SOUND TIGERS 4, PHANTOMS 2
Nov 23, 2008




Box Score

Conditioning stints are supposed to help players ease back into the adjustment of high intensity hockey but for Mike Sillinger, he looked as though he was in full form as he scored three assists in helping the Sound Tigers to a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms. Sillinger was paired on a line with Blake Comeau and Jesse Joensuu who each had a goal in the first period with Sillinger assisting on both. Jeffrey Szwez would tie the score for the Phantoms at two, answering with his second and third tallies of the year. Dustin Kohn would score the game-winner nine seconds later and Ben Walter would seal the win with a goal in the third period. Yann Danis started in goal for the Sound Tigers and made 22 saves on 24 shots to earn the victory while Scott Munroe was in net for the Phantoms and turned aside 24 Sound Tiger attempts. The win improves the Sound Tigers' record to 14-4-0-2, giving them 30 points and claim to the top spot in the entire American Hockey League.

For the second straight game, Joensuu opened the scoring for Sound Tigers when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot for his eighth goal of the season. Sillinger started the play by working the puck down low in the Philadelphia zone with Blake Comeau. The 18-year NHL veteran threw the puck on net and the rebound came to Joensuu just off the far post when he snapped the puck past Munroe for the 1-0 lead only 2:06 into the first period. Comeau would double the Sound Tigers' lead with his third goal of the season when he teed up a slap-shot from the high slot and fired the puck over Munroe's glove to make it 2-0 in favor of the Sound Tigers. Jamie Fraser and Sillinger had the helpers on the tally coming three minutes later. Szwez would cut the lead to 2-1 before the period would run out when he fired a slap-shot from the left win boards over the glove of Danis for his first marker of the game.

The Phantoms would tie the game at two courtesy of Szwez's second goal of the contest when he stuffed a loose puck under Danis, 11:50 into the middle frame. David Laliberte and Jared Ross each had helpers on the game-tying goal. It did not take long for the Sound Tigers to counter and reclaim their lead as Dustin Kohn wristed his second goal of the season past Munroe's blocker only nine seconds later. Walter and Sean Bentivoglio had the assists.

In the third, Walter would complete a pretty play while the Sound Tigers were on the power-play to close out the scoring. Sillinger was behind the net and saucered a pass to Walter, cruising in from the point. Walter took the pass and dragged it around a Phantom defenseman, freezing Munroe and leaving him out of position for the easy back-hand tap in at the far post. Comeau had the second assist on Walter's third goal of the season.

The Sound Tigers finished the game 1-for-3 on the man-advantage and were perfect on the penalty-kill, going 2-for-2. Danis earned his fourth win of the season with the Sound Tigers making 22 saves while his counterpart, Munroe, made 24.

The next game for the Sound Tigers is Friday, when the team's in-state rival, the Hartford Wolf Pack, make their first trip to Bridgeport this season at 7 p.m.

3 Stars

1. Blake Comeau - Scored a goal and two assists
2. Jeffrey Szwez - 2 goals
3. Mike Sillinger - 3 assists in first pro game since last season with the Islanders
Honorable Mention: Pascal Morency - Returns to the Sound Tigers home ice and gets into two fights, one in which he stood up for his teammate

New Guys: Pascal Morency and Mike Sillinger played in their first games at the Arena at Harbor Yard this season and they made their presence felts. Sillinger, inserted into the Sound Tigers' lineup on a conditioning stint, had three assists and provided veteran leadership to the young prospects within the Islanders' organization. Morency dropped the gloves twice tonight, once in the second period with Chase Trull and won by a unanimous decision and the other time in the third period with Phantom tough-guy Matt Clackson.

Come Hungry...Leave Happy: In each of the seven games at home this season for the Sound Tigers, the team has scored three or more goals. The team has a promotion going with Pilgrim BBQ where is they score three or more tallies in a game, everyone receives a free pork sandwich.

Game Ops: Today was Scout Day at the game and hundred of boys and girl scouts came to the arena to participate in a public skate before the game. In the first intermission, members of local unions took part in a Tug-O-War. When the final buzzer sounded at the end of the game, the players request for their new victory song blared over the speakers. The song is sung by Newfie and the title is "Heave Away," something each player is doing in contributing to the victories piling up in the team's win column.

LINEUPS

SOUND TIGERS

Forwards
23 Trevor Smith - 71 Kurtis McLean - 37 Mike Iggulden
57 Blake Comeau - 16 Mike Sillinger - 6 Jesse Joensuu
14 Sean Bentivoglio - 9 Ben Walter - 10 Tyler Haskins
17 Jason Pitton - 8 Tomas Marcinko - 55 Pascal Morency

Defensemen
2 Andrew MacDonald - 5 Dustin Kohn
44 Brett Skinner - 25 Joe Callahan
3 Jamie Fraser - 4 Mark Wotton

Goalies
35 Yann Danis (starter)
52 Nathan Lawson

PHANTOMS

Forwards
18 Jared Ross - 16 Patrick Maroon - 19 Claude Giroux
17 Tyler Donati - 9 Nate Raduns - 24 Rob Bellamy
38 Jeffrey Szwez - 11 Jonathan Matsumoto - 10 David Laliberte
15 Matt Clackson - 22 Chase Trull - 20 Josh Beaulieu

Defensemen
7 Nate Guenin - 25 Danny Syvret
3 Oskars Bartulis - 26 Sean Curry
5 Michael Ratchuk - 8 Jason DeSantis

Goalies
33 Scott Munroe (starter)
35 Jean-Sebastien Aubin
Glad 2 see he feeling better..wow.. nice start

Good to hear that Joensuu scored in consecutive games

Indeed. Good news about Sillinger as well.