CRUNCH OPEN WEEKEND SET IN TORONTO
 
The Crunch get a late start to the New Year and play their first game of 2024 this afternoon against the Toronto Marlies at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
 
It's the first of two straight games this weekend in Toronto between the clubs, and the third of the eight game season series. The Crunch grabbed a pair of wins in a home-and-home series last month.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch closed out 2023 with a 4-1 loss against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell last Saturday.
 
The Rocket scored the game's first four goals with two in the first period and two in the second period. Sean Farrell started the scored with a power-play goal at 5:12 of the opening frame. Jan Mysak doubled the lead with a shorthanded goal two minutes later. 
 
Laval added another power-play goal by Arber Xhekaj early in the second period before Joshua Roy capped their scoring late in the period.
 
Shawn Element finally got the Crunch on the board with his seventh goal of the season late in the third period as the Crunch lost their 12th straight regular season game at Place Bell dating to March 2019.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch have had a week between games – their longest break of the season – after dropping five of their final six contests (1-3-2-0) to close out 2023. Syracuse lost a pair of road matches in Laval last weekend, and the Crunch are 1-2-0-0 on their current five-game road trip.
 
Syracuse enters the weekend in second place in the North Division with 36 points (16-11-2-2), but they are now nine points adrift in the race for the division lead.
 
The Crunch scored only three total goals in two games last weekend, and their offense has netted more than two in a game only three times in the last 11 games during which the team is 3-6-2-0. The Crunch are 15-0-1-1 when scoring at least three goals in a game.
 
SCOUTING THE MARLIES
 
The Marlies have hit a skid as the calendar flips to 2024. The team has lost five straight (0-4-1-0) after losing, 2-1, to Cleveland on Wednesday. The Marlies have slipped to fifth place in the North Division with 31 points (13-11-4-1).
 
Their top goaltender Dennis Hildeby was recalled to the Maple Leafs earlier this week after going 7-5-3/2.20/.919 for the Marlies. He swaps with Ilya Samsonov, who cleared waivers but is not expected to play this weekend for the Marlies.
 
Alex Steeves has had a strong campaign with a team-leading 25 points (11g, 14a) in 24 games. 
 
HITTING THE ROAD 
 
The Crunch continue a stretch of five straight road games this afternoon in Toronto. This is the longest stretch of road games all season for the Crunch. Syracuse will next play at home Jan. 12, a span of 19 days between home games (Dec. 23).
 
The road run began last Wednesday (Dec. 27) with a win in Rochester before the club lost twice in Laval last weekend.
 
The Crunch have more wins on the road (9) than at home (7). Overall they are 9-7-0-1 on the road. They will make up for lost time with a six-game homestand beginning next week. 
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
The Crunch swept a home-and-home series with the Marlies at the start of December to begin their eight-game regular season series. They won, 4-3, in the opener in Syracuse and then followed up with a 3-1 win in Toronto the next day.
 
Mitchell Chaffee scored in both games and totaled three goals and four points to lead all players. Gage Goncalves, Gabriel Dumont and Jack Thompson also had multiple points over the two games. Matt Tomkins and Hugo Alnefelt both earned wins in net.
 
Topi Niemelä led the Marlies with three points while Pontus Holmberg – currently recalled to the Maple Leafs – had a pair of goals. 
 
DO THE BLUELINE SHUFFLE 
 
Since the Crunch's last game last week, the team's corps of defensemen have been jumbled due to injuries with their parent club Tampa Bay Lightning.
 
Earlier this week, Phil Myers and Declan Carlile were recalled to Tampa Bay while Sean Day, who had been returned to the Crunch, was also recalled to the Bolts. Myers has dressed in the last two games for the Lightning and Carlile made his NHL debut on Thursday. Myers remains with Tampa Bay, while Carlile and Day were returned to Syracuse.
 
In their place, Jack Thompson and Emil Lilleberg earned their first NHL recalls on Friday. Thompson, 21, was named an alternate captain for the Crunch earlier this season and he leads the team's defensemen with 20 points (2g, 18a). Lilleberg, 22, is in his first season in the organization and has 12 points (1g, 11a) in 31 games in his first season in North America.
 
Syracuse has also signed defensemen Chris Harpur (Orlando) and Ryan Orgel (Adirondack) to professional tryout contracts. Neither player has skated in a regular season AHL game.
 
CARLILE MAKES NHL DEBUT 
 
Crunch defenseman Declan Carlile earned his first NHL call up earlier this week and then made his NHL debut for the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday in Minnesota. The 23-year-old logged 11:27 of ice time in 20 shifts and finished with a plus-1 rating.
 
The undrafted blueliner has skated in all 31 games for the Crunch this season, contributing three goals and nine points. He played in 69 games as a rookie last season with the Crunch, adding 24 points (8g, 16a) and a team-leading plus-28 rating.
 
GETTING THE SPECIAL TEAMS ON TRACK 
 
The Crunch hope they can get their special teams back on track following the week break. Syracuse has scored only two power-play goals in the last 11 games (2-for-37, 5.4%). In that span, they've allowed three shorthanded goals.
 
Their penalty kill has still been stout, although they've allowed goals in back-to-back games for the first time since mid-November.