Time for another Saturday Night action between the two rivals as the battle of I-81 is up for grabs once again with the Binghamton Senators taking on the Syracuse Crunch. Both teams are coming off Friday night wins but it’s the Senators with the hot hand, winners of four of their last five as the Crunch have lost their last five of six.
(22-24-5-1, 44 pts) 4th in East Division
@
(30-13-8-0, 68 pts) 1st in NorthEast Division
7:05 PM
War Memorial at Oncenter
RADIO: 96.9 FM, 680 AM. AHL Live.
MATCH-UP HISTORY
Binghamton has won two out of five including a 5-0 shutout back in mid Jan on home ice as the battle of North I-81 is on.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Jonathan Marchessault, SYR – The team’s leading point producer has been out with an injury since Jan 31st as he’s ready to make his return. During his time off, the Crunch have lost their last five games scoring only three goals before Friday night’s 3-1 win against the Albany Devils.
Carter Camper, BNG – Having Cole Schneider on one side and Shane Prince on the other, this is the line to watch as Camper does what he does best, being the table setter for his wingers to score and it’s worked so far. Excellent in the face-offs and reading the ice, I hope he’s back next season.
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Senators Playing Hard – Winners of 4 out of their last 5 the team is learning to win once again after that dreadful stretch in Jan that landed them in the basement. With confidence rising for some, and the evolution of others, who knows what’s going to occur during the stretch run.
2. No Matt Puempel – With Puempel up playing for Ottawa on Saturday, Prince has slipped into his spot on the first line with Camper at center and Schneider on wing as that line contributed for 7 points in Friday’s 5-3 victory over the Hershey Bears.
3. Senators Allow Most Goals – The one topic for opposing team’s announcers to always include their play by play calls, is that not only do the Senators sit in last place giving up the most goals with 174, the team has given up 1779 shots, which also is the most in the league. Never a shortage of information this season on that subject for them to talk about.
B-SENS TWEET OF THE GAME
*Cover Art Courtesy of SenShot’s Graphic Artist Matt Trayling