CRUNCH TAKE ON WOLF PACK
 
The Crunch are back on home ice tonight to take on the Hartford Wolf Pack in the opening match of a home-and-home series.
 
The teams, who split a two-game season series last year, will play the final match of this year's two-game set tomorrow night at Hartford's XL Center.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
Max Groshev netted a hat trick and the Crunch schooled the Bridgeport Islanders, 5-4, in a field trip morning game at Total Mortgage Arena Tuesday.
 
Groshev's strong day began with the game's opening two tallies. He scored on a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush at 11:20 of the first period, and then cashed in on another 2-on-1 setup just over five minutes later for a 2-0 lead. Gabriel Dumont added a power-play goal with under five seconds left in the frame for a 3-0 advantage.
 
Joe Carroll's rebound goal put the Crunch up 4-0 just past the midway mark of regulation. The Islanders scored the next three goals – one late in the second period and twice in the third – to cut the score to 4-3. Groshev tapped in an empty-net goal at 18:14 to cap the hat trick for a 5-3 advantage. Bridgeport scored late, but the Crunch held on for a 5-4 win. 
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch have earned consecutive wins and have collected a standings point in six of the last seven games (4-1-0-2). Syracuse is tied for second in the North Division with Toronto and Rochester.
 
Mitchell Chaffee, who skated in his 100th pro game on Tuesday, has consecutive multi-point outings. After potting two goals Saturday against the Penguins, the winger earned two assists Tuesday against the Islanders. He is tied for third on the team with 11 points (3g, 8a) in 11 games. He is one of three on the team averaging at least one point per game, along with Felix Robert (1.08) and Max Groshev (1.00).
 
Brandon Halverson has started the last two games for the Crunch, earning a pair of wins. Prior to Saturday's victory, Halverson's last AHL win was April 7, 2019 with the Wolf Pack. Halverson, a former New York Rangers draft pick in 2014, spent three seasons in Hartford between 2016 and 2019.
 
CARROLL CASHING IN
 
Rookie forward Joe Carroll has netted goals in consecutive games. He struck for the first goal last Saturday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and then fired in a rebound Tuesday at Bridgeport.
 
The Carp, Ontario native has five points (3g, 2a) in eight games for the Crunch this season, matching the total he had in nine games with Belleville in 2022-23. The 21-year-old is on a professional try-out (PTO) to begin the season. 
 
SCOUTING THE WOLF PACK
 
Hartford (8-3-2-0) has won three of its last five games to sit in second place in the Atlantic Division.
 
The team is led by interim head coach, Steve Smith, who was appointed this past Sunday. Smith was an assistant coach under Kris Knoblauch, who was hired by the Edmonton Oilers for his first NHL head coaching job after leading the Wolf Pack since 2019. Hartford earned a 5-1 win versus Springfield on Wednesday in Smith's first game as interim head coach.
 
The Wolf Pack have two of the longest individual scoring streaks in the AHL this season. Forward Alex Belzile notched a point in eight straight contests from Oct. 14 to Nov. 4. His 12 points (4g, 8a) rank second on the team. He spent the past five seasons with Laval and Montreal, including three years playing for current Crunch head coach Joel Bouchard with the Rocket (2018-21). Defenseman Mac Hollowell had a nine-game run from Oct. 13 to Nov. 3, which is tied for the longest in the AHL this season.
 
TAKING ON THE ATLANTIC
 
Today is the fourth of five straight Crunch games against Atlantic Division foes. Syracuse is 3-1-0-0 so far against the Atlantic Division in 2023-24. The Crunch swept their two-game series with Bridgeport (Oct. 14 and Nov. 14) and split a home-and-home with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last weekend.
 
In 18 total games between Atlantic and North Division clubs, both sides have nine wins. The Crunch's three wins are the most among any team in either division. 
 
GRANDIOSE GROSHEV
 
Syracuse left winger Max Groshev has been on a tear. Not only did the 2020 third-round pick notch his first AHL hat trick on Tuesday morning at Bridgeport, but he's also been racking up points consistently over the past few weeks. Groshev has recorded at least one point in six of the last seven games, and he is tied for the AHL scoring lead with 11 points (6g, 5a) in that span, dating back to Oct. 28.
 
The Crunch are 3-0-0-1 when the Russian scores a goal and 5-0-0-2 when he logs a point.
 
Groshev is also the only Syracuse skater to record both a shorthanded and power-play goal this season. Only 10 players in the AHL have done so this season.
 
THIRD PERIOD SHOWDOWN
 
The Wolf Pack have been stingy all season, but especially so in the third period. They've allowed a league-low seven third period goals, and sport an AHL-best plus-11 goal differential in the final stanza.
 
The Crunch have allowed eight goals in the last three third periods combined. They had given up just five total goals in the third over the first nine games. Syracuse is still plus-2 in the third period this season.
 
NEARING 100
 
A handful of Crunch players are approaching 100 career AHL points. Gage Goncalves is the closest at 98 points (32g, 66a) in 155 AHL games, all with the Crunch. Phil Myers - back from Tampa Bay after playing in one game for the Lightning - has 96 points (24g, 72a) in 186 AHL games. 
 
Felix Robert (94 points) and Sean Day (91 points) are also closing in on that milestone. Eighteen of Day's 91 points came when he was a member of the Wolf Pack.