CRUNCH HUNGRY FOR WIN IN UTICA

The Syracuse Crunch visit the Utica Comets tonight for the fourth game of the regular season series between the clubs.
 
Syracuse is 3-0-0-0 versus Utica this season and the Crunch won their only previous visit to the Adirondack Bank Center. The Crunch have outscored the Comets, 13-2, over the three matches.
 
BROADCAST COVERAGE

Countdown to Crunch Time at 6:45 p.m.
Streaming: Pay-to-watch video via AHLTV on FloHockey | www.syracusecrunch.com/watch
Radio: ESPN Radio Syracuse | www.espncny.com
 
LAST TIME OUT

The Crunch earned their second straight win by clipping the Bridgeport Islanders, 5-3, Saturday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
The Crunch overcame a pair of one-goal deficits along the way. Scott Sabourin scored the team's Stanley Steemer Tired Teddy Toss goal to tie the game at one in the first period. Dylan Duke netted a power-play goal to level the score at two in the second period. Jakob Pelletier forced home a rebound to give the Crunch their first lead in the second frame, but the Islanders quickly answered to tie the game.
 
Nick Abruzzese broke the tie for good with a rebound strike at 7:40 of the third period. Mitchell Chaffee iced it with an empty-net tally late to help the Crunch improve to 11-6-0-0.
 
ABRUZZESE'S STRONG WEEK

Nick Abruzzese led the Crunch with five points in two games in Week 7. The 26-year-old matched a career high with three assists in the Crunch's win last Wednesday in Laval. It marked only his second three-assist game (also Nov. 11, 2023, at Grand Rapids) and his seventh three-point contest.
 
As an encore, Abruzzese recorded a multi-point effort Saturday against the Bridgeport Islanders. He nabbed an assist in the second period and then tallied a go-ahead goal in the third. That held up as his first game-winning goal of the season, and it was the 12th of his AHL career. He has 16 points (5g, 11a) in 17 games during his first season with the organization.
 
SCOUTING THE COMETS

The Comets have gone winless in their last six games (0-4-1-1) after they won back-to-back games to begin November. They are 2-10-2-1 this season and rank last in the AHL with seven standings points. Their only two wins came on home ice versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Belleville.
 
The Comets have scored a league-low 26 goals in 15 games (1.73 goals per game), and they have been shut out five times. Xavier Parent leads the team with eight points (4g, 4a) and Angus Crookshank tops the squad with five goals.
 
Nico Daws has started a team-high nine games, including five straight games entering tonight. He is 2-5-2 with a 2.53 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
 
DEPTH TEST

The Crunch roster continues to be impacted due to injuries for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Defenseman Max Groshev earned his first career NHL recall on Monday. The converted forward has six points and a team-high plus-8 rating in 17 games this season, which is his first as a full-time defenseman. 
 
He joins Charle-Edouard D'Astous, Steven Santini and Declan Carlile in Tampa Bay, which means four of the Crunch's six defensemen who played on opening night are currently on recall in the NHL. 
 
CRUNCH SIGN RODZINSKI TO PTO

The Crunch signed defenseman Romain Rodzinski to a professional tryout yesterday. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder joins the Crunch from the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays, where he has added five points (2g, 3a) in 14 games this season.
 
The 23-year-old is in his third pro season and has played in 100 career ECHL games for the Stingrays and Idaho Steelheads. He has not played in an AHL game to date.