CRUNCH FINISH MARATHON WEEKEND
 
The Syracuse Crunch look to sweep their three-in-three weekend this afternoon against the Cleveland Monsters at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
It's the last regular season match between the two teams. The Crunch are 1-1-1-0 against Cleveland and took down the Monsters last night, 6-2. 
 
Syracuse is six points ahead of Cleveland in the North Division standings for second place but trail Laval by four points for the top spot.
 
BROADCAST COVERAGE
 
Countdown to Crunch Time at 3:45 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
 
Mitchell Chaffee scored twice and the Crunch went 9-for-9 on the penalty kill en route to a decisive, 6-2, victory over the Cleveland Monsters last night at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
Jakob Pelletier scored 49 seconds into the game, but nobody scored again in the first period and the Crunch led 1-0 after 20 minutes.
 
Midway through the second, Chaffee converted on a penalty shot to make it 2-0. The Monsters halved the deficit two minutes later, but Simon Lundmark tallied with 2:19 to go in the middle frame to put the Crunch up 3-1 after two periods.
 
Tristan Allard notched his seventh of the season 18 seconds into the third to give Syracuse a 4-1 advantage. Chaffee buried an empty-netter at 17:48 and Gabriel Szturc added another with six seconds remaining to lock down the 6-2 win.
 
It was the Monsters' first regulation loss against the Crunch since Oct. 20, 2023.
 
LUNDY LIGHTS THE LAMP
 
In his 300th career AHL game last night, Simon Lundmark registered the game-winning goal late in the second period — his first goal in a Crunch uniform.
 
It was his first tally since March 22 of last season as a member of the Manitoba Moose. The Swedish defenseman has 10 points (1g, 9a) and a plus-one rating in 46 games played this year.
 
PENALTY KILL PERFECTION
 
The Crunch went 9-for-9 on the penalty kill in last night's 6-2 win over the Monsters. Syracuse also scored once shorthanded when Mitchell Chaffee cashed in on a penalty shot midway through the second period. Syracuse has 10 shorthanded goals this season.
 
It's the Crunch's best performance on the penalty kill since Oct. 26, 2011, when they also killed 9-of-9 in a 7-0 victory against the Lake Erie Monsters.
 
THREE-IN-THREE
 
The Crunch wrap up their three-in-three weekend today and have an opportunity to win all three games.  A win today would nail down their first 3-0-0-0 mark in a three-day span since April 22-24, 2022. 
 
The Crunch have their second and final three-in-three weekend next week, which also features two home games and a trip to Rochester.
 
SCOUTING THE MONSTERS
 
Cleveland wraps up its season-long six-game road trip this afternoon with just four road games left on the schedule, including today. They are 3-2-0-0 on the trip and 17-13-2-0 on the road this season.
 
Cleveland's power play was 0-for-9 last night against the Crunch and tumbled to 17.5% on the season, which ranks 22nd in the AHL. That contributed to the Monsters' sixth regulation loss against a North Division team this season; they are 18-6-3-0 in games played against division opponents.
 
In the crease, Zach Sawchenko (11-7-3/2.82/.890) has played well against the Crunch this season. He started and won both matches in Cleveland on Dec. 4 and Dec. 6. Ivan Fedotov (22-14-4/2.83/.888) got the start last night and allowed five goals on 24 shots.