CRUNCH GO BACK TO SCHOOL IN BRIDGEPORT
 
The Crunch hit the classroom for a field trip clash against the Bridgeport Islanders at Total Mortgage Arena this morning.
 
It's the final matchup of the two-game season series between the clubs. The Crunch defeated the Islanders, 4-2, exactly one month ago in Syracuse's 30th home opener at Upstate Medical University Arena. The Crunch have not swept Bridgeport in a season series since 2017-18.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
Mitchell Chaffee and Max Groshev both scored twice and the Crunch raced past the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 6-3, Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
 
Joe Carroll start the scoring for the Crunch at 7:31 of the first period. He banged home a rebound with assists from Sean Day and Devante Stephens for his second goal of the season. Chaffee extended the lead in the first period by ripping a power-play goal from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Max Crozier.
 
The Crunch built the advantage in the second period when Groshev burst out for a breakaway goal at 8:48. Gage Goncalves made it 4-0 at 11:03. After a Penguins power-play goal cut the score to 4-1, Chaffee potted his second of the night for a 5-1 lead.
 
A Groshev empty-net goal off-set two Jack Rathbone tallies for the Penguins to make it a 6-3 final.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch snapped a three-game winless (0-1-0-2) spell with their 6-3 win over the Penguins Saturday night. The win moved the Crunch to 2-1-0-2 in November and 6-3-0-2 overall this season. They are in fourth place in the North Division with 14 points, but a win today would move them into a tie for first.
 
Gage Goncalves posted his sixth career game (regular season and playoffs) with at least three points in Saturday's 6-3 win over the Penguins. The third-year-pro had assists on both Mitchell Chaffee goals, and added what was the game-winning goal in the second period.
 
The Mission, British Columbia native ranks second on the Crunch with 11 points, and his nine assists are tops on the team. Goncalves enters the week with 98 points in 154 career games and is on the verge of becoming the 39th player in franchise history to log 100 points with the Crunch.
 
TAKING CLASS ON THE ROAD
 
The Crunch are off to a strong start on the road this season, earning at least a point in five of their first six road games (4-1-0-1).
 
They have been particularly potent offensively on the road, totaling 26 goals in six games for an average of 4.33 goals per game.  They have scored at least four goals in their four road wins. Their plus-11 goal differential on the road is tied with Calgary for the second best in the AHL (Texas, plus-12). 
 
SCOUTING THE ISLANDERS
 
Goals have been hard to come by for the Islanders, who enter today in last place in the Atlantic Division with nine points (4-6-1-0). Despite winning two of its last three games – both versus Springfield – Bridgeport has scored only 20 goals in 11 games, for a league-low 1.82 goals per game. The last AHL team to finish a season averaging fewer than two goals per game was San Antonio in 2005-06 (1.91).
 
Ruslan Iskhakov has accounted for 10 points and four of his team's 20 goals this season. He collected two assists against the Crunch in the first match up as part of a five-points (2g, 3a) opening weekend. He had been held in check since, until he scored twice, including in overtime, in the Islanders 2-1 win over Springfield on Saturday.
 
Three of the four Islanders wins this season have required overtime and Iskhakov has two of their three overtime goals.
 
TAKING ON THE ATLANTIC
 
Today is the third of five straight Crunch games against Atlantic Division foes. Syracuse is 2-1-0-0 so far against the Atlantic Division in 2023-24. The Crunch scored a win in their home opener versus Bridgeport on Oct. 14 and split a home-and-home with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton over the weekend.
 
The streak concludes with a home-and-home slate against Hartford starting Friday in Syracuse.
 
In 17 total games between Atlantic and North Division clubs, the Atlantic Division has nine wins and the North has eight. 
 
SPEED=DISTANCE/TIME
 
Speedy rookie Max Groshev logged a pair of multi-point performances in Week 5 to lead the team in scoring with four points (2g, 2a) in three games. He opened the week with the first goal of the game Wednesday in Belleville before adding an assist on a game-tying, shorthanded goal in the third period. 
 
The 21-year-old netted his first two-goal game in the AHL Saturday against the Penguins. He scored on a partial breakaway in the second period, and then iced the game with an empty-net goal in the third.
 
A third-round pick by Tampa Bay in the 2020 NHL Draft, Groshev has nine points (4g, 5a) in 11 games this season, his first spent in North America.
 
A+ REPORT CARD
 
Today marks the Crunch's lone morning game day of the season. 
 
Syracuse has won four straight games as a visitor during an opponents' school field trip game; that streak began Feb. 28, 2018 with a 4-3 overtime win against the Marlies. 
 
Last season in Springfield, the Crunch came back from a 4-1 deficit to win in a shootout and extend their morning win streak. 
 
They won in Bridgeport, 3-2, Feb 5, 2020 by rallying with two third period goals. Devante Stephens and Daniel Walcott are the only players on the current roster who appeared in that game for the Crunch.
 
Their other field trip win in this span is at Hartford  on Nov. 20, 2019 (W, 3-1).
 
100 FOR CHAFFEE
 
Exactly one year removed from tearing his ACL while with the Iowa Wild, forward Mitchell Chaffee had his finest night in his brief Crunch career Saturday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 25-year-old scored twice for his sixth career multi-goal game. He scored a power-play goal in the second period and an even strength goal in the second, giving him three goals this season.
 
The Rockford, Michigan native signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Lightning this summer. He began his career as an undrafted free agent with the Wild organization, playing two games for Minnesota and 87 with Iowa, where he collected 63 points (30g, 33a) in 87 games from 2020 to 2023. He has nine points (3g, 6a) in 10 games for the Crunch this season. Today marks his 100^th pro game.