The Hamilton Bulldogs (7-9-1-1) travel to Syracuse to take on the AHL Eastern Conference leading Crunch (13-5-1-1). The Crunch come into tonight’s game after losing 5-2 to the Binghamton Senators on Sunday. The Bulldogs come into the tilt after shutting out the AHL Best Abbotsford Heat 3-0 on Saturday night. You can read about that game in our recap.
Some keys to tonight’s game for the Bulldogs, Cedrick Desjardins will need to continue his current level of play, as he was outstanding in both of his wins. Louis Leblanc will need to build on his last performance. On defense, the Bulldogs will need to shut down a trio of Crunch scorers. Tyler Johnson (15g, 8a), Richard Panik (11g, 9a), and Cory Conacher (9g, 10a) are all near the top of the league in scoring.
Projected Bulldogs Lineup
Forwards
Michael Blunden – Gabriel Dumont – Brendan Gallagher
Stefan Chaput – Joonas Nattinen – Darryl Boyce
Louis Leblanc – Steven Quailer- Aaron Palushaj
Kyle Hagel – Zack Stortini – Patrick Holland
Defenseman
Frederic St-Denis – Morgan Ellis
Jarred Tinordi – Mike Commodore
Nathan Beaulieu – Brendon Nash
Goaltenders
Cédrick Desjardins
Notes:
MIchael Bournival missed the last game with food poisoning and is ready to go tonight, but since the Bulldogs won against the Heat, Sylvain Lefebvre has decided to keep him out. It’s a bewildering decision when Bournival has been the team’s #1 center since Blake Geoffrion went down.
The game starts at 7:30PM EST and you can watch it live on AHLLive ($), or listen to it here.
