The battle between the top two Eastern Conference teams faceoff tonight at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester. B-Sens look to close out the month on the plus side as they head into February searching for their third straight road win. The team’s red-hot offense has been smoking lately despite missing some key ingredients up in Ottawa but continue to step up regardless of the missing links. Credit Luke Richardson and his staff as his club rolls on.
However, tonight’s contest won’t be easy as Manchester has won three out of their last four to stay atop the Eastern Conference and is currently tied with Binghamton for third overall in winning percentage at .670, only trailing Springfield (.709) and Grand Rapids (.682). Nathan Lawson (15-5-0 2.55) will get the start seeking his 16th win as Jean-Francois Berube (17-12-2 2.47) should be in net for the Monarchs looking for his 18th victory.
(28-13-0-3) 59 pts
/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.eiDTkNPD.dpuf(8-4-0-0) 16 pts
First in East Division
VS.
(28-12-2-5) 63 pts
First in Atlantic Division
Projected Lineup
Hoffman-Pageau-Schneider
Prince-O’Brien-Petersson
Puempel-Dziurzynski-Robinson
Cowick-Hamilton-Kramer
Borowiecki-New
Eckford-Claesson
Blood-Wideman
Lawson/Hammond
Scratches
Injured Reserve: Forward Derek Grant, upper body.
Healthy: Forward Danny Hobbs , Defenseman Mike Sdao.
Notes
- Monarchs second leading in points forward Brandon Kozun was traded to Toronto for rookie forward Andrew Crescenzi on Jan. 22nd. The deal was made to hopefully help increase point production for the Marlies in moving the hard checking center in Crescenzi as Kozun had scored 10 goals with 19 helpers in 43 games so far this season.
- Senators are first in the league with 164 goals and averages 3.73 per game while the Monarchs have scored 140 good for fifth and are 10th averaging 2.98. Binghamton’s road record is 13-8-0-0 but it’s Mancester with the impressive 14-4-1-1 at home that favors the Monarchs.
- Sens Captain Mark Borowiecki mentioned one of the reasons for his team’s success is how Richardson preaches team unity on and off the ice as well, as he said here in a recent interview with Travis Eldridge of WBNG-TV12;
"“I think a lot of it is his influence off ice. He really preaches being tight and being a family and spending time together, being close. I think that translates to the ice,” said Borowiecki. “It’s funny saying this, but I almost feel like it has the same sense of community that I did in college. The guys are so tight that we spend every minute together in college in class, and it seems like guys are always hanging out here, guys are always together. I think it translates to good relationships and good communication on the ice too.”"
Players To Watch For
Manchester: Forwards Jordan Weal (10g 29a 47gms) and Nick Deslauriers (14g 13a 47gms), Defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk (5g 13a 46gms).
Binghamton: Forwards Mike Hoffman (22g 31a 42gms) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7g 17a 21gms), Defenseman Chris Wideman (5g 28a 42gms).
Season Results
Senators win in overtime 5-4 on Jan. 3rd. This will be the final meeting between the two clubs tonight at Manchester.
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Media
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