When: Friday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: War Memorial at Oncenter
Radio: The Score 1260
Watch: AHL Live
 
Season Series: This is the third of six meetings between the Hershey Bears and Syracuse Crunch this season. The East Division rivals split the first two games of the season. Syracuse won the latest matchup, 3-2, in a shootout, November 18 at the War Memorial at Oncenter. Patrick Maroon and Kyle Palmieri beat Dany Sabourin in the shootout, and Iiro Tarkki stopped all four Hershey shooters for his first career shootout win. The Crunch are 31-45-12 all-time against the Bears.
 
Mathieu Carle leads all Syracuse skaters with two points (1g, 1a) against Hershey. Nick Bonino, Bryan Rodney, Palmieri and Maroon all have one point. In two games against the Bears, Tarkki has a 2.83 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
 
Jacob Micflikier and Chris Bourque lead Hershey with four points against Syracuse. Micflikier leads all skaters in goals with two. Bourque holds the team-lead with three assists. Ten other players recorded at least one point against the Crunch. Sabourin is 1-0-1 record against Syracuse, with a 0.96 goals-against average and a .968 save percentage against Syracuse.
 
The Crunch enter tonight's game trailing the Bears by two points in the standings. A Syracuse win in regulation would put the Crunch into a tie for third place in the division.
 
Crunch At A Glance: The Adirondack Phantoms defeated the Crunch, 4-3, Wednesday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Bonino scored the game-tying goal, evening the score, 3-3, at 12:04 of the third period. But the lead slipped away as the Admirals' Jason Akeson scored the game-winning goal at 14:48 of the final period. Peter Holland continued his hot streak, collecting two points (1g, 1a) and finishing with a plus-1 rating in the loss. Bryan Rodney (1g, 1a) and Mathieu Carle (2a) both finished with multi-point nights.
 
Eight different Crunch players enter tonight's contest with at least ten points. Maroon leads the team with 19 points. In 18 games, he's scored eight goals and collected 11 assists. Palmieri has a team-high 12 goals and sits in a tie for second in the league with five other players. Bonino and Dan Sexton are tied for the team lead with 13 assists. Carle is riding a five-game assist and point streak (2g, 5a) and Bonino has points in five straight as well (3g, 4a).
 
Crunch Leaders
Goals: Kyle Palmieri - 12
Assists: Nick Bonino and Dan Sexton - 13
Points: Patrick Maroon - 19
Plus/Minus: Kyle Palmieri - +10
PIM: Troy Bodie - 45
Wins: Iiro Tarkki - 6
GAA: Iiro Tarkki - 2.52
Save %: Iiro Tarkki - .923
Shutouts: Iiro Tarkki - 1
 
Who's Hot
Peter Holland: Six points (2g, 4a) in his last three games
Nick Bonino: Seven points (3g, 4a) in his last five games
Mathieu Carle: Seven points (2g, 5a) in his last five games
 
Recent Crunch Transactions
11/29/2011 Kevin King (LW) Syracuse DEL Returned on loan to Elmira (ECHL)
11/28/2011 Brandon McMillan (LW) Syracuse ADD Loaned from Anaheim (NHL)
11/27/2011 Kevin King (LW) Syracuse ADD Recalled from loan to Elmira (ECHL)
11/27/2011 Timo Pielmeier (G) Syracuse ADD Reassigned by Anaheim (NHL) from Elmira (ECHL)
11/26/2011 Jeff Deslauriers (G) Syracuse DEL Recalled from loan by Anaheim (NHL)
 
Bears At a Glance: Hershey lost to the Connecticut Whale, 4-2, Tuesday night at the XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It was the Bears' second straight loss. Bourque (1g, 1a) and Keith Aucoin (2a) led the offense, both recording multi-point nights. Graham Mink scored a goal in the loss. Braden Holtby stopped 19 shots.
 
Aucoin continues to be an offensive force on the Bears blueline. The defenseman leads the league in points (30) and assists (26). Bourque is tied for second in the league with 28 points and leads all Bears skaters with 11 goals. Holtby has struggled recently, losing three of his last four games. He still leads the team in wins (5), goals-against average (2.71) and save percentage (.889).
 
Bears Leaders:
Goals: Chris Bourque - 11
Assists: Keith Aucoin - 26
Points: Keith Aucoin - 30
Plus/Minus: Boyd Kane - +12
PIM: Boyd Kane - 75
Wins: Braden Holtby - 5
GAA: Braden Holtby - 2.71
Save %: Braden Holtby - .889
Shutouts: Braden Holtby and Dany Sabourin - 1
 
Recent Bears Transactions
11/29/2011 Matt Pope (RW) Hershey ADD Signed to PTO
11/24/2011 Matt Pope (RW) Hershey DEL Released from PTO
11/20/2011 Dmitry Orlov (D) Hershey DEL Recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)
11/15/2011 Matt Pope (RW) Hershey ADD Signed to PTO
11/08/2011 Francois Bouchard (RW) Hershey DEL Recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)
 
Who's Hot
Keith Aucoin: Six assists in his last two games
Graham Mink: Three goals in his last two games
Chris Bourque: 14 points (5g, 9a) in his last eight games