CRUNCH FINISH SEASON SERIES WITH AMERKS
 
The Syracuse Crunch wrap up their 12-game season series against the Rochester Americans tonight at Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
The Crunch have won six of the 11 previous meetings, but the Amerks picked up a shootout win 10 days ago in their last contest.
 
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 Springfield Thunderbirds on the road in a shootout, 4-3, on Saturday at the MassMutual Center. 
 
Trailing 1-0 after the first period, Ethan Samson leveled the game 8:07 into the second, but the Crunch got in penalty trouble later in the period. The T-Birds capitalized on a 5-on-3 with 1:40 remaining to take a 2-1 lead after two.
 
Jakob Pelletier briefly tied the game with a shorthanded goal two minutes into the third, but Springfield regained the lead on another power-play strike 39 seconds later. Syracuse squared it for the third time midway through the third thanks to Nick Abruzzese and regulation ended deadlocked at three.
 
After a scoreless overtime, the T-Birds prevailed in the fourth round of the shootout. It's the Crunch's second shootout loss in their last three games.
 
THREE RECALLED TO TAMPA BAY
 
Syracuse's three leading scorers — Jakob Pelletier (75), Conor Geekie (59) and Dylan Duke (55) — were called up to Tampa Bay yesterday. All three skated in the Lightning's 6-2 loss to the Senators last night.
 
For Pelletier and Geekie, last night marked their third and 12th NHL games of the season respectively. Pelletier recorded two shots in 10:22, while Geekie logged 11:29 time-on-ice.
 
Last night was Duke's first NHL recall of the season. He registered one shot in 9:22 time-on-ice. Duke was reassigned back to the Crunch earlier today. He leads the Crunch with 31 goals this season.
 
TRIO OF TEENAGERS JOIN THE CRUNCH
 
Three players have joined the Crunch following the conclusion of their junior seasons.
 
Forward Ethan Czata, 18, notched 53 points (25g, 28a) in 63 games with the Niagara Ice Dogs in the OHL this season.
 
Defenseman Everett Baldwin, 19, tallied 44 points (15g, 29a) in 62 games with the Saint John's Sea Dogs in the QMJHL. Fellow defenseman Grant Spada, 18, comes over from the OHL's Guelph Storm. He had 21 points (6g, 15a) and led the Storm with a plus-11 rating. All three players were drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2025.
 
SCOUTING THE AMERICANS
 
Rochester holds the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division with 69 points. The Amerks have won two consecutive games and beat Cleveland in a shootout, 4-3, on the road on Monday night to trim their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to six.
 
Nineteen-year-old Konsta Helenius leads the Amerks with 59 points (19g, 40a). The Finnish forward is riding an eight-game scoring streak and notched a pair of assists in Monday's win over Cleveland.
 
On the blue line, Zac Jones is having a career year with 58 points. His 48 assists rank second overall in the AHL and first among defensemen. Jones has 13 points (6g, 7a) in 10 games against the Crunch this season.
 
Devon Levi (22-18-8/2.77/.905) has won his last two starts and stopped 35 of 38 on Monday. Levi has played 2,791 minutes this season — the most among all AHL goaltenders. He's posted a record of 4-2-1 against Syracuse this year.