Lineup
Forward lines and defense pairings:
[one_half]Hudon – McCarron – Holloway
McNally – Dumont – Fournier
Miceli – MacMillan – Gregoire
Pither – Neilson [/one_half]
[one_half_last]Barberio – Ellis
Tinordi – Dietz
Hanley – Lernout
Didier[/one_half_last]
Goaltenders:
Tokarski
Pasquale
Scratches: Dalton Thrower, Mac Bennett, Tim Bozon, Michael Bournival (concussion), Connor Crisp (undisclosed), Jacob De la Rose (lower-body), Nikita Scherbak (undisclosed), Markus Eisenschmid (undisclosed)
Injured reserve: Ryan Johnston (back surgery)
Game Report
Sometimes the games that you are ‘supposed’ to win are the hardest to play.
Fans of the Montreal Canadiens organization divided their attention between the IceCaps and the Habs on Saturday night. The Canadiens were in North Carolina to face the last place team in the Eastern conference of the NHL. They came out on the wrong end of a 3-2 final in Raleigh.
St. John’s was in Binghamton to wrap up their road trip against the Senators, winners of just five games coming into this night. Marc MacMillan opened the scoring just four minutes into the game. Matt Puempel replied quickly for the Senators.
The Sens started the game with a bit of a chip on their shoulders and were ornery throughout. Just over eight minutes in Jeremy Gregoire tangled with Max McCormick. It was an extended tilt with a flurry of blows. The IceCaps bench took note of McCormick getting in an extra punch to the head while Gregoire was on the ice.
Just two minutes later Mike McCarron put down Nick Tuzzolino with a single solid punch. Tuzzolino left the ice for repairs in the dressing room. The fight was over so quickly that the two were given minors for roughing.
The IceCaps failed to develop any momentum after their first goal. Similarly the one-sided fight did nothing to spark the lethargic offense. And the Senators, who haven’t been in many games this season, seized the chance for a rare win.
The backbreaker for the IceCaps was a Senators goal by Ryan Dzingel with just 85 seconds left in the second period.
The IceCaps are really feeling the impact of injuries and call-ups at this point of the season. They have become a one line offense of Mike McCarron, Charles Hudon and Bud Holloway. While having great season in their own right, McCarron and Hudon play different games and have shown little chemistry playing together.
The IceCaps will return to St. John’s on Sunday with a four game home-stand on the schedule starting on Friday against the Rochester Americans..
▲ Mark MacMillan, Brett Lernout, Jarred Tinordi, Darren Dietz, Mike McCarron
▼ Mark Barberio, Gabriel Dumont, Angelo Miceli |