LIVE! ALB @ BRI - FINAL - BRI WINS 4-3

And here we go with the AHL-version of The Tiger Track's LIVE! blogging...

3:27 - The word for the day is "cupping." If you were here, you'd know what I'm talking about...

3:28 - Mike Morrison leads the Sound Tigers out of the dressing room, so he's your starting goalie. The Sound Tigers look to be wearing an alternate jersey, similar to last year's alt.

3:29 - I see the music selection hasn't changed from last year. That's not a bad thing though. I enjoyed it...

3:30 - Good lord I never knew how big Kip Brennan really is...

3:31 - Joey MacDonald is sporting an Ilya Bryzgalov-type white mask. I would've thought that once he signed over here he would've gotten that taken care of.

3:34 - My attendance prediction tonight: 2,000

3:35 - Here's some line combos...remember in the AHL they dress 19 skaters instead of 20 as in the NHL

Bentivoglio - Tambellini - Nielsen
Bootland - Walter - Regier
Haskins - Colliton - Comeau
Brennan - Haley

Wotton - Fraser
Ford - Fata
Rullier - Spiller

3:58 - The Albany River Rats have EIGHT players coming up from the ECHL's Elmira Jackals for today's game. Wow...Welcome to the AHL.

4:00 - Interesting intro video here highlighting former Sound Tigers, kind of like the "I'm an Islander" promos. ("I'm Rick DiPietro, and I was born in Bridgeport.") Players highlighted were Rick DiPietro, Trent Hunter, Chris Campoli, Jeff Tambellini, Wade Dubielewicz, Bruno Gervais, and Radek Martinek.

4:03 - Now the Sound Tigers come out wearing their orange "home" jerseys instead of the white ones they wore for warmups. That's interesting...I'm gonna have to ask Kimber about that...

4:06 - The Bentivoglio-Nielsen-Tambellini line is starting. It's VERY quiet in here.

4:07 - And New Englad stays perfect. I'm not surprised.

4:08 - We've got a faint "Let's Go Tigers" chant going on now. Bad bounce almost gave Bootland a nice chance in front but couldn't hold onto the puck.

4:09 - This is a very different statured team than last year. They'll be much more physical than the last time I saw them last year.

4:10 - Blake Comeau with our first shot of the afternoon...

4:11 - Haley nearly tipped it in in front of the net. Close call for the Tigers..

4:12 - Hey, former Tiger Jamie Johnson has been spotted. He's a River Rat now. I should pay more attention to the notes...

4:13 - I realized how much I missed Bridgeport's dilligent shot-scoreboard. Always on the ball with it.

4:14 - Terry Koharski, a Bridgeport favorite is our referee tonight. Only one referee in AHL play, as opposed to the ridiculous 2-referee system.

4:16 - Tambellini really deserves a good hard chance with the big club. I appreciate his chances, but he needs a good 10-20 games on a top line to prove his worth.

4:18 - Sound Tigers are working it hard and deep in the Rats zone, but no shots...

4:19 - Albany gets on the board...nifty behind the net move by Bobby Hughes centering it to Jerome Samson waiting right in front of Morrison for the easy put in. ALB LEADS 1-0

4:21 - Halfway though the first period, and Fraser just miscommunicated with his forwards and sent it down for an icing. We've got a "TV Timeout" now.

4:22 - You know, this Nielsen line is TINY

4:23 - Don't underestimate Sean Bentivoglio...he just laid a nice open-ice hit at center ice

4:24 - Keith Aucoin of ALB is a puckhandling beast, and almost set up another ALB goal

4:25 - Joe Grimaldi of ALB just LEVELED a Sound Tiger (couldn't catch the name). Welcome to the AHL Joe.

4:26 - Kip Brennan vs. Wade Brookbank in a battle of heavyweights. It looked like there was another fight brewing with Micheal (No that's not a misspelling) Haley and Joe Grimaldi, but Terry Koharski put the kabosh on that. Spirited effort nonetheless. Looks like we got extra penalties here...

4:28 - Kip Brennan is heading out to the lockerroom and we're still waiting for the penalties to come up on the board if any. Looks like 5-on-5 action. Brennan gets a game misconduct, perhaps for his jersey coming off?? That's silly...

4:30 - Morrison is playing well with traffic in front of him...

4:32 - As many chances as Fata had in front of the Albany net, if you shoot the puck with a defender right in front of you, 9 times out of 10 its gonna hit him.

