Three goals from Sound Tiger defensemen not enough at Lowell beats Sound Tigers 5-3
March 29, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
Lowell, Mass. - The Sound Tigers received a goal each from defensemen Andrew MacDonald, Chris Lee and Mark Wotton, but it was not enough as the Lowell Devils defeated the Sound Tigers, 5-3. Pascal Rheaume scored twice, to go along with tallies each from Nicklas Bergfors, Jon DiSalvatore and Alexander Vasyunov to complete the scoring for the Devils. Peter Mannino started in goal for the Sound Tigers and made 30 saves in the defeat. The Sound Tigers record drops to 44-23-3-5, keeping them at 96 points and in second place in the East Division.
In the same fashion as last night against the Hershey Bears, the Sound Tigers found themselves trailing 3-0 at the end of the first 20 minutes of play. Rheaume opened the scoring for Lowell, 5:06 into the first period when he converted on a rebound at the bottom of the left circle. Vladimir Zharkov fired a shot on goal from the right-wing that Mannino turned aside but the puck bounced over to Rheaume who batted the puck out of mid-air and in for his eighth goal of the season. Alexander Vasyunov had the second assist on the game's first goal. Within a two-minute span, the Devils would score two power-play tallies, starting with Bergfors' 21st tally of the season, 14:54 into the opening frame. Rod Pelley and Jon DiSalvatore had the assists on Bergfors' goal 21st goal of the season. Rheaume would make it 3-0 for Lowell, 1:11 later with his second goal of the period. DiSalvatore and Tyler Eckford had the helpers on Rheaume's ninth marker of the year.
MacDonald would put the Sound Tigers on the board 8:45 into the second period, while on the man-advantage with his ninth goal of the season. Devils' net-minder, Scott Clemmensen stopped a point shot from Chris Lee, but could not control the rebound. Trevor Smith and Jon Sim were both in front jamming at the puck but it skittered out to MacDonald at the bottom of the right circle where he backhanded a shot over the Lowell goalie's shoulder, to cut the lead to 3-1. DiSalvatore would regain the three-goal lead for the Devils, four minutes later with his 19th goal of the season on assists from Pelley and Matthew Corrente.
Lowell would go up by four, their biggest lead of the contest, 5:44 into the final period of regulation. Vasyunov skated in from the left-wing boards and backhanded a shot through the legs of Mannino for his 14th goal of the season to give the Devils a 5-1 lead. The Sound Tigers would make a last ditch effort at a comeback with two tallies, one from Lee and the other from Wotton, with the assists on both goals coming from Rob Hennigar and Tomas Marcinko, but it was not enough as the Devils defeated the Sound Tigers 5-3.
Mannino made 30 saves on 35 shots while Clemmensen earned his sixth win of the season, also turning aside 30 shots on 33 Sound Tiger attempts. The Sound Tigers were 1-for-3 on the power-play and 3-for-5 on the penalty-kill.
The Sound Tigers will play their final regulation road game on Tuesday when they take on the Albany River Rats at the Times Union Center at 7 p.m. The game is a make-up from earlier in the season when the River Rats had to re-schedule due to their bus accident. The Sound Tigers will return home for a four-game home-stand, starting against the Hershey Bears on Friday night at 7 p.m. For information or group discounted tickets, contact the team's front office at (203) 334-GOAL or e-mail info@soundtigers.com.
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