CRUNCH LOOK TO HOLD SERVE ON HOME ICE
 
The Crunch return home for Game 3 of the North Division Finals tonight against the Cleveland Monsters.
 
The Monsters won the first two games of the best-of-five series at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Syracuse will look to follow suit this week to extend the series. 
 
Tonight is the second time the Crunch are facing elimination in the playoffs; they secured a 5-2 win in a winner-take-all Game 5 vs. Rochester.
 
CRUNCH SLOWED UP IN GAME 2 DEFEAT
 
The Monsters scored the final four goals of Game 2 en route to a 4-1 win at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Saturday afternoon.
 
The Crunch opened the scoring in the first period. Devante Stephens ripped a power-play goal from the right circle with a shot over the right shoulder of Jet Greaves at 8:07 of the opening period. The lead was short-lived, and the Monsters scored twice in the frame to open a 2-1 lead. Billy Sweezey threw a puck toward the net; although it initially looked like a save, the puck settled just inside the net and after a video review was called a goal at 11:29.
 
A muffed pass later In the period was converted Into a goal by Hunter McKown at 15:18 for what turned into the game-winning goal.  
 
They remained within one into the third period, but the Monsters nabbed an insurance goal with a power-play strike from Jakub Zboril at 4:37. Alex Whelan sealed the deal with an empty-net tally at 15:14.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
 
The North Division Finals shift to Syracuse with the Crunch needing to hold serve to extend the series. Syracuse finished with an 18-12-3-3 record on home ice in the regular season and the Crunch are 1-1 so far at home in the playoffs. Their last home game was over two weeks ago - Game 4 of the division semifinals on May 4. 
 
Defenseman Devante Stephens scored the Crunch's only goal over their two games last week in Cleveland. His blast from the right circle was a power-play goal and staked the Crunch to a 1-0 lead in the first period of Game 2 on Saturday.
 
The goal was his first career Calder Cup Playoff goal in 11 career AHL playoff games. It also marked his first career power-play goal in 377 pro games (regular season and playoffs) between the AHL and the ECHL. The 27-year-old had one career power-play goal in 203 WHL games before turning pro in 2017-18.
 
Stephens finished the regular season with a career-high seven goals and 19 points. 
 
The one goal scored by the Crunch in the first two games was the fewest in a two-game span all season.
 
HUUHTANEN SIGNS ELC
 
Forward Niko Huuhtanen signed his entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The three-year contract comes after the Finnish forward joined the Crunch on a PTO at the end of the regular season.
 
Huuhtanen, 20, made his AHL debut in Game 5 of the North Division Semifinals vs. Rochester and he has played in the subsequent two games as well. 
 
Selected with the 224th and final pick of the 2021 NHL draft, Huuhtanen scored 19 goals and logged 46 points in Finland's Liiga this season.
 
BACKS AGAINST THE WALL  
 
The Crunch lost the first two games of the best-of-five North Division Finals. They need to win three straight games to avoid elimination and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. That quest begins tonight on home ice, and continues, if necessary, Friday in Syracuse. A potential Game 5 is scheduled for Cleveland on Sunday afternoon.
 
This is the fifth time in Crunch history they've trailed 2-0 in a best-of-five series, including the second time in two playoff meetings against the Monsters. 
 
Thirteen teams in AHL history have come back from 0-2 down to win a best-of-five Calder Cup Playoff series, including Milwaukee in this year's division semifinals vs. Texas.
 
GETTING REWARDED  
 
The Crunch lead all playoff teams with 243 shots on goal – 34.71 per game (4th) – during the Calder Cup Playoffs. That is despite firing a Crunch playoff low 18 shots in a 4-1 loss in Game 2. Syracuse has scored on only 17 of its 243 shots, for a 7.0% shooting percentage, last among the seven remaining playoff teams.
 
In the regular season, the Crunch finished with a 10.4% shooting percentage. So far in two games against the Monsters, the Crunch have one goal on 46 shots (2.2%).
 
SCOUTING THE MONSTERS
 
The Monsters ride a five-game winning streak into Game 3 tonight. It's their longest playoff winning streak since 2016; that year they won six straight to begin the playoffs and then another nine straight en route to the Calder Cup. Cleveland has won 10 of its last 12 games overall since April 6.
 
Goaltender Jet Greaves backstopped his ninth straight game, including Cleveland's season-ending three-in-three sweep that clinched the team's first division title. In those nine starts, the third-year pro is 8-1-0 with a 1.58 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage. He leads all playoff goaltenders in goals-against average (1.39) and save percentage (.951). He had zero playoff experience in pro hockey prior to this spring.
 
WEEKDAY WARRIORS  
 
The Cleveland Monsters have done some of their best work during the week. In the regular season, the Monsters posted a 16-3-0-0 record in games contested between Monday and Thursday; they began the season 15-0-0-0 before taking a loss on March 18 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. 
 
In the playoffs, the Monsters are 1-1 on those days with a loss in the division semifinals vs. Belleville and a win in Game 1 vs. Syracuse.
 
The Crunch were 7-6-0-2 on those days in the regular season and they are 0-1 in the playoffs (Game 1 vs. Cleveland).