Team: Syracuse Crunch (13-5-1-1), AHL affiliate for the Tampa Bay Lightning
Opponent: Hamilton Bulldogs (7-9-1-1), AHL affiliate for the Montreal Canadiens
Where: Oncenter War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, New York
When: 7:30 pm Eastern Time
Online: AHL Live
Radio: The Score 1260 AM
The last time these two teams met, it was at the Bell Centre in Montreal in front of a sold out crowd of more than 18,000 fans. And the last time these two met, Hamilton forward Blake Geoffrion suffered a depressed skull fracture when Jean-Phillipe Cote’s skate connected with the side of Geoffrion’s head in this hit.
(For more on Geoffrion’s recovery, click here.)
So, what happens tonight? Will the Bulldogs come out determined to take revenge? Maybe, although it was a clean hit with a bad outcome. The Crunch, meanwhile, are coming off of a three-in-three last weekend that they can’t have been happy with. They dropped two of those games, and won one only by dint of one of their patented comeback efforts. If history is any indication, they could be expected to come out swinging themselves.
The word of the day for the Crunch will be injuries. Keith Aulie began skating with again after suffering a broken ankle in October; he’s expected to be back this weekend, as is Dmitry Korobov. Brett Connolly will be out, however, with a “chipped sternum.” Ouch. Evan Oberg and Vlad Namestnikov are also still out.
This is the first of three games this weekend. They play road games against the Adirondack Phantoms on Saturday and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday.
