Kevin Czuczman sits out tonight with the upper-body injury he apparently sustained in the first period last night, which kept him out a couple of shifts of the first (though he stayed on the bench) and all but a couple of shifts in the second. Brent Thompson wasn’t specifying, and I didn’t see anything watching Czuczman’s last couple of shifts.
In his place, Parker Wotherspoon makes his pro debut. Things otherwise look the same. The magic number is 7.
Rarity: Both teams have 18 dressed for warmup. This is it. Springfield’s Tyler Currier makes his AHL debut.
BRIDGEPORT
F: C.Jones-Kearns (A)-Wright
Halmo (A)-Quine-Fritz
Florek-B.Holmstrom (C)-Collberg
Johnston-Gomes-Markison
D: Wotherspoon-Mayfield
Finn-Lafranchise
Cullity-Graham
G: Williams
Gibson
SPRINGFIELD
F: H.Samuelsson-Gaudet-Monardo
Shinnimin-Szwarz (A)-Currier
Bunting-Mauermann-Cunningham (C)
Fejes-Marcantuoni-Fournier
D: Mermis-Reese
Hache-New
Montgomery-Delisle
G: Treutle
Langhamer
R: Thackaberry, Schlenker. L: K.Briganti, Simeon.
Scoreboard watching: Hershey at Providence (the Bruins lead 1-0 after two); Portland at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Pens are up 2-0 midway through the first); Grand Rapids at Rochester; Syracuse at Utica (tied late in the second, and a Syracuse regulation loss secures a Bridgeport finish ahead of the Crunch). Hartford is off.
Bridgeport scratches (believed healthy unless noted): McAdam, Burroughs (lower body), Czuczman (upper body), Carkner, Juha, Whitney (right leg), Rowe (lower body), Cliche (lower body), Vaive (upper body), Verhaeghe, Schempp
Andrew Thackaberry’s Bridgeport debut; he worked a Sound Tigers game in February in, coincidentally, Springfield.