CRUNCH MAKE LONE VISIT TO HERSHEY
 
The Crunch finish off the week tonight in Hershey as they take on the league-leading Bears at Giant Center.
 
The Crunch won the first meeting of the season in Syracuse and they have a chance to become just the fourth team to deal a pair of regulation losses to the Bears.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Crunch broke a 2-2 tie in the third period to take down the Belleville Senators, 4-2, for their first head-to-head win against the Sens this season.
 
Syracuse dominated the first period, but ended up in a 1-0 deficit. Despite firing the first 15 shots on goal, the Crunch went behind when Angus Crookshank raced down the left wing and snapped a shot past Hugo Alnefelt on Belleville's first shot at 11:16. The Crunch finished the period with 17 shots, but nothing to show for it.
 
That changed 19 seconds into the second period when Daniel Walcott muscled home a rebound for his 13th goal of the season. The Sens answered six minutes later on a Garrett Pilon deflection power-play goal, making it 2-1.
 
Syracuse closed the game with three straight goals. Lucas Edmonds tied the score at two by sweeping home a perfect pass from Shawn Element at 14:41 of the second period. Cole Koepke made it 3-2 with a go-ahead power-play goal 5:36 into the third. Declan Carlile sealed the win with an empty-net goal.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The Crunch are halfway through their 14-game March and improved to 5-1-1-0 so far with last night's win. They moved to 34-18-4-2 this season and with 74 points they are tied for first place in the North Division.
 
Lucas Edmonds grabbed a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game of the season. Edmonds has points in back-to-back games and in three of the last four contests overall. He had an assist on Daniel Walcott's 13th goal of the season; Walcott has now tied his career high for goals in a season, which he set last year.
 
After playing 11 straight games against North Division competition (7-3-1-0), Syracuse now plays four straight and six of the next seven against the Atlantic Division. They are 8-4-0-0 against Atlantic Division teams this season.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARS
 
The Bears are the only team that has clinched a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs and they have a nine point cushion on Coachella Valley - the team they defeated in last season's Calder Cup Finals - for the AHL's best record. Hershey is 42-11-0-5 and has 89 points with 14 games remaining. The Bears are 23-5-0-0 at Giant Center, allowing 46 goals in 28 games (1.64 goals per game).
 
With Mike Sgarbossa in Washington, Joe Snively has moved into the team lead in scoring with 44 points (10g, 34a) in 55 games. Pierrick Dubé leads the Bears and is tied for fifth in the league with his 24 goals.
 
Clay Stevenson and Hunter Shepard are a formidable 1-2 punch in net. Stevenson is 19-8-2/1.90/.930 this season while Shepard is 21-3-3/2.03/.918. 
 
GONCALVES SET FOR 200TH AHL GAME
 
Crunch forward Gage Goncalves is slated to appear in his 200th career AHL game tonight in Hershey. The third-year pro has put together a season that garnered him a spot in the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic last month. He leads the Crunch with 48 point (10g, 38a) in 56 games, leaving him six points away from matching his career high.
 
In his first 199 AHL games, the Mission, BC native has 135 points (40g, 95a).
 
The 23-year-old also made his NHL debut earlier this season and he has skated in two games for Tampa Bay.
 
SHOT SUPRESSORS  
 
Tonight's matchup features the teams ranked first and second in fewest shots allowed per game. After allowing only 21 shots in last night's win against Belleville, the Crunch moved into first in the AHL in shots allowed per game (26.14). The Bears have led the league in that category most of the season; they are now second at 26.26 shots allowed per game.
 
Syracuse has allowed fewer than 20 shots on goal three times in the last eight games. 
 
Hershey doesn't generate a lot of shots offensively either. The Bears ranks 31st with 26.64 shots per game; the Crunch are 24th in the AHL (28.90).
 
KOEPKE CALLS GAME AGAIN  
 
For the second time in less than a week, Cole Koepke broke a 2-2 tie with a power-play goal, which eventually stood as the game-winning tally. He is now tied for the team lead with five game-winning goals (Gabriel Dumont), and he leads the Crunch with 16 goals overall.
 
Syracuse is 11-3-3-0 this season when tied after two periods. The majority of those games, including last night, are tied at two heading into the third period and Syracuse is 9-3-3-0 when that is the score after 40 minutes.
 
ROSTER SHUFFLE 
The Crunch have made a bevy of transactions over the past 24 hours. Syracuse made a pair of trades ahead of yesterday's AHL Trade Deadline. They acquired forward Jordy Bellerive from the San Jose Barracuda in exchange for Joe Carroll; Bellerive is expected to meet the join the team today in Hershey. 
 
The Crunch also acquired defenseman Quinn Schmiemann for future considerations from the Abbotsford Canucks. Schmiemann was originally a Lightning draft pick, and spent time with the Crunch during the 2020-21 season, but did not play in a game.
 
With Matt Tomkins unavailable to dress for last night's game, the Crunch recalled goalie Brandon Halverson from Orlando. Today, they also recalled goalie Evan Fitzpatrick and defenseman Zachary Massicotte, while the Lightning recalled Emil Lilleberg from the Crunch.