CRUNCH AND MARLIES PLAY AT SCOTIABANK ARENA
 
The Crunch make their final trip to Toronto during the regular season and face the Toronto Marlies at Scotiabank Arena, home of the NHL's Maple Leafs.
 
The Crunch and Marlies are separated by four points in the North Division standings, but play each other three times in the next six days, including today.  
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to the Rochester Americans at the War Memorial Arena Saturday night. It snapped the Crunch's six-game home winning streak.
 
After the Crunch shut out the Amerks the night before in the opening game of a home-and-home series, Rochester connected first for a 1-0 lead 4:20 into the first period. Remi Elie fired home a rebound in the slot on the game's first power play to put the Amerks ahead 1-0 for the sixth time in seven games against the Crunch.
 
Mitchell Stephens tied the game in the second period, scoring his third goal in five games since returning from injury. Gabriel Dumont drove in front and moved the puck to the back post, where Stephens squeezed it home at 7:17 of the second. The Amerks quickly responded with their fourth line producing the go-ahead goal. Yannick Veilleux sent a pass to the high slot and Will Borgen ripped home his second goal of the season.
 
The Crunch rallied again in the third period with Ross Colton tying the game 1:53 into the final frame. He received a pass from Cal Foote and blistered a shot top corner from the right circle for his ninth goal of the season.
 
The game ended up in a six-round shootout; Adam Wilcox kept out all six Crunch attempts and Taylor Leier scored on Eddie Pasquale in the bottom of the sixth round to give the Amerks the bonus point.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH  
 
The Crunch enter this afternoon's game in Toronto after collecting three of a possible four points against North Division-leading Rochester Americans. Syracuse (30-15-2-2) has 64 points in 49 games and trails Rochester by three points in the division, but with three fewer games played than the Amerks.
 
Going back to last Wednesday in Belleville, the Crunch are in the midst of a stretch of seven games in 11 days (Feb. 13-23); today start a spurt of four games in six days.
 
Mitchell Stephens scored one of the two Crunch goals Saturday night in Syracuse. The second-year-pro has scored three goals in five games since returning from a lower-body injury; he missed 35-of-37 Crunch games from Nov. 2 to Feb. 6. He has 11 points (5g, 6a) in 14 games this season after producing 41 points (19g, 22a) in 70 games as a rookie last season.
 
Ross Colton scored the game-tying goal from the Crunch, giving him 20 points (9g, 11a) in his rookie season. It was his fourth third-period goal this season that has either tied the game or given the Crunch the lead; he helped the Crunch rally for wins Dec. 21 at Lehigh Valley and Dec. 22 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and he put the Crunch ahead Dec. 29 vs. Springfield.
 
NHL VENUES  
 
For second season in a row, the Crunch will play a game in an NHL arena as they take on the Toronto Marlies at Scotiabank Arena, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last season, the Crunch beat the Rochester Americans, 2-1, at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
 
It's the sixth time since affiliating with the Tampa Bay Lightning prior to the 2012-13 season that the Crunch will play in an NHL venue; Syracuse holds a 3-2 record in its previous five games.
 
Since 2012, the Crunch have played two games at Montreal's Bell Centre and one each at Washington's Capital One Arena, Ottawa's Candian Tire Centre and Buffalo's KeyBank Center.
 
HISTORY AT SCOTIABANK ARENA
 
The Crunch have eight player who have played meaningful games at Scotiabank Arena. Five players—Cory Conacher, Gabriel Dumont, Cameron Gaunce, Andy Andreoff and Jan Rutta—have played NHL games there while three others—Mitchell Stephens, Taylor Raddysh and Connor Ingram—represented Team Canada at the 2017 World Junior Championships, with games held at Scotiabank Arena.
 
Conacher has two goals in six NHL games in Toronto. Rutta produced a two-point game (1g, 1a) in his one appearance at Scotiabank Arena last season for Chicago. Dumont has skated in two games in Toronto and he has one goal, which is his most recent NHL tally Jan. 10, 2018 for the Ottawa Senators. Andreoff (two games) and Gaunce (one game) did not record a point.
 
At the World Junior Championships, Raddysh had six points (5g, 1a) in three games, including one four-point performance at Scotiabank Arena. Stephens was held without a point in two games. Ingram went 1-1-0 in two starts, including a six-save shutout against Slovakia.
 
SCOUTING THE MARLIES  
 
Today is the third of four games at Scotiabank Arena this season for the Marlies; they are 1-1-0-0 in the first two games with an overtime win against Binghamton and a loss to Belleville. The Marlies will host the Senators for a second time March 11. 
 
The Marlies are currently fourth place in the North Division with 60 points (26-18-5-3), but they're only two points clear of Belleville for the final playoff spot. They have points in seven of the last 10 games, but just went 1-2-0-0 on a three-game road trip to New England, which had stops in Hartford, Providence and Springfield.
 
Toronto features two 50-point scorers in its lineup. Chris Mueller leads the way with 51 points (24g, 27a) in 47 games. He has 25 power-play points (11g, 14a) to lead the Marlies and his six game-winning goals are also tops on Toronto. Second-year winger Jeremy Bracco has 50 points (15g, 35a) in 51 games, smashing his rookie totals; in 50 games last season he finished with 32 points (6g, 26a). His 35 assists are tied for the most in the league. 
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
 
The Crunch power play is 2-for-28 in the last nine games after going 0-for-19 in the last six games. They are fifth in the AHL on the man advantage at 21.3% (46-for-216). At the end of November, the Crunch had the best power play in the league at 31.9% (30-for-94); since December they are operating at 13.1% (16-for-122).
 
The Marlies were 2-for-5 on the power play Saturday night in their win over Springfield. Overall, Toronto is third in the AHL at 22.9% (50-for-218), but that's fueled mainly on the road (27.6%, 1st); at home the Marlies are clicking at 17.6%, which is tied for 20th in the league.
 
The Crunch had gone seven-straight games without allowing a power-play goal before giving up one in three chances against Rochester Saturday night. They are 28-for-29 in that span to improve to fifth in the league on the penalty kill at 84.0% (194-for-231).
 
A year after leading the league on the penalty kill, the Marlies enter today's match ranked 27th at 78.4%. They rank 30th on home ice with a 76.3% kill in Toronto.