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Where They Stand
Coming off a 3-0 Tuesday loss to Worcester, the Sound Tigers are 5-4-0-1 in their last ten and are 30-30-6-5 on the season. Bridgeport is third in the Northeast Division and 12th in the Eastern Conference. However, their 71 points are tied with Albany and Manchester for the 10th most in the conference. Those three teams are four points behind Hershey and Norfolk who are tied for the last playoff spot with five to play. 

Syracuse has 90 points, most in the East Division and third most in the Eastern Conference. Providence has 93 points and Springfield has 91, as both teams have already clinched their respective division championships. Binghamton trails Syracuse by three points, ranking second in the division and fourth in the conference. Having secured a playoff berth last week, Syracuse will appear in its 11th postseason in its 19-year history and their 40-21-5-5 record marks the fourth time the team has reached 40 victories, and the first time since the schedule was shortened from 82 to 76 games. Syracuse leads the AHL with 24 road wins and goals per game, 3.23.

A full breakdown of playoff-clinching scenarios is available at The AHL Playoff Primer. 

Scouting Report
Bridgeport is led by center Brock Nelson (22g-27a-49pts), left wing Nino Niederreiter (26g-22a-48pts), and defenseman Matt Donovan (13g-28a-41pts).  Since being sent to the AHL, Rick DiPietro has played the majority of the games in goal for the Sound Tigers. In 14 games the former first overall draft pick (2000) is 7-6-0 with a 2.99 goals against average. He's made an appearance in seven straight games for Bridgeport.

For the Crunch, J.T. Brown had one of the two goals in the first match against Bridgeport.  Riku Helenius got the start, but allowed four goals in just over 20 minutes before being replaced by Dustin Tokarski.  Syracuse managed four goals Tuesday in Cleveland, despite the 5-4 OT loss, including two on the power play, snapping an eight game drought (a skid of 0-for-33). Vlad Namestnikov had the first power-play goal, and Andrej Sustr had the second, his first goal as a professional in his third game with Syracuse. 

Last Meeting: December 9
Bridgeport snapped an eight-game winless streak, overpowering the Crunch, 7-2, Sunday, Dec. 9, at Webster Bank Arena. The seven goals-four scored against Riku Helenius, three on Dustin Tokarski in relief-are most against the Crunch this season, while five equals the largest margin of defeat. Syracuse could hardly solve Bridgeport goalie Anders Nilsson despite 39 shots, including a then-season-high 23 in the second period. Syracuse didn't get on the scoreboard until it trailed 5-0 late in the second stanza, as Alex Killorn and J.T. Brown potted goals roughly a minute apart, both improving their season scoring totals to 5g-10a-15pts. Mike Angelidis and J.T. Wyman assisted on the first goal, Philip-Michael Devos and Matt Taormina on the second. Bridgeport dominated special teams, scoring a short handed goal, three power play goals and one of its three even-stregnth goals one second after a power play expired; Syracuse was fruitless on five power plays.  Captain Colin McDonald paced the Sound Tigers with two goals and two assists.