Capitals Shuffle Their Goalies, Stingrays Get 4OT W (& Franchise Record).
Dany Sabourin was in net for the Hershey Bears tonight when they lost their final regular-season game 4-2 against the Baby Pens. He will not be backstopping the club tomorrow in Hershey against the Syracuse Crunch.
It’s now been confirmed that he’s hitting the road for NYC tonight to sit backup to Braden Holtby tomorrow evening when the puck drops at 6:30 in MSG. The assumption of an impending call-up been in place since last night’s injury to Michal Neuvirth, but we all know that things can change at the drop of a hat (or the prick of a needle). Per Sabourin (via Tim Leone), he’ll be back in Hershey for Sunday’s game (against the Connecticut Whale), but the rest is up in the air.
The more definitive writing has been on the wall since the South Carolina Stingrays acquired goalie Rob Madore this morning, of the (now disbanded) Chicago Express. The new face is in his first professional season (and post-season), having joined the Express at the conclusion of his NCAA career with University of Vermont – less than a month ago. Madore made his Stingrays debut tonight, with Billy Sauer on the bench and Daren Machesney (who had started the first two games of the series against the Gwinnett Gladiators) notably absent. This won’t be Machesney’s first time in a Bears uniform, having played with the team from 2006-9.
Madore got quite the workout, stopping 54 of 57 shots in 124:19 minutes as the game progressed to quadruple-OT before the Stingrays managed to earn the W. In doing so, he backstopped the winning team in the second longest game in ECHL history (current league record is 126:10*). It also set a Stingrays record, with the previous longest game being 110:37 back in 1998 (S/T to Andrew Miller of Rays the Roof Blog for the stats).
Madore can thank Caps prospect Dustin Stevenson for the game-tying goal (the sophomore’s first of the 2011-2 season), notched at 2:15 into the third period. That left the score tied at 3-3 for 82 minutes. Zach Tarkir, who’s been a strong force for the team all year, scored the game-winner 4:19 into the fourth OT.
The Stingrays now lead the Kelly Cup EC Quarter Final series 2-1. The next game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 2:05PM in Duluth, GA (home of the Gladiators).
Note: The longest game in ECHL history is 126:10. Elmira vs. Trenton in 2009. Elmira won, 5-4.
