Binghamton Senators Pre-Game: Host Bridgeport Sound Tigers

The Sound Tigers make their only appearance of the season at the Arena tonight to face the Senators. Two key players make their return for their respective clubs as Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Ryan Strome will both take the ice after being sent down on Wednesday from their respective top clubs. (Incidentally, both their call-ups would occur on the same date as well on the 11th of December.) Andrew Hammond (9-7-3 3.28) will get the start in goal as Kenny Reiter (7-7-2 2.83) should get the start for the Sound Tigers. The other game to keep an eye on tonight is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Providence as the Senators have a one point lead over their southern I-81 rivals for the battle of first place in the East.

(23-12-0-3) 49 pts

/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.eiDTkNPD.dpuf(8-4-0-0) 16 pts

First in East Division

VS.

(14-20-1-4) 33 pts

Fourth in NorthEast Division

B-Sens Projected Lineup

Forward Lines

Hoffman-DaCosta-Schneider

Prince-Pageau-Petersson

Puempel-Grant-O’Brien

Cowick-Hamilton-Robinson

Defensemen

Borowiecki-New

Sdao-Claesson

Eckford-Wideman

Goaltenders

Hammond / Greenham

Scratches

Injured Reserve: Goaltender Lawson, lower body.

Healthy: Forward Darren Kramer and David Dziurzynski, Defenseman Ben Blood.

Notes & Observations

• Pageau was sent down to make room for Chris Neil‘s eventual return and will instantly infuse energy to a stagnate Sens line-up as Luke Richardson shakes up the lines. Pager was last centering Buddy Robinson and Mark Stone on the third line before being called up but now finds himself in the middle of Shane Prince and Andre Petersson on the second line. Stone remains in Ottawa along with Cody Ceci as the only two remaining call ups for the organization.
• AHL All-Star select and rookie sensation Strome was also sent down to make room for Radek Martinek‘s return. So that makes tonight’s game being represented by two All-Stars, Mike Hoffman being the other, that will take on Farjestad BK later next month at St. John’s.
• Bridgeport is just 4-11-0-4 on the road while Sens are 13-4-0-3 at home. These are the type of games that the Senators seem to have problems with getting amped up for a team they are not very familiar with.
• Justin Johnson and Joey Diamond started throwing punches with one another during this week’s practice. Coach Scott Pellerin downplayed the altercation with the following statement, “It’s a fine line of competing, battling, guys working hard for one another..”. Not sure what to make of that but hey, not my worry as I’ve never heard of such type of action ever taking place on a Binghamton team.
• The struggling Sound Tigers have been hit pretty hard with injuries as Johan Sundstrom, Riley Wetmore, John Persson, Scott Pellerin and Andrey Pedanhave have all been out along with Strome playing for their big club. With Strome back, Persson and Wetmore are ready to return tonight. The Senators have been pretty fortunate so far this season as the injuries have been limited compared to over the previous years. *Knock on wood.*

Three Cogs in the Machine

Bridgeport: Forwards Strome (9g 24a 23gms) and Anders Lee (15g 14a 39gms), Defenseman Dallas Jackson (3g 14a 37gms).

Binghamton: Forwards Andre Petersson (11g 10a 30gms) and Pageau (6g 10a 15gms), Defenseman Chris Wideman (5g 21a 36gms).

Head-to-Head Results

B-Sens won 6-5 in OT at Bridgeport earlier this season. Game two is tonight for the club’s only scheduled meetings of the season.

B-Sens Tweet of the Day

Media Coverage

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