Morrison plays to perfection stopping 35 shots for third shutout of season
December 29, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
Mike Morrison earned his third shutout of the season turning aside all 35 shots in the Sound Tigers' 2-0 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Jeremy Colliton scored a power-play goal 5:38 into the third period and Jeff Tambellini sealed the game on an empty netter with only nine seconds remaining in regulation time.
In the first period, the Sound Tigers came out with a lot of energy firing 11 shots on Wolf Pack starting goaltender, Al Montoya but could not get one past him. Morrison finished with eight saves, helping kill off two Hartford man-advantages during the period.
The rivalry of the two Connecticut clubs came to the forefront when two of the bigger players on either team stepped up to try and give their team a spark. Sound Tigers' defenseman, Matthew Spiller who has been a rock on defense for the team this season, put his 6'5, 230 pound frame up against all 6'6, 231 pounds of Hartford forward Hugh Jessiman. Spiller landed a few shots to the back of Jessiman head and then pinned the former first round draft pick of the New York Rangers to the ice. It seemed as if the Sound Tigers would have gotten an extra jump from the fight but instead it was Hartford who tilted the ice towards Morrison who was perfect stopping all 14 shots in the middle frame keeping the game scoreless.
Jeremy Colliton, who has been a mainstay on the Sound Tigers' checking unit shutting down opposing team's top lines and winning many important face-offs this season, would give the Sound Tigers the only goal needed just over five minutes into the third period. With Wolf Pack defenseman Michael Sauer in the penalty box for holding, Colliton found space at the left post to position himself for either a redirection or rebound. Ben Walter skated in from the left circle and sent a pass through the crease towards the back-door where Colliton was able to angle his stick to redirect the puck past Montoya for his fifth goal of the season and the 1-0 lead. Frans Nielsen also had an assist on the goal.
Morrison would face a flurry of goal-mouth scrambles as regulation time ticked away. Making the difficult shots look easy to save, Morrison used his positioning to turn aside all 13 shots in the period and finished with a total of 35 saves in the game. Sound Tigers' leading scorer Jeff Tambellini would score an empty net goal with nine seconds remaining in the game, his 18th of the season off an assist from Sean Bentivoglio.
Montoya stopped 22 of the 23 Sound Tiger shots. Colliton's lone goal of the game came on the power-play as the Sound Tigers went 1-for-4 and Hartford was 0-for-4.
The Sound Tigers will finish the 2007 calendar year on the road in Binghamton when they take on the Senators Tuesday, Dec. 31 with the face-off scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
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