini Vehvilainen's glove to tie the game at one. Less than two minutes later, Monsters defenseman Adam Clendening joined an odd man rush and finished a Marko Dano feed past Wedgewood's glove to give the Monsters a 2-1 lead that they held into the first intermission.
 
The second period belonged to the Crunch. Moments after a potential tying goal was waived off, Cory Conacher worked below the Monsters goal line and found Dennis Yan at the top of the Cleveland crease. Yan's finish, his third goal of the season and first since Oct. 19 against Charlotte, tied the game with 6:17 remaining in the second.
 
Two minutes later, defenseman Luke Witkowski shot a wrister along the ice that snuck through Vehvilainen's legs to give Syracuse its first lead of the game, 3-2. The goal marked Witkowski's first of the season and his first AHL goal since March 11, 2016.
 
Conacher sealed the Crunch's third victory over the Monsters this season with an empty-net goal late in the third.
 
Wedgewood made 11 saves in the final period and 22 saves in the game en route to his first win since returning from the Tampa Bay Lightning's Global Series.
 
Scouting the Crunch  
 
The Crunch enter this morning's match two points out of a playoff position in the North Division with 18 points in 16 games. At the 16-game mark last season, the Crunch were in the midst of a 13-game point streak and had 21 points en route to 102 for the season. Two years ago, the Crunch were mired in a 4-9-1-2 slump at the 16-game mark, but they managed to recover for a 100-point campaign after starting a 10-game winning streak with a win in their 17th game.
 
Cameron Gaunce rides a four-game scoring streak into today's game. It's his second-longest run in a Crunch sweater behind a six-game spurt last season from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2. With 10 points (1g, 9a) in the last eight games, Gaunce leads the Crunch in scoring with 14 points this season. The last Crunch defenseman to lead the Crunch in scoring by himself at the end of the season was Brendan Bell with 52 points in 2009-10; Matt Taormina tied Cory Conacher for the team lead with 60 points in 2016-17.
 
Scouting the Wolf Pack  
 
Hartford is off to the best 17-game start (11-1-0-5) in Wolf Pack history. They pace the Atlantic Division and the American Hockey League with 27 points and a 0.794 points percentage. Their five point lead over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Springfield is the largest divisional lead in the AHL.
 
Hartford's lone regulation loss came on the road in Laval Oct. 30. The Wolf Pack have not suffered a regulation loss at home, where they have posted an 8-0-0-2 record; their two shootout losses on home ice are against Rochester and Belleville.
 
The Pack are in this position, in part because of their defensive efforts and goaltending. They rank second in the league allowing 2.29 goals per game with Igor Shesterkin leading qualified goaltenders with a 1.77 goals-against average in his first North American season. He sports a 7-1-2 record and a .936 goals-against average.
 
Hartford has done most of its damage in the second period, where the Wolf Pack have outscored opponents 19-5 in 17 games. The five goals allowed in the middle stanza is the fewest allowed by any team in one period this season. That has allowed the Wolf Pack to post a 7-1-0-2 record when allowing the first goal. They have a minus goal differential in both the first and third periods.
 
Special teams  
 
The Crunch have gone every other game scoring a power-play goal over their last nine games. Most recently, they were held off the scoresheet against Cleveland, moving the Crunch to 20.5% on the season, which ranks second in the Eastern Conference. The Crunch's penalty kill posted its first clean sheet in four games, denying three Cleveland power plays Saturday night. They ranked fourth in AHL with an 88.7% penalty kill rate.
 
Hartford went a combined 2-for-8 in a two-game series with Providence last weekend, giving the Wolf Pack eight power-play goals in 17 games. They're only converting on 11.6% of their man-up chances. Their penalty kill allowed two goals in five chances over the two games, sliding their success rate to 85.7%.
 
Morning Blues  
 
The Crunch will sport their blue jerseys in this morning's tilt in Hartford. It's one of two morning games on the Crunch's schedule this season with the latter slated for Feb. 5 at Bridgeport. 
 
Syracuse last played a morning game Feb. 28, 2018 in Toronto; the Crunch won, 4-3, in overtime. In that game, then-Marlie Chris Mueller tied the game late in the third period, but Mathieu Joseph netted the overtime game-winner for the Crunch.
 
Also notable was a two-goal performance by Crunch forward Anthony Cirelli. That was his final game with the Crunch before earning a permanent recall with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which was made official the next day.
 
These games count too  
 
The Crunch cross over to play two games against the Atlantic Division's Wolf Pack this week, marking the fifth and sixth game against the other Eastern Conference division. Syracuse is currently 1-3-0-0 against the Atlantic, with its lone win coming against Bridgeport at home. The Crunch have lost road matches to Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and dropped a home decision to Charlotte. 
 
Syracuse has fared well within the North Division, posting a 7-3-2-0 mark against its division rivals.
 
The Wolf Pack have feasted on their Atlantic Division foes to the tune of a 9-0-0-1 mark. No team has more wins against divisional opponents; Manitoba and Stockton also have nine wins within their respective divisions, but both teams have played more divisional games.
 
Hartford's success has not translated against North Division opponents. The Pack are 2-1-0-4 against the Crunch's division rivals this season.