4:33 - These teams don't like each other as there's been a small little rivalry for the past two years. Check out Michael Fornabaio's blog entry entitled Can't tell your players...wait... about how picky it's getting.

4:34 - This is the third game of a "three-in-three" for the Tigers, so expect there to be some fatigue involved.

4:36 - Ben Walter had a killer opportunity to bury one, but couldn't hit the net.

4:37 - We got about 1:07 left and the shots are 9-7 BRI. I know it's right too because they are NEVER late in putting shots on the board here.

4:38 - END OF PERIOD 1: Spirited first period of play which didn't see any bad play by the Tigers. they just happened to fall on the wrong end of the scoreboard so far. Bridgeport led the shots for the period 9-8. It's going to be harder now for the Tigers as they essentially have to play with three lines with Brennan's loss, but I'm sure they're used to that. Add 15 PIM to Kip's total though. be back for the 2nd...

4:56 - Looks like both teams came out a little early...as we're waiting a good 50 seconds to drop the puck with both teams lined up for the faceoff.

4:57 - I DID NOT miss the whole Spongebob Squarepants theme they play here

4:58 - Blake Comeau gets a cross-check which was clear as day...I even noticed it. ALB to the PP...and it's the first man-advantage for either team today...

5:00 - Tambellini also plays the penalty kill...don't know if Ted Nolan knows that. He also can score a short-handed goal! Leading a 3-on-1 rush with Mark Wotton and Frans Nielsen, he fired one off of Albany River Rat's goalie Michael Leighton's glove and into the net for his ninth of the season...TIE GAME 1-1

5:01 - And here's the teddy bears....for those of you who don't know. the sound Tigers have a thing they do at the holiday season called The Teddy Bear Toss. Immediately following the Sound Tigers first goal of the game, all fans that brought teddy bears to the game toss them onto the ice and all of the bears are personally delivered to sick children and hospitals by the Sound Tigers. It's quite an awesome thing when you think about it. And there are A LOT of them today. So there's gonna be a bit of a delay it looks it...

5:06 - Five minutes later, we're ready to go again...remember the River Rats are still on the PP

5:07 - The penalty is over with 0 shots for the River Rats. Comeau came right out the box and started a very close scoring chance for the Tigers.

5:08 - Micheal Haley is getting some playing time. He'll need it since his linemate Kip Brennan is not with him anymore

5:09 - Tambellini with his second of the game and 10th of the season! Nifty passing from Nielsen, to Bentivoglio to Tambo who scored from a very difficult angle below the face-off circle to the right of Leighton. BRI LEADS 2-1

5:10 - Two goals = free chili for Sound Tigers fans @ Wendy's! ("DOUBLE CHILI" anyone?)

5:11 - Blake Comeau and Joe Grimaldi really don't like each other tonight. Comeau gets another penalty so he'll sit for two. ALB to the PP...

5:13 - This Sound Tigers penalty kill is pretty good today...

5:14 - Comeau's out of the box and another successful kill for the Tigers. 0 shots for ALB. ALB is 0-2.

5:15 - We're halfway through the period (9:15 left) and ALB has no shots in this period!

5:16 - Scratch that...ALB just got one through to Morrison.

5:18 - Grimaldi (ALB) vs. Rullier (BRI). Boy these teams REALLY don't like each other...and apparently we had Bootland (BRI) vs. Brookbank (ALB) on the side as well. But from what I can gather, those are going to be roughing minors...

5:19 - Looks like we got some jaw-jacking in the box. This is going to get nasty later, I can tell...especially with these two teams...

5:20 - 4-on-4 action right now after all of that...

5:21 - Derek Damon (ALB) is gonna get a hooking penalty, but we're continuing to play with some 5-on-4 action for the Tigers, until the whistle is blown. So now the Tigers will have their first powerplay...4-on-3 action now. Rullier goes to the lockerroom. Probably for equipment

5:23 - Now we got 1:20 of 5-on-4 action...

5:24 - Tambo wants that hat trick...

5:25 - Comeau just got taken down on a clear trip right in front of Terry Koharski...and got no call. Which led to a SH chance for ALB but morrison made a nice sliding save. Now the PP is over for BRI...3 shots for the Tigers.

5:26 - The Tigers are establishing some good traffic in front of Leighton.

5:28 - The Tambellini line has spent a good minute deep in the ALB zone. That line really has continued its stellar play from last year...with Bentivoglio taking Robert Nilsson's place.

5:29 - If ALB would've hit the net on their 2-on-1 we would've had a tie game.

5:30 - Rullier returns to the ice, met by a few rousing cheers.

