CRUNCH CLASH WITH MONSTERS
 
The Crunch continue a six-game homestand as they host the Cleveland Monsters tonight at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
Tonight marks the final game of the four-game season series between the top two clubs in the North Division. Cleveland has won two of the three, including an overtime win in Syracuse in the most recent match (Dec. 22).
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch fired 55 shots on goal, but lost to the Springfield Thunderbirds, 4-2, last night at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
The Thunderbirds weathered a barrage of shots in the opening period and then grabbed a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals by Adam Gaudette in the final two minutes of the frame.
 
Syracuse continued its blitz in the second period and was rewarded with a pair of goals to tie the game at two. Waltteri Merelä made it 2-1 with a rip from the right circle off the rush for his fourth goal of the season. Later in the period, Merelä potted a rebound for a power-play goal to tie the score at 13:50.
 
The T-Birds played their best in the third, and Wyatt Kalynuk broke the tie just 2:11 in to make it 3-2. Gaudette completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal late as Malcolm Subban finished with 53 saves – the most by a goaltender in the AHL this season – to preserve a Springfield win.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch are second in the North Division, seven points behind the Monsters, going 18-12-2-2 with 40 points.
 
Waltteri Merelä has helped lead the way for the Crunch in the wake of absences and NHL callups. The North American rookie has points in his last three games (3g, 1a), including a two-goal effort in last night's loss to Springfield. Merelä has totaled 13 points (5g, 8a) in 21 games played since joining the Crunch in November. The 25-year-old made the Tampa Bay Lightning roster out of training camp, skating in 14 games to start the season.
 
Jack Thompson returned to the Crunch just a handful of days ago after making his NHL debut with Tampa Bay. The defenseman had 11:39 of ice time during a loss at Boston (Jan. 6). In his return to the Crunch lineup, Thompson tallied an assist on the power play last night to give himself assists in his past three AHL games. The assistant captain has 32 appearances for Syracuse in his second professional season, recording 21 points (2g, 19a), two shy of his total from last season.
 
FIRE AWAY 
 
Last night the Crunch finished with an AHL-high 55 shots on goal in a 4-2 loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds. The team's previous high this season was 46 in a 5-4 shootout loss versus Rochester Nov. 4.
 
Syracuse connected on what was a season-high 20 shots in the first period. The Crunch then topped that with 21 bids in the second frame before settling for 14 in the third. The last time Syracuse finished with more than 50 shots in a game was on Feb. 25, 2022, when the Crunch lost 2-1 in overtime to the Americans (Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen). 
 
SCOUTING THE MONSTERS
 
Cleveland sits atop the North Division standings with a 23-10-1-0 record, accumulating 47 points.
 
Trey Fix-Wolansky leads the team with 32 points (12g, 20a) in 30 games played, good for eighth in the entire AHL. Over the past few weeks the 24-year-old has become the franchise's all-time leader in goals (72), assists (99) and points (171) in 196 career games for the Monsters.
 
Jet Greaves has been stellar for Cleveland and he's been one of the biggest reasons for the team's success with a league-leading 17 wins this season. The netminder is 17-5-0 in 22 appearances during his third professional season. Greaves was undrafted out of the OHL's Barrie Colts before signing an AHL deal during the 2021-22 season. He earned an entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, midway through that season.
 
TURNING THE TIDE AT HOME 
 
The Crunch are trying to snap out of a funk on home ice. Syracuse has lost five straight home games (0-3-2-0), including an overtime loss to Cleveland Dec. 22. The Crunch's last home win was Dec. 8, when they knocked off the Hershey Bears, 4-1. 
 
The Crunch had an identical five-game drought on home ice last season from Jan. 21 to Feb. 11.
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
The Crunch and Monsters wrap up their four-game season series tonight. After splitting a pair of contests in Cleveland in October, the Monsters earned an overtime win in Syracuse right before Christmas.
 
Mitchell Chaffee leads all players in the series with four points - all assists - in three games. Nine different Crunch players have scored a goal against the Monsters; only Felix Robert has scored more than one (2). Hugo Alnefelt is 1-0-1 with a 1.95 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage in two starts.
 
Trey Fix-Wolansky scored twice, including the overtime winner, in their last match and he has three points (2g, 1a) in the series. Jet Greaves has started all three games and is 2-1-0/3.51/.880 against the Crunch.
 
CROZIER SET FOR NHL DEBUT 
 
Defenseman Max Crozier - recalled to Tampa Bay yesterday - is expected to make his NHL debut with the Lightning tonight against Anaheim.
 
Crozier will become the fifth Crunch player to make an NHL debut with the Lightning in the last 10 days since Declan Carlile did so on Jan. 4. Jack Thompson, Emil Lilleberg and Gage Goncalves also made debuts in that span.
 
Factor in Matt Tomkins and Waltteri Merelä, who started the season with NHL debuts with Tampa Bay, and the Crunch have seen seven NHL debuts this season.