7 p.m., War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, N.Y.

With only 20 healthy players available for the Crunch in Friday's 5-3 loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Syracuse made its second call to ECHL-Florida for reinforcements in as many days. Right wing Carl Nielsen was called up this morning a day after defenseman Jordan Henry was signed to a PTO. Injury questions may once again leave Syracuse without any healthy scratches Saturday when the Albany Devils visit the Crunch at 7 p.m. Syracuse won the first of six meetings with Albany Oct. 30, 4-1, at Times Union Center; the Crunch and Devils won't square off again until Mar. 16 in Albany.

Broadcast Coverage
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Nielsen recalled from ECHL
Right wing Carl Nielsen was recalled from the ECHL's Florida Everblades today and is expected to be availabe for the Crunch-Devils game tonight. 

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound forward played his first two pro games for Syracuse last season on a PTO after a four-year career at Michigan Tech. Playing Mar. 30 and Apr. 21, Nielsen collected seven penalty minutes and a minus-2 rating.

Signed to a one-year AHL deal in August, Nielsen was assigned to ECHL-Florida Oct. 1. With the Everblades, the Lorain, OH native has collected four points (1g, 3a) in 12 games with a plus-1 rating. Nielsen's first two assists of the season came in the Everblades' first game against Orlando Oct. 18. His first professional goal came in a Nov. 8 loss to Elmira. He's also racked up 24 penalty minutes, second most on the Everblades, including one fighting major; he also had two fights in a preseason game vs. Orlando.

Last Time Out
The Syracuse Crunch lost 5-3 to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night.  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scored three goals in the first period to build a 3-0 lead after twenty minutes.  Simon Despres and Brian Gibbons had three points each (1g, 2a) for the Penguins.

Vlad Namestnikov had his sixth multi-point game of the season and extended his point streak to 13 games, best in the AHL.  Namestnikov got the Crunch on the board with his eighth goal of the season in the second period.  He added an assist on Danick Gauthier's goal in the third.  Evan Rankin also scored for the Crunch.

Riku Helenius made 22 saves on 27 shots in his first game back from injury (since Oct. 19, a win Binghamton).

Scouting the Devils
With its 3-0 win over Hartford Friday, the Devils are 5-5-0-0 in their past ten to move to 8-6-0-1 this season. That places the Devils second in the Northeast Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference with 17 points.

Albany is led by left wing Joe Whitney (7g-7a-14pts), center Scott Timmins (5g-8a-13pts), and left wing Reid Boucher (5g-6a-11pts). Whitney has goals in back-to-back games. Center Rod Pelley only has four points on the year, but does have goals in two straight games.

Since being placed on waivers and sent down to Albany from New Jersey, left wing Rostislav Olesz has points in three of four games, including the last two, totaling four points (1g, 3a). With the former seventh overall pick in the lineup, Albany has won three of four games. 

Goaltender Keith Kinkaid has played in three of the last four contests for Albany.  He has three wins in those starts, including a 25-save shutout last night against Hartford. In seven games this season he is 5-1-0-1 with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. He has the second best save percentage in the AHL, among active goalies.  Scott Wedgewood has also played in seven games this year.  He is 3-4-0-0 with a 2.61 goals against average and an .891 save percentage. He's lost four straight starts after starting 3-0.

Head-to-Head
Syracuse defeated Albany 4-1 Oct. 30, in the first of six meetings between the two teams.  Nikita Kucherov led Crunch scorers against Albany in the first match, netting four points (2g, 2a).  Vlad Namestnikov tallied three assists in the game, for the first time in his career. 

After tonight the Crunch and Devils will not meet again until March 16.  Dating back to last season Syracuse has won five of the last six matchups, and the last two at the War Memorial. 

Special Teams
The Crunch power play is currently the fourth best in the AHL (24.3%).  Syracuse has scored a power-play goal in 12 of 15 games so far this season but could not manage one in four chances last night vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  Nikita Kucherov has scored six of Syracuse's 17 power-play goals this season and though he hasn't scored on the power play this momth, he's still second in the AHL. 

Albany has the 27th ranked power play this season (12.3%). However, the Devils PP is almost twice as effective on the road as it is at home, scoring on 16.2% of opportunities away from Times Union Center.

On the kill the Crunch are killing off 83.3% of penalties, 11th in the AHL.  Syracuse had killed off 20 consecutive penalties before W-B/Scranton scored last night.  The Crunch penalty kill had stopped 34 of 37 attempts in the previous eight games.  Syracuse had not allowed a power-play goal since Nov. 1 vs. Rochester, until last night.

The Devils have the seventh ranked kill overall (85.1%) but the 17th ranked kill on the road (82.4%).  Albany stopped each of four Wolf Pack power plays last night in Harford.