When: Saturday, December 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: War Memorial Arena
Radio: The Score 1260
Watch: AHL Live
 
Season Series: This is the first of two meetings between the Hamilton Bulldogs and Syracuse Crunch this season. The Bulldogs captured the season series last year, winning three of the four games against the Crunch. Syracuse has had the upper hand the past five seasons, compiling a 16-10-3-1 record against Hamilton. The Bulldogs lead the all-time season series, 45-43-14.
 
Crunch At A Glance: Syracuse defeated the St. John's IceCaps, 5-3, Wednesday night at the Mile One Centre. Kyle Palmieri, called up by Anaheim yesterday, recorded his second hat trick of the season, and now has a league-leading 17 goals. He finished with a team-high four points (3g, 1a), earning his first four-point game of the season. Peter Holland finished with three points (1g, 2a) and Brandon McMillan, recalled by Anaheim with Palmieri, scored a goal in his third straight game. Jeff Deslauriers stopped 23 shots for the win.
 
Patrick Maroon enters the game with 24 points (10g, 14a), second on the team to Palmieri. He's tied for 11th in the league in points. Dan Sexton collected his 16th assist Wednesday, breaking a tie with Nick Bonino (15a) for the team lead. Holland continues to collect points, with 16 (7g, 9a) in 19 games, ranking him tied for ninth in the league in point among rookies. Four Crunch skaters have reached the 20-point mark this season.
 
Crunch Leaders
Goals: Kyle Palmieri - 17
Assists: Dan Sexton - 16
Points: Kyle Palmieri - 26
Plus/Minus: Kyle Palmieri - +15
PIM: Troy Bodie - 55
Wins: Iiro Tarkki - 7
GAA: Iiro Tarkki - 2.67
Save %: Iiro Tarkki - .921
Shutouts: Iiro Tarkki - 1
 
Recent Crunch Transactions
12/09/2011 Brandon McMillan (C) Syracuse DEL Recalled from loan by Anaheim (NHL)
12/09/2011 Kyle Palmieri (RW) Syracuse DEL Recalled from loan by Anaheim (NHL)
12/09/2011 Nick Bonino (C) Syracuse ADD Returned on loan from Anaheim (NHL)
12/09/2011 Derrick LaPoint (D) Syracuse DEL Released from PTO
12/06/2011 Jeff Deslauriers (G) Syracuse ADD Returned on loan by Anaheim (NHL)
 
Who's Hot
Patrick Maroon: Nine points (4g, 5a) in his last nine games
Peter Holland: Ten points (4g, 6a) in his last seven games
Nick Bonino: Nine points (3g, 6a) in his last seven games
 
Bulldogs At a Glance: The Toronto Marlies defeated Hamilton, 2-1, last night at Copps Coliseum. Andreas Engqvist scored the Bulldogs lone goal, picking up his fourth of the season. Frederic St-Denis and Phil DeSimone assisted on the score. It was the fifth time this season Hamilton scored just one goal. Nathan Lawson stopped 26 shots, picking up his eighth loss of the season.
 
Hamilton ranks last in the league in goals-per-game average at 2.04. The Bulldogs have just three skaters with ten or more points this season. DeSimone leads all skaters with five goals and is second on the team with 12 points. Brian Willsie has 13 points (3g, 10a) through 22 games, and enters tonight's contest the team leader in points and assists. Former Crunch defenseman Mark Mitera has three points (1g, 2a) and is a minus-13 in 23 games this season. He's one of six Bulldogs to play in every game this season. Former Crunch forward Michael Blunden also plays for Hamilton.
 
Bulldogs Leaders:
Goals: Phil DeSimone - 5
Assists: Brian Willsie - 10
Points: Brian Willsie - 13
Plus/Minus: Andreas Engqvist - +2
PIM: Zach FitzGerald - 107
Wins: Nathan Lawson - 7
GAA: Nathan Lawson - 2.65
Save %: Nathan Lawson - .918
Shutouts: Nathan Lawson - 3
 
Recent Bulldogs Transactions
12/09/2011 Fredric St-Denis (D) Hamilton ADD Returned on loan from Montreal (NHL)
12/09/2011 Olivier Malka (D) Hamilton DEL Returned on loan to Wheeling (ECHL)
12/05/2011 Andreas Engvist (C) Hamilton ADD Returned on loan from Montreal (NHL)
12/04/2011 Aaron Palushaj (RW) Hamilton ADD Returned on loan from Montreal (NHL)
11/28/2011 Louis Leblanc (C) Hamilton DEL Recalled from loan by Montreal (NHL)
 
Who's Hot
Phil DeSimone: Two points (2a) in his last three games
Nathan Lawson: 2-2-0 in his last four starts