The St. John’s IceCaps face-off against the Binghamton Senators in what will be the final meeting of the season with the IceCaps winning two out of three so far. This is the first of two slated this weekend with the latter playing down in Hershey on Saturday as the Senators look to expand on their modest two wins over last weekend.
(17-18-3-1, 38 pts) 4th in East Division
VS
(17-20-5-1, 40 pts) 5th in Atlantic Division
7:05 PM
Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena
RADIO: 96.9 FM, 680 AM. AHL Live
MATCH-UP HISTORY
The Senators split the two earlier matches in St. John’s but lost in a shootout late Nov in Binghamton 4-3 for the lone SO participation of the season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
John Albert, STJ – Leads the IceCaps with 27 points (10 goals 17 assists in 43 games) as a fourth year pro native out of Cleveland, Ohio.
Ryan Dzingel, BNG – Looking for a great game from the rookie as he is the team leader in producing points on shots with a 16.4%. The smooth skating forward has 9 goals and 6 helpers in his first 32 professional games so far this season.
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Senators Home Record – It’s not bad but not great as the team is teetering with a 9-5-3-1 record that needs to improve as the comfort zone should be your greatest asset in being at home. The IceCaps arrive in town with a 7-13-1-1 road record for good measure.
2. Defense and Goaltending – Both need to step up in leading the AHL in shots averaging 33.41 per game, however are dead last giving up the most at 34.21. Similar stats regarding goals as ranked #3 with 3.21, and #29th giving up 3.31 per game on average.
3. B-Sens Player Moves – Senators sign defenseman Nick Tuzzolino to a PTO after previously playing for the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL. Meanwhile forward Jakub Culek has been released from the organization putting him on waivers. Also released is forward Shawn Szydlowski as he was a fill-in up from the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL.
B-SENS TWEET OF THE GAME
*Cover Pic Courtesy of SenShot’s Photographer Alicia Strauch