Soundin' Off

Playoff intensity, playoff crowd, almost playoff weather*, and now they’re matching lines like it’s May.

“Every team has key guys,” Jeremy Colliton said. “We’re playing a team game. Everybody has to be responsible defensively.”

Colliton’s line and Trevor Frischmon’s line drew a lot of the defensive responsibilities this weekend, Frischmon against the Falcons’ big line Saturday and both (mostly Colliton, but both) against Wolski on Sunday. The Whale got one goal, when they were working to get the personnel off against the wrong matchup and then back on when Wolski hopped off the bench and stole the puck.

Bridgeport tied it soon after, won it much later. In between, it was a whole lot of Jon Landry and Ty Wishart against Wolski-Newbury-Zuccarello.

“It’s fun to be lined up against the top line,” Landry said. “Those three, they’re a pretty talented group.”

“Those guys are great hockey players,” Thompson said. “They’ve played in the NHL. … Wishart has played in the NHL. Landry’s a big guy who can move the puck.”

Thompson liked, too, that it gave Cizikas’ and Mouillierat’s line a chance against other guys.

“I really don’t care who plays against who. You get to the next level, you’ve got to be solid defensively.”

….

Speaking of the next level… Nobody saying anything, but there were signs Ty Wishart could be getting a call up. Not necessarily relatedly, ECHL transactions say Benn Olson is coming back. Olson had no points, was a minus-2 and had 46 penalty minutes in 11 games with Alaska.

Replay Scoreboard: Second use, 37 seconds of overtime. David Ullstrom shot goes in over Chad Johnson’s glove and off the back bar. Mats Zuccarello heads to the scorer’s table and asks for a review; Jon McIsaac obliges. The monitor has to come up from under the table. They take a moment to cue up the video. McIsaac confirms the play and comes out after about five minutes pointing to center ice.

(They are, as Dave Andrews said last month, working out the kinks.)

Sound Tigers shooters are back to .500 on penalty shots, 11-for-22, after Scott Howes’ miss. They’re 1-for-3 this year, Tyler McNeely stopped at Springfield on Nov. 12 and Nino Niederreiter’s goal at Hershey the next day.

Speaking of, Thompson said McNeely’s X-rays were negative.

Ullstrom now has three points in overtime, tied for 12th all-time in team history.

Cizikas’ point streak ended at eight.

Attendance was 7,693, three short of the season high and 15th all-time. Nine of the top 16 crowds have come on visits from teams from Hartford.

New Canaan’s Jack Downing has a goal in four of the past five games for Binghamton.

Haven’t read it yet, but I’m sure this is going to be great stuff on Steve MacIntyre from Jonathan Bombulie.

And birthday boy Matt Bain headed out quickly. Smart man. Though there was a conspiratorial little huddle in the hallway after he left, something about what was going to happen to his room…

*-I take that back. It has been fine out there, but it’s pretty darn cold tonight.