CRUNCH VISIT SENATORS FOR MIDWEEK MATCH
 
The Crunch and Belleville Senators square off at CAA Arena for a Valentine's Day clash.
 
The teams have met three times with the Senators winning all three previous matches; two have required overtime.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch rallied from two goals down to defeat the Rochester Americans, 3-2, in overtime Saturday at Upstate Medical University Arena. 
 
For the second straight day, the Amerks opened a 2-0 lead in the first period. They scored twice in the first five minutes on goals from Lukas Rousek and Brett Murray.
 
Unlike Friday when the Crunch's rally began in the second period, Syracuse tied the score in the first period. Lucas Edmonds muscled home a rebound at 8:09 to make it a 2-1 score. Jack Thompson tied the game with a perfect shot off a faceoff win at 17:55.
 
The game remained in a 2-2 deadlock over the final two periods, sending the game into overtime. Just 18 seconds into the extra frame, Cole Koepke grabbed the puck in front of Devon Levi and struck for the game-winning goal.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch won a pair of overtime games last weekend against the Amerks to snag two wins coming out of the All-Star Break. Syracuse briefly moved into sole possession of first place with a 26-14-3-2 record and 57 points, but the Crunch are now tied for the top spot in the division.
 
The wins were the first two all season for the Crunch when falling behind by two goals. In both contests, they trailed 2-0 in the first period before scoring the final three goals to earn comeback wins.
 
Three goals continues to be the mark to reach for the Crunch. The team is 24-0-2-1 when scoring at least three goals, good for a 0.944 points percentage. Conversely, they are 2-14-1-1 when being limited to two or fewer goals in a game. 
 
DIVISION BATTLES CONTINUE  
 
The Crunch wrap up a stretch of nine straight games against the North Division since Jan. 20. In that span the Crunch will have faced Utica twice, Rochester and Belleville three times and Laval once. Syracuse is 5-2-1-0 so far and is 19-10-3-2 against the division this season. 
 
Syracuse will play its first game out of the division in nearly a month Saturday at Lehigh Valley.
 
SCOUTING THE SENATORS
 
The Senators split a two-game series with Utica last weekend out of the All-Star Break. Belleville is 21-18-2-3 and has 47 points, which puts the team in fifth place in the North Division.
 
AHL All-Star Angus Crookshank has goals in four of his last five games. In that span he has eight points (5g, 3a), including the overtime game-winning goal Feb. 3 at Syracuse. Crookshank leads the Senators with 32 points (16g, 16a).
 
Mads Sogaard has earned 10 of Belleville's 21 wins this season. The Dane is 10-6-2 with a 2.34 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage, which ranks tied for fourth in the AHL. 
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
The Crunch and Belleville Senators square off for the fourth time this season, and the third time in February. The Senators swept a two-game set in Syracuse right before the All-Star Break (Feb. 2-3) and have earned all three wins this season. Two of the three Crunch losses have been past regulation (0-1-1-1). 
 
The Crunch have scored six goals total in the three games against the Senators. Max Groshev has had a hand in three with two goals and one assist. Cole Koepke has also scored two times in the series. Egor Sokolov leads all players with four points in the series.
 
Mads Sogaard has earned all three wins against the Crunch, playing to a 1.90 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. 
 
FINLEY'S FEELING IT  
 
Jack Finley recorded his sixth multi-point game of the season with a pair of assists in Saturday's win against Rochester. The second-year pro won the faceoff that led to the tying goal in the first period and then nabbed another assist on the overtime winner for his second career two-assist game.
 
Since the start of January Finley is the Crunch's leading scorer with 14 points (5g, 9a) in 14 games. He has 17 points (6g, 11a) in 28 games this season. The Kelowna, British Columbia native has played 97 career AHL games, logging 38 points.
 
COMING THROUGH IN OVERTIME  
 
The Crunch grabbed their fourth and fifth overtime victories of the season last weekend. They are 5-3 in games decided in overtime, plus 7-5 when factoring in their four games that have gone into a shootout. 
 
Cole Koepke is the fourth different player this season with an overtime game-winning goal for the Crunch. He joins Felix Robert (Oct. 13), Joe Carroll (Jan. 7 and Jan. 15) and Waltteri Merelä (Feb. 9), who scored the four previous overtime winners.
 
The Crunch have played three straight overtime games (2-1) for the 13th time in franchise history. It's the first time since reaching overtime in five straight games March 31-April 7, 2023. 
 
CARLILE LENDS A HAND 
 
Defenseman Declan Carlile led the Crunch with three points - all assists - in Week 18. Two of the three assists were the primary assists on the Crunch's two overtime game-winning goals. On Friday in Rochester Carlile notched an assist on the Crunch's first goal before helping out on Waltteri Merelä's overtime goal. It marked his fourth career multi-point game, and his second two assist game (also Nov. 17 vs. Hartford).
 
Carlile is the only player to skate in all 45 Crunch games this season. He has 17 points (5g, 12a) and a plus-11 rating in his second pro season. His 17 points rank second among Crunch defensemen and his five goals are tied for first among the team's blueliners. The Merrimack College product also made his NHL debut for Tampa Bay Jan. 4 at Minnesota.