Bridgeport and Prospect Roundup 2/27

After the last few weeks of struggling, a 2-2 week for the SoundTigers looks pretty good. Justin DiBenedetto, David Ullstrom, Mikko Kosikinen and Rhett Rakhshani all had strong performances this week. The one worry is that Mikko might get overworked, as he started every game this week. Joel Martin has struggled ever since signing an NHL deal after his strong start. With the playoffs a pipe dream (15 points out) it's important to see the team continue to be competitive and playing tough the rest of the way.

Ullstrom on Sunday was the driving force for the team. He had a hat trick on the night [DiBenedetto, Brett Motherwell] [DiBenedetto, Mark Wotton], [DiBenedetto, Eric Castonguay]; also scoring in the 4-2 win was Brett Svendsen [Rakhshani, Rob Hisey]. Ullstrom was named 1st star and DiBebedetto was named 3rd star. A 4-1 win over Providence on Wednesday was driven by 1st star Mikko's 42 save game and 2nd star Hisey's 3 point night. Hisey [Jon Landry, Dustin Kohn], Castonguay [Robin Figren, Hisey] Jean Bourbeau [Mark Katic, Brandon Svendsen] and Hisey [Kohn] scored goals on the night.

On Friday night BP dropped a close one to Manchester 4-3, with Rakhshani being named 3rd star. Jeremy Colliton [Rakhshani], Rakhshani [DiBenedetto, Kohn] and Landry [Kohn, Bourbeau] scored for BP. Also notable is that Kohn was a +3 on the night. The 5-0 loss to Manchester involved Manchester going 4/10 on the PP and BP racking up a total of 72 PIM. I'm not sure what happened at the end of the night, as recent callup Brett Gallant got a match penalty for a deliberate attempt to injure. At the same time Wotton got an unsportsmanlike penalty, a game misconduct and a misconduct both for abuse of an official. This was at 17:33 of the 3rd period, and at the end of the 3rd Marcinko also picked up an abuse of an official penalty.

Although Rakhshani leads the team with 37 points (11 G, 26 A), Hisey is starting to catch up with 34 points (10 G, 24 A). DiBenedetto took the lead in goals on the team with 14, ahead of multiple guys at 12. Rakhshani leads the team in assists with Hisey not too far behind.[Gallant Vs Rechlicz, Amazing Fight] [Another Gallant Fight, He might be more boxer then hockey player] [One more Gallant Fight]

Natural Born Kirills

Kirill Petrov had no points in 1 game this week making his season total 8 Goals, 11 Assists for 19 points in 47 games.

Kirill Kabanov had no points this week playing in 2 of 3 games for Lewistown. Kabanov had an illness and did not finish the first game last week and sat out the 2nd game. On the season he has 8 goals and 13 assists for 21 points in 29 games.

WHL And OHL

Oshawa continues to put pressure on the division leader by winning all three games this week. Calvin de Haan had 1 goal and 2 assists in 3 games. His assists proved critical as one was on a game tying goal and another was on a game winning goal. Tony Dehart missed one game and was quiet in the other two. De Haan has 3 goals, 34 assists for 37 points in 46 games, Dehart has 3 goals, 20 assists for 23 points in 48 games.

Portland took 3 of 4 games this week, as Nino Niederreiter continued to pad his resume with another appearance on the 3 stars of the night. He had 2 goals and 3 assists in 4 games this week. In 45 games this season he has 29 goals, 23 assists for 52 points.

David Toews and Brandon continue to claw their way into playoff contention taking 2 of 3 games this week. Toews had a game winning goal and an assist this week, and was also named 1st star of the night. On the season Toews has 52 games played with 16 goals, 22 assists for 38 points and has gotten his +/- up to a -8.

Casey Cizikas had a goal and an assist this week as Mississauga dropped 2 of 3 games. With 50 games played and 61 points, Cizikas is 1 point from tying his career high (62 points in 68 games). On the season he has 29 goals (a career high already) and 32 assists.

NCAA and Europe

It appears that UND has found a beast on the PP, as Brock Nelson had 2 assists in last nights 5-2 win, both on the PP and one assist was on a Jason Gregoire goal again. Gregoire had a solid night too, potting 2 goals. Gregoire and Nelson were named 2nd and 3rd stars of the night respectively. Gregoire has 27 games played with 16 goals and 14 Assists for 30 points, Nelson has 32 games played with 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points. [Watch all goals from 5-2 Win]

Anders Lee scores 2 goals in a 3-2 win for Notre Dame including the game winner and is named first star of the night. Just another night for Lee, although they did go on to lose the following night 2-0. With the regular season now over for the CCHA, Lee finished 6th in conference in points, 2nd in goals and tied for first in game winning goals with 6. He finished the regular season with 21 goals, 19 assists for 40 points in 36 games.

With the Islanders tending to draft players from teams they are already following, it might be interesting to keep an eye on TJ Tynan. The undersized (varies from 5'7 to 5'9 and around 160 lbs) Frosh Center led Notre Dame in points (46) and had quite the season in the USHL previously. He's eligible to be drafted, but the CSB doesn't have him listed in the top 240 skaters.

Denver split their games this weekend, and Matt Donovan netted 3 assists. Donovan has 7 goals, 18 assists for 25 points in 34 games.

Minnesota beat up on poor Michigan Tech this weekend scoring 5 goals in each game. Aaron Ness did not register a point in either game. Ness has 1 goal, 11 assists for 12 points in 31 games.

Ohio State split its games this weekend, while Shane Sims scored a goal. On the season he has 3 goals and 15 assists for 18 points in 34 games.

Corey Trivino got a power play assist as BU won one and tied another game against Vermont. He has 7 goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 30 games.

Blake Kessel had an assist in both games against Northeastern, helping UNH to a win and a tie. This year he has 5 goals and 19 assists for 24 points in 32 games

Colgate finished out the year with a tie against Yale and a loss to Brown. Brian Day did not get on the scoresheet. Day has 9 goals, 11 assists for 20 points in 30 games.

Anders Nilsson started all 3 games this week for Lulea and put together his best string of games yet, allowing only 2 goals in each game while facing 27 shots[Highlights], 27 shots[Highlights] and 25 shots[Highlights].

Cody Rosen did not play this week.