CRUNCH HOST LEAGUE-LEADING BRUINS
 
The Syracuse Crunch face the league-leading Providence Bruins tonight at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
It's the second match of the two-game season series. The Bruins beat the Crunch, 3-1, on Dec. 20 in Providence. 
 
Providence can clinch its ninth division title tonight with a win and a regulation loss by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Syracuse sits one point behind Laval for first place in the North Division with one game in hand.
 
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 fell to the Rochester Americans in a shootout, 3-2, last Sunday at Blue Cross Arena.
 
It was a 1-1 game after two periods. Rochester scored the only goal of the first, while Nick Abruzzese potted his 12th of the season 4:11 into the second.
 
The Amerks regained the lead on the power play 43 seconds into the third, but Ethan Gauthier knotted it back up six minutes later.
 
Rochester won the shootout, 2-0, to collect the extra standings point.
 
MARCH IN REVIEW
 
The Crunch posted an 8-3-0-2 record in March, playing a season-high nine home games. They were 5-3-0-1 at Upstate Medical University Arena and 3-0-0-1 on the road.
 
Jakob Pelletier led the club in scoring with 18 points (7g, 11a) and carries a league-best 16-game scoring streak into April.
 
Syracuse also added two veterans at the trade deadline to bolster its roster for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Forward Matthew Peca, acquired from Springfield, has nine points (2g, 7a) in eight games. Defenseman Ian Mitchell, traded from Grand Rapids, has five assists and a plus-five rating.
 
The Crunch are 16-4-0-2 since the start of February.
 
NOAH STEEN READY FOR DEBUT
 
Forward Noah Steen inked a PTO with the Crunch on Tuesday and is expected to make his North American pro debut tonight. A seventh round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2024, Steen has played the last two seasons in the SHL for Orebro HK. He had 22 points (12g, 10a) in 52 games this season.
 
Steen, 21, also signed his entry-level contract with the Lightning, which will begin in the 2026-27 season.
 
SCOUTING THE BRUINS
 
Providence enters tonight's contest as the top team in the AHL with 101 points. The Bruins have won five of their last six games and are 7-3-0-0 in their last 10.
 
Providence is in a two-horse race with Grand Rapids for the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL's regular season champion, which the Bruins last claimed in 2012-13. They have finished first overall three times in franchise history. 
 
Forwards Georgi Merkulov and Riley Tufte are tied for the club lead with 53 points apiece. Merkulov notched a hat trick in the 3-1 win over Syracuse on Dec. 20.
 
Michael DiPietro (32-7-0/1.95/.930) leads all AHL goaltenders in wins, goals-against average and save percentage. Simon Zajicek (12-5-1/2.34/.919) made 23 saves to beat the Crunch in December.
 
GAUTHS GETTING IT DONE
 
Ethan Gauthier registered a goal in both ends of last weekend's home-and-home with Rochester. It's the first time the rookie has scored goals in back-to-back games in his professional career.
 
The rookie has appeared on the scoresheet in five of his last six outings, logging six points (4g, 2a).