5:32 - We've got 8.8 seconds left and Bridgeport is going to get another PP. It's a bench minor for too many men on the ice on ALB.

5:33 - END OF PERIOD 2: Exactly what the Tigers wanted...a lot of shots, especially those that went in. Things also got a lot more testy for both teams as even when the buzzer sounded we had more shoving. I could see things possibly escalating more by the night's end. Bridgeport led the shot total that period 14-4 and held them shotless for the first 12 minutes of the period! I'll see you for third period action!

5:48 - Do me eyes deceive me or did the Miami Dolphins win a game?! Wow...

5:50 - Sound Tigers are going to start the third period with 1:51 of PP time

5:52 - Tigers are playing the PP with 4 forwards on the ice, with Nielsen playing the point with Rullier. Good chance in front for Ben Walter and Sean Bentivoglio.

5:53 - Kind of uneventful powerplay there...Wotton got a shot in just as Damon emerged from the box. 2 shots for BRI. They are now 0-2

5:54 - Attendance is 3,382 for today.

5:55 - Sound Tigers had four men on the ice in preparation for the faceoff, and had to tell someone on the bench last minute to come on.

5:57 - Leighton almost got burned behind the net by the Tigers...

5:58 - Necomer Tyler Haskins was getting some good time with Colliton and Comeau and looked pretty good there...

5:59 - When Rullier was going to get called for a tripping penalty, ALB defenseman Joey Mormina fired one past Morrison's left pad from the blue line to tie the game. Credit that pesky Keith Aucoin for setting it up... TIED 2-2

6:02 - Morrison left a juicy rebound out there, but thankfully there were no white shirts around. And left another one out there and made some good stretch saves.

6:03 - Now that I'm thinking about it...Bridgeport is wearing their "home" orange jerseys...and Albany is wearing their "home" white jerseys. This is confusing me...

6:04 - Some good action in deep in front of Leighton by Walter and Bootland. And players are getting pushy again...

6:05 - And Comeau's getting his THIRD penalty of the night for hooking. ALB back to the PP...

6:06 - the Port Jeff Ferry sponsors both the PP and the PK?? Interesting...

6:07 - We've got 25 seconds left in the ALB PP and the Rats have yet to register a shot on the PP all day...

6:08 - There's ALB's first shot on the PP. Just as the PP ends...1 shot for ALB. ALB is 0-3.

6:10 - I get to vote for the three stars tonight...decisions, decisions...

6:11 - Darryl Bootland just banked it off Leighton and into the net and the Tigers ragain the lead!! BRI LEADS 3-2

6:13 - Time for the Tigers to clamp it down...

6:14 - Tigers go to the kill AGAIN. Matt Spiller is going for interference. ALB to ANOTHER PP...

6:16 - A Tambellini led odd-man SH rush almost was converted by Jamie Fraser, if it wasn't for the ALB defensman he shot the puck into...

6:17 - A werid bounce in front for ALB results in a goal. PP goal for Samson (2nd of the game) and Matt Spiller is not happy with Terry Koharski...TIE GAME 3-3. 1 shot for the River Rats

6:18 - Now BRI is going to the PP now. Welcome to a Terry Koharski officiated game

6:19 - Morrison is leaving some juicy rebounds and the BRI PP staff is not doing its job...leaving Morrison to make a great glove save and save the game.

6:20 - 4:02 left...TIMEOUT BRI

6:21 - ALB just shot it over the glass and I'm guessing there's talk about whether it's penalty worthy...guess not...

6:22 - BRI gets the lead again! Very dirty play in front of Leighton see a tip-in...and from the looks of it its Jeff Tambellini with the hat trick! BRI LEADS 4-3. 1 shot on the PP

6:23 - Comeau had a nice chance following a drop-off pass by Bootland...and Tambo's goal is screwing up my three stars dammit!

6:24 - Oh I missed how Sect 105 always wins the contests...

6:25 - Jamie Johnson (ALB)....DING!!!

6:26 - There goes Leighton to the bench...EMPTY NET ALBANY....1:18 left in the third period...TIMEOUT ALB

6:27 - These are some tired Tigers trying to fend off a Rats last gasp..

6:28 - That's all folks!! We get some words being thrown around, but nothing major...FINAL 4-3 BRI.

Three Stars of the Game:
1. Jeff Tambellini, BRI
2. Jerome Samson, ALB
3. Ben Walter, BRI

All my picks ;-)

6:31 - I never noticed, but Bryan Trottier was behind the bench with the Tigers!! How silly of me!!