TIGERS, TIRED TEDDIES BACK ON SYRACUSE ICE
 
The Crunch (12-9-2-0) conclude their first three-game homestand of December against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (9-12-3-1) tonight. Syracuse won the first meeting between the two teams this season, 5-1, Nov. 1.
 
Tonight marks the ninth-annual Stanley Steemer Tired Teddy Toss. When the Crunch score their first goal, fans can toss their stuffed animals onto the ice. The puffy pets will be collected and refurbished by Stanley Steemer before being donated to The Salvation Army.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch picked up a 5-2 victory over Laval last night at the War Memorial Arena.
 
Syracuse exploded offensively in the first period, scoring four times on the way to the win. Gemel Smith opened the scoring 19 seconds in off a Ross Colton feed. Cameron Gaunce put one home from near the blue line at the 9:13 mark, and Boris Katchouk followed with a rebound score less than two minutes later. Cory Conacher added one in the final five minutes to give the Crunch their first four-goal period since Jan. 25, 2019 against Springfield. 
 
After the Rocket scored twice in the second, Conacher potted his second of the night—this time on the power play—to seal the win. Goalie Scott Wedgewood stopped 15 shots in just over two periods before leaving with an injury. Spencer Martin denied four attempts in the third period to close out the win.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH 
 
Ten different skaters found the scoresheet in the Crunch's win last night. With four different players finding the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes, it was also the first time the Crunch have scored multiple goals in a row since Nov. 23, a 6-3 win against Hartford.
 
Cory Conacher arrived back in Syracuse from Tampa Bay hours before faceoff last night, but the veteran forward scored two goals and added an assist for his first three-point performance of the season. It was also the Ontario native's first two-goal outing since March 23 against Utica. Despite being called up to Tampa Bay and sent down to Syracuse three times in the past few weeks, Conacher has managed to pile up six points  (4g, 2a) in his past four games. In his fifth season with the Crunch, the 29-year old forward ranks third on the team with 16 points (8g, 8a) through 19 games. Tonight is Conacher's 200th game in a Crunch sweater; he will become the 10th player to reach that mark during the Lightning affiliation.
 
Rookie Peter Abbandonato picked up his first two AHL assists against the Rocket. It was the Laval native's first professional multi-point game, as well as his first points since Week 2, when he scored two goals. Through 10 games this season, the 21-year old forward has recorded four points (2g, 2a).
 
Devante Stephens followed suit and picked up his first AHL point with an assist on Boris Katchouk's goal; it was his first point in 10 AHL games across three seasons with both the Crunch and the Rochester Americans. The Tampa Bay Lightning acquired the 22-year-old defenseman in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres Nov. 24 .
 
SCOUTING THE SOUND TIGERS 
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers return to Syracuse in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, maintaining the division's lowest points percentage and the AHL's worst goal differential (-25). Bridgeport's faceoff against the Crunch marks the final game of a three-game road trip, during which they've lost to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and beaten Utica.
 
Winger Matt Lorito arrives in Syracuse riding a four-game point streak. The 29-year-old Canadian's seven goals lead Bridgeport, and his 14 points (including seven assists) lead all Sound Tigers forwards this season. 
 
Defender Sebastian Aho registered two assists in Bridgeport's victory over Utica last night. The Swede's 14 points (2g, 12a) tie him with Lorito for the team lead in scoring and rank in the top 15 among AHL defensemen.
 
Goaltenders Christopher Gibson and Jared Coreau have each appeared in eleven games this season, but they've also battled injuries in the last few weeks. Gibson hasn't appeared since Nov. 27, but his 2.40 goals-against average still ranks 11th in the league. Coreau has returned from injury, and he earned his second win of the season against Utica last night. Twenty-year-old rookie Jakub Skarek has made six appearances between the Bridgeport pipes, as well, earning a 3.29 goals-against average and .891 save percentage.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS 
 
Following a 1-for-5 finish on the power play last night against the Rocket, the Crunch's man-advantage unit slots in at 15th in the league at 18.3%. Syracuse has only tallied two power-play goals during the team's last 25 attempts. Alex Barré-Boulet paces the Crunch with five man-up goals this season. After going scoreless on six power-play tries yesterday against the Comets, the Sound Tigers sit dead last in the league in power-play conversion at 8.8% (9-for-102). Andrew Ladd is the only Bridgeport player with two tallies on the man-up this season.
 
Syracuse has allowed a power-play goal in three straight games for the second time this year, giving up four goals in 13 chances during the three games. The Crunch have slumped to seventh overall in the AHL with an 86.0% penalty kill. On the other side, Bridgeport kills off 85.1% of its penalties, fourth in the Atlantic Division and ninth in the league. The Sound Tigers are one of four teams yet to score a shorthanded goal this season, while the Crunch have already registered four.
 
When Syracuse and Bridgeport squared off on Nov. 1, neither team scored a power-play goal, despite two tries for the Crunch and three for the Sound Tigers.
 
SHARING THE WEALTH
 
Boris Katchouk scored the eventual game-winning goal when he gave the Crunch a 3-0 lead in the first period. He becomes the 11th different player to record a game-winning goal for the Crunch this season. That's tied with Rockford and Manitoba for the most by any team this season.
 
The Crunch have more individual game-winning goal scorers than 14 AHL teams have total wins during the 2019-20 season. Only one Crunch player-Peter Abbandonato-has more than one game-winner and his came in the Crunch's first two wins Oct. 11-12.
 
Last season, the Crunch had 14 different skaters log a game-winning goal, led by Alex Volkov's seven winners.
 
WHAT A START
 
The Crunch's opening goal last night was scored by Gemel Smith 19 seconds into the game. That's the fastest opening goal for the Crunch since March 11, 2018 at Rochester. Mathieu Joseph put the Crunch up 1-0 in a game the Crunch eventually dropped in a shootout, 5-4, to the Amerks.
 
Syracuse's four-goal first period was the first time the Crunch  scored four goals in the opening frame since a 5-3 win over Binghamton on Nov. 23, 2018.