CRUNCH AND COMETS RUMBLE ON VALENTINE'S DAY
 
The Crunch (23-21-3-4) return home following a four-game road trip to take on the Utica Comets (28-18-3-2) in the seventh installment of the Galaxy Cup series.
 
The Comets squeezed past the Crunch, 5-4, in a shootout last Saturday in Utica to earn their fourth win of the series, dropping the Crunch to 2-3-0-1 in the quest for the Galaxy Cup.
 
The Crunch celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice tonight by wearing special Team USA inspired "SYR" jerseys. Ken Morrow, a member of that 1980 Olympic team, will drop the ceremonial first puck before the game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
Syracuse shut out the Binghamton Devils at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena, 1-0, improving to 5-1-0-3 in the 10-game season series against the Devils. The win marked the Crunch's first shutout of the 2019-20 season and fourth straight game earning at least one point.
 
Skating with the forward group after pairing with defensemen last week, Daniel Walcott scored 13 seconds into the opening frame. Binghamton netminder Cory Schneider attempted to play the puck up to Michael McLeod from behind his own net, and Walcott poke-checked the puck off McLeod's stick into the vacant Devils net.
 
Scott Wedgewood pitched his first shutout in a Syracuse sweater, stopping all 33 Devils shots to earn first star honors.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH 
 
Syracuse returns to the Upstate Medical University Arena on a four-game points streak (3-0-0-1). The Crunch have not lost in regulation since Feb. 1, a 6-2 defeat to Providence. The Crunch are tied with the Toronto Marlies for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division with 53 points.
 
Captain Luke Witkowski returned to the ice on Wednesday night in Binghamton. Witkowski had been out since Dec. 13, when he was injured on the first shift of a game against the Checkers. The Michigan native finished with a +1 rating and served four penalty minutes in his return to action. The Crunch are now 4-0-0-0 this year when Witkowski plays a full game as the team's captain. Forward Daniel Walcott scored the  lone goal on Wednesday. By scoring 13 seconds in, Walcott is now the fastest player to score a goal in a game this year. Forward Gemel Smith had been the leader in the clubhouse with a goal 19 seconds into the Crunch's Dec. 6 win against the Laval Rocket. Walcott rides a two-game point streak into tonight's match. 
 
In goal, Scott Wedgewood secured the Crunch's first shutout of the season. Wedgewood made 33 saves in his first shutout since March 13, 2019 when he was with the Rochester Americans. Wedgewood now boasts a 2.94 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage. It was the first Crunch shutout since April 3, 2019; out of their last seven shutouts since Feb. 16, 2019, four have ended in 1-0 scores.
 
SCOUTING THE COMETS 
 
The Comets bring a three-game points streak (2-0-1-0) into the Upstate Medical University Arena, propelling them to second place in the North with 61 points. Utica also has back-to-back wins against North Division rivals; the Comets defeated the Rocket Wednesday night and picked up a shootout win against Syracuse Feb. 8; Utica now leads the Galaxy Cup series 4-2. After tonight, the two teams will meet five more times over the next two months. 
 
Reid Boucher secured Utica's win over Laval, scoring his sixth game-winning goal of the season 36 seconds into the third period. Boucher paces the Comets in both goals and points; the Michigan native's 27 goals rank second in the AHL while his 55 points are good for third in the league. The veteran forward also picked up an assist against Laval for his 16^th multi-point performance this year. Boucher has scored at least one goal in each appearance against Syracuse this season; he has piled up seven goals and one assist in five games, which includes a hat trick Nov. 15.
 
With a helper against Laval, Kole Lind is now tied with Boucher for second on the team in assists (28). The 21-year-old forward has logged 40 points through 51 games this year (12g, 28a); last season the Saskatchewan native recorded just 17 points in the same number of games (5g, 12a).
 
SPECIAL TEAMS 
 
Syracuse is 1-for-19 on the man advantage in its last five games, with the lone marker last Friday in Rochester. Overall, the Crunch convert at 20.1% on the power play, which ranks 10th in the AHL. Syracuse is 4-for-32 (12.5%) against the Comets this season.
 
The Comets bring the second-best power play in Eastern Conference into tonight's matchup, with a conference-best 47 goals and a North Division-leading 22.3% conversion percentage. Utica has scored a goal on the man advantage in five consecutive games and is 7-for-22 (31.8%) in that span. The Comets are 7-for-35 (20.0%) versus the Crunch this season.
 
The Crunch went 7-for-7 on the penalty kill Wednesday night for the second time during their four-game points streak. They are 19-for-22 (86.4%) in the last four games and are tied for 11th in the league at 82.3%.
 
Utica allowed a power-play goal in Wednesday's win over Laval, moving the Comets to 21st in the league with an 80.5% penalty kill this season.
 
Syracuse has 10 shorthanded goals and Utica has nine, good for the fifth and sixth-most in the AHL. The two squads have allowed the most shorthanded goals in the league—the Comets have allowed 13, while the Crunch have given up 12.
 
GROULX MOVES INTO SECOND   
 
Crunch head coach Ben Groulx tied Ross Yates for second place on the all-time wins list in franchise history with his 154^th Crunch win Wednesday night. Current Utica Comets associate coach, Gary Agnew, holds the franchise record with 220 wins, which he piled up in 480 games between 2000 and 2006.
 
Groulx holds a 154-88-17-20 career record with the Crunch. His 0.618 points percentage as Crunch head coach is second in Crunch history behind Jon Cooper (0.662), but it is the highest among those who coached at least one full season.
 
NO LOVE LOST 
 
Tonight is the second time in the last three seasons that the Crunch and Comets play on Valentine's Day. The bitter rivals clashed in Utica on Feb. 14, 2018, a game the Crunch won, 3-2, in a shootout.
 
That game featured a combined 94 penalty minutes, with the Crunch logging 45 and the Comets accounting for 49.
 
So far in this season's head-to-head series, the Comets have four wins to the Crunch's two (2-3-0-1). Tonight is only the third of six meetings in Syracuse; the teams have split two games at Upstate Medical University Arena, with the Crunch winning, 4-2, Jan. 20.