In the typical oddity of the AHL schedule, the Hamilton Bulldogs returned home from St. Johns after splitting back to back games against the IceCaps to an extended 4 day break. They’re back in action this afternoon as they host the Lake Erie Monsters (9-7-1-1) for the first time this season.
Lake Erie is second in the North Division, where Hamilton is pulling up the rear in 5th.
The Bulldogs received some reinforcements recently though, as star AHL goalie Cedrick Desjardins returned from injury, as did top forward Louis Leblanc. Veteran NHL defenseman Mike Commodore was also signed to a professional tryout contract in order to shore up the rookie laden defense, which has taken a hit since Greg Pateryn was injured.
However after only being able to practice with the team for 10 minutes yesterday, Commodore won’t be playing this afternoon. He’ll have to wait for Hamilton’s next game against Abbostford, another 5 days from now. That’s right folks, the Bulldogs play just one game in a span of 9 days.
The Bulldogs continue to struggle to score so far, although Gallagher seems to find a way to put the puck in the net more and more as he gets used to the AHL game.
Prospective Hamilton Bulldogs Lineup:
Forwards
Michael Blunden – Gabriel Dumont – Brendan Gallagher
Patrick Holland – Michael Bournival – Aaron Palushaj
Steven Quailer – Darryl Boyce – Louis Leblanc
Kyle Hagel – Joonas Nattinen – Zack StortiniDefenseman
Nathan Beaulieu – Frederic St-Denis
Jarred Tinordi – Morgan Ellis
Brendon Nash – Antoine CorbinGoaltenders
Cédrick Desjardins
Robert Mayer
Notes: Alain Berger and Alexander Avtsin look like they’ll be healthy scratches again in favour of the heavily inferior Hagel and Stortini. Pateryn is still out indefinitely.
- Lines for the Monsters haven’t been released.
- Update: Louis Leblanc is a late scratch for the Bulldogs, likely because he came back too early from his ankle injury./
You can watch today’s game live on AHLLive ($), or listen to it here. Puck drop is at 4PM EST. You can also watch the game live on TVA Sports en Français if you have that channel.
