CRUNCH BATTLE BEARS IN SYRACUSE  
 
The Crunch play the middle game of their three-in-three weekend tonight at home against the Hershey Bears. 
 
Tonight is the second of two head-to-head matches between the teams. The Crunch are looking to earn a split following the Bears 4-3 win in Hershey on Jan. 8.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch's late comeback effort fell short in a 4-3 loss to the Utica Comets last night at the Adirondack Bank Center.
 
Syracuse never led, and the Comets opened the scoring with a power-play goal by Brian Halonen at 11:38 of the first period. The Crunch pulled even less than two minutes later when Lucas Edmonds battled to swat home a rebound for his sixth goal in the last three games at Utica.
 
The Comets broke the tie with a pair of second period goals. Timur Ibragimov scored on a partial breakaway from the top of the circles to make it 2-1 near the midway mark of the second period. Brian Pinho tipped home a point shot later in the period to make it 3-1. Utica got another deflection goal by Graeme Clarke early in the third for a 4-1 lead.
 
The Crunch attempted to come back from there, with Gage Goncalves cutting the deficit back to two on a rebound two minutes later. They pulled within one in the final minute on a Cole Koepke tip, but they were unable to complete the comeback.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch's loss last night dropped the team back to third in the North Division with 68 points and a 30-23-5-3 record. They are two points behind Utica for second place, but only three points clear of Rochester for third.
 
Jack Thompson picked up a multi-point game last night with a pair of assists. It was the rookie's second two point game of the season (also Nov. 23 vs. Toronto). The 21-year-old has 18 points (6g, 12a) in 60 games this season.
 
Alex Barré-Boulet grabbed an assist last night to reach the 70-point mark for the first time in his career (19g, 51a). It's the 11th time a Crunch player has reached 70 points; he is the first since Carter Verhaeghe, who set a franchise record with 82 points during the 2018-19 season. He and Verhaeghe are the only two players to reach 70 points during the Crunch's affiliation with the Lightning, which started in 2012-13. 
 
GETTING HOT AT HOME
 
After an uncharacteristic dry spell on home ice that saw the Crunch lose five straight (0-3-2-0) at Upstate Medical University Arena from Jan. 21 to Feb. 11, the Crunch have rediscovered their success in the old barn.
 
They have matched their season high with points in five straight home games (4-0-1-0), and they haven't suffered a regulation home loss in a month (Feb. 25 vs. Hartford). They have recorded at least four goals in four of the last five home games, outscoring their opposition 19-13. The Crunch are 15-9-5-1 at home this season with six home games remaining.
 
PLAYOFF CHASE
 
After last night's loss to the Comets, the Crunch dropped back to third place in the North Division. A top three finish earns a spot in the North Division Semifinals. Syracuse's magic number to clinch a berth in the playoffs is 12.
 
The Hershey Bears are on the verge of securing a playoff position. Their magic number stands at three, and they can clinch with (a) a reg/OT win at Syracuse AND a Hartford loss (reg/OT/SO) vs. Springfield, OR (b) a shootout win at Syracuse AND a Hartford regulation loss vs. Springfield.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARS
 
The Bears had their three-game winning streak snapped last night, but extended their points streak to four (3-0-0-1). They surrendered a 3-0 lead before losing, 4-3, in a shootout to the Rochester Americans, leaving Hershey with a 37-16-5-3 record. The Bears have 82 points and trail the Providence Bruins by two points for first place in the Atlantic Division.
 
Mike Vecchione, Sam Anas and Connor McMichael all scored for the Bears in their loss last night. It was Vecchione's 21st goal, which ranks second on the Bears; he is also second on the team with 47 points. Anas, who missed 29 games due to injury, has scored twice in three games since returning last Friday.
 
Zach Fucale and Hunter Shepard have shared the Hershey crease this year. Fucale, who started last night in Rochester, is 19-10-3 with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Shepard is 15-6-5 with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
The Bears defeated the Crunch, 4-3, in the only previous meeting this season. The Jan. 8 loss at Giant Center was the Crunch's fifth straight defeat following the holiday break, and it dropped the Crunch to 0.500 (13-13-2-3). 
 
The Bears had four different goal scorers to build a 4-1 lead in the second period. Jack Finley, Gabriel Dumont and Shawn Element scored goals for the Crunch. Syracuse was 0-for-5 on the power play, while Hershey was 1-for-3. 
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
 
The Crunch have scored just twice in their last 31 chances (6.5%) on the power play. They are tied for 22nd in the AHL this season with an 18.2% power play, and their 36 power-play goals are second-fewest in the league, ahead of only Utica's 33.
 
The Bears are also in a funk on the power play, going 2-for-17 in the last seven games. Hershey is 27th in the league with a 17.2% man advantage. 
 
The Crunch have allowed at least one power-play goal in five of the last six games and they rank 18th in the AHL at 80.3%. 
 
Hershey's penalty kill is middle of the pack overall (81.3%), but is very strong on the road. The Bears rank second in road penalty kill (86.0%).