CRUNCH BEGIN ANOTHER THREE-IN-THREE
 
The Syracuse Crunch start their second three-game weekend of the season tonight against the Hershey Bears at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
It's the final game of the four-game season series, and the road team has won each of the first three matches. The Crunch won twice on opening weekend but lost, 2-1, in Syracuse on Nov. 14.
 
The Crunch are riding a three-game winning streak. Last weekend, they swept a three-in-three for the first time since April 2022.
 
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
 
The Crunch used a four-goal second period to surge past the Cleveland Monsters, 6-3, at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
After a scoreless opening frame, Syracuse tallied three times in the first 2:54 of the second. Matthew Peca (0:29), Gabriel Szturc (2:04) and Dylan Duke (2:54) all found the back of the net for the Crunch. Duke's tally was his 30th of the season, making him the first 30-goal scorer for the Crunch since 2021-22. Jakob Pelletier closed out the period with a shorthanded goal at 19:26 to make it 4-0.
 
Ethan Gauthier put Syracuse up 5-0 two minutes into the third. The Monsters scored three unanswered to cut the lead to 5-3, but Pelletier scored an empty-netter to seal it for the Crunch with 50 seconds to play.
 
PECA PILING UP POINTS
 
Since his acquisition from Springfield on March 10, Matthew Peca has averaged a point-per-game for the Crunch. He enters tonight on a three-game scoring streak and has gone scoreless just once in his five games with Syracuse.
 
Peca opened the scoring in Sunday's win against Cleveland to snap a 19-game goal drought. It was his first goal in a Crunch uniform since the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs.
 
The veteran has 396 career AHL points (125g, 271a) in 535 regular season games.
 
700 GAMES
 
Veteran defenseman Jarred Tinordi is set to play in his 700th pro game tonight. The 34-year-old has skated in 494 AHL games and 205 NHL games since turning pro for the 2012-13 season.
 
Tinordi has seven points (1g, 6a) and a plus-11 rating in 35 games since joining the Crunch in December.
 
GABBY'S GETTING HOT
 
Gabriel Szturc earned first-star honors with two points (1g, 1a) in Sunday's win over Cleveland — his first multi-point game of the season. He has scored goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
 
He has three points in three games since returning from an eight-game injury absence. He has 14 points (6g, 8a) in 50 games this season.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARS
 
Hershey has lost four consecutive games and is just 3-6-0-1 in its last 10. The Bears occupy fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 10 games remaining. They lost to Bridgeport, 6-3, last Sunday at home.
 
A pair of rookies lead Hershey's offense. 19-year-old Ilya Protas has had a stellar campaign, and his 26 goals rank in the top 10 in the AHL. Not far behind is Andrew Cristall, who leads the Bears with 35 assists. They are tied for first and third respectively among AHL rookies with 53 and 50 points.
 
With starter Clay Stevenson out with injury, the Bears have turned to Mitch Gibson (7-5-3/2.78/.907) and rookie Garin Bjorklund (5-9-3/3.72/.876) in the crease for the last three weeks.