The Sound Tigers can’t avoid their worst calendar month, but they can avoid a four-game winless streak heading into the break. In their way is only the first-place team in the division.
Stuck at home this weekend, we’ll be listening in tonight to Phil’s broadcast, beginning at about 6:45, I believe. And we’ll be following Jamie’s tweets.
Ghislain Hebert is in charge tonight.
Elsewhere, Hershey went 11-for-11 on the penalty kill this afternoon against Charlotte. Maybe even better, with all that, the Bears held Charlotte to 24 shots.
Ray points out an ECHL brawl involving (apparently starting with) Pascal Morency at the end of last night’s Bakersfield-Alaska game. A whole bunch of familiar names involved.
Jamie tweets that Joel Martin gets the start. And if I read his tweets correctly, only other change is Marcinko back in for Pitton. Phil’s pregame has begun.
—Game on in just a moment.
–Another Jamie tweet says Leisenring moves into Pitton’s spot, and Marcinko goes back, where else, between Haley and Figren.
–A Leisenring trip, and six seconds in, Meckler deflects in a Voynov shot. It’s 1-0 at 4:39.
–Actually, Phil says, they’re crediting Cliche.
–And later, the goal goes to Voynov in the first place. It’s still 1-0, even though three Monarchs have had goals.
–Joensuu goes for boarding.
–Bridgeport kills it, and now Andrew Campbell for a high stick. Sound Tigers to the power play.
–First period ends with the Monarchs up 1-0, but Bridgeport will begin the second on a power play for 1:34.
–Second period about to begin. Phil says one of the little kids playing the intermission game had to be taken off on a stretcher. Hope all turns out OK there.
–Katic ties it on the power play at 1:28.
–Wotton doesn’t get all of a pass, and the Monarchs set up Clune for the go-ahead goal at 7:26 of the second.
–Quick turnaround: DiBenedetto sets up Reese, Zatkoff makes a big save; and then DiBenedetto takes a tripping penalty. Manchester power play, just before the midpoint.
–Joensuu — “cherry-picking a bit,” Phil says — nonetheless sets up Rob Hisey to tie it again with 5:20 to go in the second period after a few big Zatkoff saves. The Monarchs come back with a big shift, and then Voynov tracks down Haley. And then the Monarchs reclaim the lead with a shot from the right circle soon after.
–Goal is Oscar Moller’s.
–That’s how it remains after two.
–The third begins with Bridgeport outshooting Manchester 21-17.
–Sounds like a few good chances for the Sound Tigers, but nothing into the net except DiBenedetto himself. Under 12 to go.
–Manchester had a power-play goal waved off: Moller deflected it with a high stick. Still 3-2.
–A late delay-of-game penalty gives Bridgeport its third power play, five minutes to go.
–Teams back at even strength, and DiBenedetto, bidding for a goal in five games in a row, is stopped from the slot. A bit more than a minute left.
–Bridgeport crashes the net, but it doesn’t matter. Manchester 3, Bridgeport 2. The Sound Tigers hit the break on a four-game losing streak and are 1-9-2-1 in January.
–Binghamton beat Wilkes-Barre, so the Sound Tigers are nine points out of a playoff spot with 32 games to play.
–Most scoring chances they’ve had in a while, Pat Bingham said. “We were good.” Just couldn’t solve Zatkoff. “We generated a lot of offense, and it wasn’t because the other team played poorly,” he said.
It’s another one-goal loss, which you can tell gets to him. (Eight of these 12 L/OTL/SOL this month have been either one-goal losses, or one goal plus an empty-netter.) “We’re in it all the time.”
They’re off until Thursday. No all-stars for me, but I’ll probably watch on TV and toss up an update if news warrants.