Bridgeport and Manchester play their last game today. And it’s been all Manchester lately: The Monarchs have won the last seven, with Bridgeport taking only one point in overtime in those seven.
Bridgeport’s top couple of lines, as we’re told anyway, revert roughly to what they were supposed to be yesterday, with Lukas Sutter in for the suspended Brett Gallant (indeed, two games for accumulating game misconducts) and shuffles following from that. Kevin Poulin, on his 25th birthday, gets the start coming back down from the Islanders. Calder Brooks is dressed but appears to be the last scratch. Manchester swaps Alex Lintuniemi for Jeff Schultz, it appears, and swaps a couple of ‘A’s as well. Patrik Bartosak in net, waiting for a whistle.
BRIDGEPORT
F: Jeffrey (A)-Quine-Vaughan
Collberg-Mouillierat (A)-McMillan
Gillies-Sundstrom-Langkow
Gallant-Sutter-Markison
(Brooks-scratch)
D: Ness (C)-Pulock
Pelech-Mayfield
Reinhart-Carkner
G: Poulin
Williams
MANCHESTER
F: Mersch-Dowd-Backman (A)
O’Neill-O’Brien-Auger
Bissonnette (A)-Crescenzi-Raine
Gratton (A)-Horvat-Sabourin
D: Lintuniemi-Bodnarchuk
Gravel-Miller
Forbort-Ebert
G: Bartosak
Berube
R: McIsaac, Lewis. L: Baker, Colby.
A reminder and a request: The Fake Team Awards are on. Vote early, vote once.
As noted last night, Manchester’s magic number to clinch the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy is two: Only Utica and Rockford remain alive. The Monarchs can do it with a win (any sort) today; or an overtime loss coupled with a Utica loss of any sort to Syracuse; or a regulation loss coupled with a Utica regulation loss and a Rockford loss of any sort to Charlotte.