Portland’s Pink In The Rink
Sept. 21, 2011; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Phoenix Coyotes center Andy Miele (21) warms up before the pre-season game against the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE
Tonight the Portland Pirates head back to the Androscoggin Bank Colisèe to take on the Binghamton Senators at 7pm ET. It marks their sixth annual Pink in the Rink night, a night filled with plenty of fun festivities and excitement. Portland is returning home after a two-game Canadian road trip against the St.John’s Ice Caps where they managed to gain three points with an 8-7 overtime loss and shutout regulation win, a first for goaltender Chad Johnson in a Pirates jersey.
On the other end of the rink we have the Binghamton Senators who are coming off of a 2-1 overtime victory against the Hershey Bears on Sunday, concluding a three-game in three days stint. The B-Sens went into overtime in all three matches and came home with four points, putting them in third place with 7 points in the East Division. Goaltender Robin Lehner is expected to be in net tonight for the B-Sens, currently ranking 4th in the AHL with a 1.32GAA and .954 save percentage.
This is the first match up between these two teams this season and should prove to be an exciting one. Both teams are coming off of overtime victories and are ranked third in their respective divisions. Last season the two only met up twice during the regular season with each team taking a victory. In both contests last season there were no recorded fights, so you can expect to see some good, clean hokey tonight in Lewiston, Maine.
Who’s Hot…
The main man of the night to keep your eye on for the Pirates is going to be first-year captain Alexandre Bolduc. In Wednesday night’s contest he posted two goals, extending his scoring streak to four games. You will also want to keep a watch on David Runblad, while he may not have scored in the Pirates last contest against St John’s, he is coming off of a four-game hot streak with 5 points. He may not score, but you can be sure he will be a key factor in tonight’s game.
For Binghamton it’s Mike Hoffman who has a goal and two assists in his last two games played. Mark Stone will also be on the radar tonight as the key play maker for the B-Sens as he posted 4 assists in his last two games. Both men have a +2 rating on the season so far. The B-Sens also acquired defenseman Chris Wideman from the ECHL yesterday who has registered four assists and a +5 rating in four games with the Elmira Jackals.