CRUNCH RUMBLE WITH ROCKET IN CRITICAL CLASH
 
The Crunch (20-18-2-2) continue their push to the All-Star Break with their final road game before the festivities tonight in Laval against the Rocket (20-18-2-2).
 
The match pits two of the three teams separated by just two points for the final playoff spot in the North Division, although both teams would be on the outside looking in if the season ended today. This is the fifth of six games between the clubs with the Rocket maintaining a 3-1 series advantage.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch won their fifth straight Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee game since 2016 with a 4-2 win over the Utica Comets Monday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
Boris Katchouk broke a scoreless tie five minutes into the second period to give the Crunch a 1-0 lead. Alex Volkov netted his third goal in two games later in the period, cashing in on a rare 3-on-0 rush, to put the Crunch up two after two. 
 
Alex Barré-Boulet extended the lead to three with under eight minutes to play in the third period. That's when the Comets attempted a late comeback, the Utica got back-to-back goals in just over a minute to pull back to 3-2. 
 
Gemel Smith potted an empty-net goal with under a minute to play to help push the Crunch over the finish line in goalie Scott Wedgewood's return to the crease following a six-week absence due to injury. 
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH 
 
The Crunch arrive in Laval fresh off back-to-back wins over Binghamton and Utica. Syracuse has climbed back to 20-18-2-2 after falling to 0.500 (18-18-2-2) last week for the first time the team was 2-2-2-0. The Crunch remain in sixth place in the North Division, but trail Laval and Toronto by two points and third-place Rochester—who the Crunch face Saturday in Syracuse—by only four points.
 
Alex Volkov followed up his third career four-point game Saturday night in Binghamton with a two point showing against Utica. The Russian has six points (3g, 3a) in the last two games, more than doubling his goal total this season in that span. Volkov enters with 21 points (5g, 16a) in 27 Crunch games this year, plus one assist in eight NHL games with Tampa Bay.
 
Gemel Smith has goals in back-to-back games for the Crunch after sealing Monday's win with an empty-net tally. That goal gives him 16 this season, which matches his career-high, which he set last year in 13 more games (47 versus 34). He ranks second on the team in goals behind Alex Barré-Boulet (17) and trails Barré-Boulet (37) and Cory Conacher (36) with 31 points, nine shy of last year's total.
 
SCOUTING THE ROCKET 
 
Following a five-game winning streak between Dec. 28 and Jan. 10, the Rocket have lost three of their last four games. Two of the Rocket's last three wins were recorded against the Crunch Jan. 4 and Jan. 10. The Rocket are tied with Toronto for the final playoff spot in the North Division, but they have played one more game than the Marlies.
 
Tonight marks the first of nine straight games against the North Division for the Rocket. Laval has won its last four games within the division to improve to 11-10-2-0 this season.
 
The Rocket have recently been bolstered by the return forwards Matthew Peca and Riley Barber from Montreal. Barber is second on the team with 24 points (9g, 15a) in 28 games, with five points coming against the Crunch. Peca has added 12 points in 20 games. Sniper Charles Hudon leads the Rocket with 19 goals in 31 games; he is tied for eighth in the AHL in goals, but his 22 points are the fewest among that group.
 
Laval has relied on Cayden Primeau and Keith Kinkaid since Charlie Lindgren was recalled to Montreal. The rookie Primeau is 11-6-1 with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Kinkaid holds a 3-5-1 mark with a 3.08 goals-against average and a .882 save percentage.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS 
 
Despite an 0-for-4 outing against Utica on Monday, the Crunch lead the AHL with 40 power-play goals this season. They rank seventh in the league in success rate, clicking on 22.1% of their power-play opportunities (40-for-181). Only three teams have more power plays than the Crunch's 181 tries. The Crunch went 3-for-6 in a two-game set with the Rocket two weeks ago and they are 4-for-16 in the season series.
 
The Rocket are mired in a 1-for-22 slump on the power play over the last four games, dropping them to 12th in the league at 19.0%. They are 3-for-10 against the Crunch this season.
 
The Syracuse penalty kill has allowed a goal in nine of the last 11 games since Dec. 28. Before that game, the Crunch were operating at 87.0% on the kill, but that has dipped to 82.5%, which is 14th in the AHL. 
 
The Rocket were shorthanded a season-high tying eight times in their 5-1 loss to Manitoba Sunday. They successfully killed seven of the eight man advantages, but that means they've allowed at least one power-play goal in four of the last six games. Laval ranks 20th in the AHL with an 80.4% penalty kill.
 
WEDGEWOOD RETURNS 
 
After missing 18 games due to injury, goaltender Scott Wedgewood returned to the Syracuse crease in a 4-2 win over Utica Monday afternoon. Wedgewood leads the Crunch in wins (8), goals-against average (2.93) and save percentage (.893) in his 15 appearances.
 
In his absence, the Crunch were 7-9-0-2 and allowed 4.06 goals per game (73 goals in 18 games). Wedgewood has allowed two or fewer goals in nine of his 15 appearances, including seven starts.
 
IT'S BEEN A WHILE 
 
The Crunch earned their second consecutive win Monday afternoon against the Comets. It's the first time since Dec. 6-11 that Syracuse has won at least two games in a row, and it's only the fifth time all year the Crunch have gone on at least a two-game winning streak.
 
The Crunch have three different three-game winning streaks this season, but none have stretched beyond three games.
 
CONTINUING THE CLIMB 
 
Cory Conacher picked up five points (1g, 4a) in four games for the Crunch to give him points in 15 of the last 20 games since Dec. 6. He recorded multiple points twice over the four games; he has five multi-point games in his last nine outings and in nine games total this season.
 
Conacher started the week by becoming the fifth player in franchise history to record 200 points for the Crunch. Later in the week he logged his 200th AHL assist. Now at 203 career points with the Crunch, Conacher ranks fifth in franchise history in all-time scoring. He is one point shy of Joe Motzko for fourth place and nine points behind Mark Hartigan for third. The franchise record is held by Brad Moran at 241 points. With a team-leading 22 assists this year, Conacher has moved up to second place in franchise history with 131 assists, 12 behind Moran's 143.