CRUNCH LOOK FOR SPLIT WITH SENATORS
 
The Crunch and Belleville Senators rematch tonight at Upstate Medical University Arena on the final day before the AHL All-Star Break.
 
The Senators grabbed a 3-1 win last night and have won the first two games of their eight-game series.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Senators scored twice in 42 seconds during the second period and used that to defeat the Crunch, 3-1, last night at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
The Senators broke a scoreless tie with a power-play goal at 6:42 of the second period. A broken stick one-timer found its way to the net and Angus Crookshank muscled his way to the rebound to score his 14th goal of the season. Less than a minute later, Lassi Thomson's wrist shot found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
 
The Crunch pulled their goaltender with over five minutes remaining in the third, but Matthew Highmore scored to make it 3-0 Senators. The Crunch got on the board on Max Groshev's strike at 16:15, but Mads Sogaard came up with several key stops in the final minutes to preserve the Senators lead.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch had their five-game home winning streak snapped last night. They have had two five-game home winning streaks and two five-game overall winning streaks and each time they have been denied a sixth straight win. 
 
Syracuse remains tied for first place in the North Division with 52 points and a 24-14-2-2 record. The Crunch have not been in first place at the AHL All-Star Break since the 2016-17 season.
 
Max Groshev potted the Crunch's lone goal in last night's loss to Belleville. It was Groshev's 10th goal of the season, making him the fourth player on the Crunch with at least 10 tallies. Groshev leads Crunch rookies with 22 points (10g, 12a) in 42 games.
 
DIVISION BATTLES CONTINUE  
 
The Crunch are in the midst of a stretch of nine straight contests against North Division foes through Valentine's Day. In that span the Crunch will face Utica twice, Rochester and Belleville three times and Laval once. Syracuse is 3-2-0-0 so far and is 17-10-2-2 against the division this season. The Crunch's next game against a team out of their division is Feb. 17 at Lehigh Valley.
 
After a three-game trip to the Midwest for games against Milwaukee and Grand Rapids, the Senators kicked off a seven-game stretch against the North Division last night. The Senators are 13-8-0-2 against North Division squads this season.
 
SCOUTING THE SENATORS
 
Belleville broke a six-game skid thanks to its 3-1 win last night. The Senators went 0-5-0-1 in their previous six games heading into yesterday's contest. Belleville enters tonight's match at 19-17-2-3 with 43 points and  in sixth place in the North Division.
 
AHL All-Star Angus Crookshank leads the Sens in scoring with 28 points this season (14g, 14a). Moreover, the North Vancouver native is Belleville's top goal-scorer. Crookshank has scored in two consecutive contests. He posted three points at Grand Rapids last weekend. The third-year pro added the first goal for the Senators in last night's affair.
 
Egor Sokolov (12g, 15a) snapped a five-game point drought last night. The Russian notched two assists, each on the first two goals of the game. In his fourth season with the Sens, Sokolov is second in points with 27. He stands just two goals shy of Crookshank. Sokolov also recorded one assist in his first contest against the Crunch on Nov. 8. 
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD
 
The Senators have won both games head-to-head against the Crunch this season. They earned a 3-2 shootout win Nov. 8 in Belleville before winning last night in Syracuse. 
 
Max Groshev has a hand on all three Crunch goals against Belleville. He has scored two and assisted on the other. Egor Sokolov recorded a pair of assists last night and has three in two games against the Crunch.
 
In net, Mads Sogaard has won both starts for Belleville and has stopped 57 of 60 shots for a .950 save percentage. 
 
HUGO'S STRONG JANUARY  
 
Syracuse has alternated starts for its two goaltenders since the beginning of January meaning Hugo Alnefelt is due to start tonight. The third-year-pro posted a 5-0-0 record in January and played to a 1.95 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. He allowed 10 total goals on 145 shots throughout the month.
 
Since Dec. 2, the Swede is 7-2-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. Alnefelt leads the Crunch with nine wins. He is 9-5-3 with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. 
 
FEASTIN' FELIX  
 
Felix Robert (11g, 17a) is in the midst of his second-best stretch of the season. The fourth-year pro has posted seven points (1g, 6a) in the past nine games, his best phase since the start of the year. Robert recorded 11 points (6g, 5a) in the first eight games of the season. 
 
The center's 28 points are tied for second on the team. The Lambton, Quebec native is just six points shy of matching his total from each of the last two seasons.
 
SAN JOSE AWAITS 
 
Tonight is the final game before the AHL All-Star Break. The Crunch have two All-Star representatives - Gage Goncalves and Jack Thompson - who will head to San Jose tomorrow. The Senators' All-Star is Angus Crookshank; Max Guenette was also named an All-Star, but he is injured and is unavailable for the event.
 
The weekend begins with the All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday (8 p.m. ET) followed by the All-Star Challenge on Monday (9 p.m. ET). 
 
The event will be carried on the NHL Network and will also be available for free on AHLTV by visiting AHLTV.com.