CRUNCH BEGIN BUSY HOME MONTH

The Crunch put their three-game winning streak on the line tonight against the Belleville Senators at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
It's their first home game of 2025 and kicks off an eight-game slate on home ice in January, which is tied for their busiest home month of the season (November).
 
BROADCAST COVERAGE

Streaming: Pay-to-watch video via AHLTV on FloHockey | www.syracusecrunch.com/watch
Television: CNY Central — CW6 beginning at 7 p.m.
Radio: ESPN Radio Syracuse | www.espncny.com beginning at 6:45 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT

Brandon Halverson made 28 saves to earn his fourth shutout of the season in a 2-0 blanking of the Toronto Marlies at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
 
The New Year's Day matinee was scoreless after the first period. The Crunch grabbed the lead early in the second period. Max Groshev skated with the puck off the rush down the right wall before sending a pass out front to Milo Roelens. He redirected the feed over the shoulder of goaltender Matt Murray at 3:49 for a 1-0 advantage.
 
It remained that way deep into the third period before a Murray giveaway led to an open net for Jack Finley, who deposited it for a 2-0 lead at 17:05. Halverson shut the door with 12 third period saves for his 10th win of the season.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH

The Crunch's second ever win on New Year's Day (2-0 all-time) stretched their winning streak to a season-high three games. They've won five of the last six contests to improve to 14-9-4-3 this season. Syracuse holds fifth place in the North Division with 35 points.
 
Milo Roelens tallied his fifth goal of the season on Wednesday. It held up as his second game-winning goal of the season, which is tied for the team lead with Dylan Duke and Max Crozier. The rookie has seven points in 25 games this season.
 
Despite being held pointless on Wednesday, Jesse Ylonen leads the team in scoring during this stretch of five wins in six games. He has six points (1g, 5a) in the six games and is tied for fourth on the team with 17 points (6g, 11a) in 30 games this season.
 
BACK IN THE BARN

The Crunch wrapped up their longest stretch of road games this season on New Year's Day. They posted a 4-1-0-0 mark during the five-game stretch. They split a two-game set with Rochester before winning three straight games in regulation at Laval and Toronto; the Rocket and Marlies had a combined three regulation home losses prior to facing the Crunch.
 
The Crunch are 9-6-2-0 on the road this season, but now return home for the first time in three weeks. Eight of their 13 games in January are on home ice, which is tied for their most home games in a single month this season.
 
Syracuse carries a six-game home point streak into 2025, but the Crunch only have two wins in that span (2-0-3-1).
 
SCOUTING THE SENATORS

The Senators have hit a rough patch entering 2025, losing six of their last seven games (1-5-1-0) to close out December. This spell comes off the heels of a five-game winning streak, which included a 2-1 win over the Crunch on Dec. 11. 
 
Belleville has fallen to sixth place in the North Division with 31 points and a 13-9-1-4 record. The Senators have been significantly better on the road (8-3-0-2) than at home (5-6-1-2) this season.
 
Garrett Pilon leads the Senators in scoring with 21 points (3g, 18a) in 27 games. He's coming off a two-assist game in their 4-3 overtime loss to Utica on New Year's Eve. In that contest, Stephen Halliday scored twice for the Sens and he is up to 19 points (7g, 12a) on the season. 
 
HALVERSON SETS NEW CAREER BENCHMARK   

Brandon Halverson continued his strong play into the new year with a 28-save shutout in Toronto two days ago. It's his fourth shutout of the season and the fifth of his AHL career — all with the Crunch. The 28 saves are the most he's had in an AHL shutout.
 
The win was his 10th of the season, marking the first time he's won 10 AHL games in a single season. Halverson is 10-4-4 this season and sports an AHL-best 1.70 goals-against average to go with a .937 save percentage. His four shutouts are tied with Ken Appleby for the most in the league.
 
SHUTTING IT DOWN

The Crunch earned their fifth shutout win of the season Wednesday in Toronto. It's the most they've had in a season since 2021-22. With over half a season to be played, the Crunch are currently on pace for double digit shutouts, something they've accomplished three times ever.
 
They posted 13 in 2001-02, 12 in 2018-19 and 10 in 2012-13.
 
The Crunch maintained their spot at the top of the AHL defensively. The zero goals allowed lowered the Crunch's goals against per game to 2.37, which is the best in the AHL. Since a 2-1 loss to Belleville on Dec. 11, the Crunch have allowed only 12 goals in eight games.
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD

Tonight marks the seventh game in the eight-game season series between the clubs. The Crunch are 4-2-0-0 this season against the Senators; they will finish the series April 2 in Belleville.
 
Derrick Pouliot (3g, 4a) and Niko Huuhtanen (2g, 5a) are tied for the team lead with seven points in six matches with Belleville. Pouliot has posted three multi-point outings in the series. Garrett Pilon tops all scorers with eight points (1g, 7a). He has earned a point in five of the six meetings. 
 
The Crunch have outscored the Senators, 21-13, head-to-head this season.