PLAYOFF-BOUND CRUNCH VISIT SOUND TIGERS
 
The Crunch conclude a six-games in 10 days stretch with today's match against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
 
The Crunch punched their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs with a win last night, in part due to Bridgeport's win over Belleville. Tonight is the final meeting of the two-game season series between the clubs; Syracuse won 3-1 Jan. 4.   
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch throttled the Utica Comets, 6-2, at the War Memorial Arena last night for their fourth straight head-to-head win in the Galaxy Cup series.
 
Cory Conacher opened the scoring for the Crunch with two goals in a 25-second span in the first period. He rocketed home a power-play goal directly off a faceoff, scoring two seconds into the man advantage at 6:19 of the first. On the ensuing shift, he and Gabriel Dumont broke in on a two-on-one rush and Dumont passed to Conacher who chipped in his 21st goal of the season at 6:44. The Comets got on the board with a Reid Boucher tally at 15:10, but the Crunch closed the period with a two-goal lead after Conacher set up Alex Volkov for a rip in the slot at 19:29. 
 
The Crunch extended the lead in the second period with a shorthanded goal by Ben Thomas and a power-play goal by Alex Barré-Boulet—his franchise-record breaking 31st goal as a rookie. Tanner Kero scored less than a minute after Barré-Boulet's goal to make it a 5-2 game entering the third. 
 
Volkov scored the only goal in the final stanza, stealing the puck and depositing the Crunch's second shorthanded goal of the game at 12:12, setting the final at 6-2.
 
Eddie Pasquale stopped 32-of-34 shots for his 25th win of the season and giving him wins in his last six starts.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH  
 
The Crunch became the second team in the league to lock in their spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs last night. It's the third straight season under head coach Ben Groulx that the Crunch will participate in the playoffs; it's the third time in franchise history they've made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. They've made the playoffs 15 times in their 25 season, with five appearances coming in their current seven-year affiliation with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
 
Now that they're playoff bound, Groulx and the Crunch are approaching significant milestones. With one more win, Groulx will earn his 200th career AHL win as a head coach; including this season he has three 40-win seasons in five years in the AHL and he has 126 wins with the Crunch. The Crunch's next win will also be their 900th regular season win in franchise history.
 
Ten different Crunch players recorded a point in last night's win over the Comets. Three players had multi-point efforts, led by Cory Conacher and Alex Volkov, who both had three-point efforts (2g, 1a). It was Conacher's fifth three-point game of the season, but his first since November when he had four such games. It was also his second multi-goal game of the season (Nov. 3). Volkov's two goals give him six in the last eight games and it was his second two-goal game in the last four outings. It was his first three-point game since Dec. 22, 2017 vs. Belleville and was the third of his career.
 
ANOTHER RECORD FALLS  
 
The Crunch's rookie goal-scoring record, which has stood since the Crunch's inaugural season (1994-95) finally fell last night. Alex Barré-Boulet's power-play goal was his 31st goal of the season, passing Lonny Bohonos and Geoff Platt (2005-06) for the most goals ever by a Crunch rookie. He also tied Platt for the most power-play goals by a Crunch rookie (16). 
 
Barré-Boulet has also moved into the top five for most prolific rookie scorers in franchise history; his 59th point moved him past Jarkko Ruutu for fifth on the rookie scoring chart. Bohonos also holds that record with 75 points.
 
SCOUTING THE SOUND TIGERS  
 
Bridgeport pushed its point streak to three games (2-0-1-0) to open a five point lead over Hershey and Providence for second place in the Atlantic Division. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Sound Tigers magic number to clinch a playoff berth currently stands at nine.
 
Bridgeport holds the league's top record on home ice, just a percentage point better than the Crunch. Bridgeport has a league-low five regulation home losses and is 22-5-3-1 at Webster Bank Arena. Their 0.774 points percentage at home just barely outpaces the Crunch's 0.773 (24-6-1-2) at the War Memorial Arena.
 
Veteran Chris Bourque leads the Sound Tigers in scoring with 48 points (14g, 34a) in his first season in Bridgeport. He has two points (1g, 1a) in the last six games, but one of those points was his 250th career AHL goal. He has 740 points (250g, 490a) in 786 career AHL games.
 
Rookie Otto Koivula is second on the Sound Tigers with 41 points (17g, 24a) in 61 games. He netted the only Bridgeport goal in their 3-1 loss to the Crunch in January. He has just one point in the last seven games and doesn't have a goal since Feb. 16. 
 
In net, Jeremy Smith and Christopher Gibson have split time for the Sound Tigers. Gibson made 30 saves on 31 shots last night to improve to 19-10-4 with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Smith has an identical 19-10-4 record with a 2.80 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
 
The Crunch pumped home a pair of power-play goals in three opportunities last night against the Comets. They were the 10th and 11th power-play goals in March for the Crunch, the most in a single month since they scored 22 in November. The Crunch rank fifth in the AHL with a 21.1% (59-for-279) man advantage.
 
Bridgeport was 0-for-5 on the man advantage in its 2-1 win over Belleville last night. The Sound Tigers rank 25th in the AHL on the power play this season, converting on 16.4% of their chances. Despite their overall team success at home, their power play is only operating at 14.7% on home ice this year.
 
The Crunch had allowed a power-play goal in six straight games before holding the Comets off the board in five power plays last night. That moved Syracuse to fifth in the league with an 84.4% penalty kill. The Crunch also scored two shorthanded goals, to move back into a tie for the most shorthanded goals (16) in the league.
 
The Sound Tigers successfully defended all six Senators power plays last night, to improve their penalty kill to 81.1%. That is tied with San Jose and Grand Rapids for 16th in the AHL.