Friday's Battle between the Pipes12/17/2010 5:05 PM - Mike Peck
From the sounds of things Bill Peters and Don Lever will stick with Alec Richards and Peter Mannino in between the pipes for each of their respective clubs Friday night as the IceHogs and Wolves face off for the fourth time of the season.
It's likely safe to say that Richards was not happy with his performance on Wednesday. The second year pro allowed 4 goals on 15 shots, translating into a .733 save percentage and the second worst start for the net minder in 2010-11. Not all the blame can be placed on Richards in the 4-2 loss. Both of the Wolves third period goals actually came off the sticks of IceHogs defenders. The Wolves forwards threw pucks in the direction of the net and unfortuantly for Shawn Lalonde and Ivan Vishnevskiy it deflected off their sticks into the back of the Hogs net. Irregardless of how the goals were scored Bill Peters had to try something to spark the Hogs in the third and the easiest way to attempt that was with a goaltender change. That meant Richards would take in the last 14 minutes of the game from the IceHogs tunnel. With the loss the Robbinsdale, Minnesota native's record falls to 6-8-1 with a 2.78 GAA and .901 SV%. It would be easy for Richards to have Wednesday's performance weigh heavily on his mind but by Coach Peters giving him the start again Friday it shows that he has confidence in the young goaltender's ability to bounce back and play in important games. On the other end of the ice it really shouldn’t be a surprise that Peter Mannino will start again against the IceHogs Friday. He has made appearances in the Wolves last 16 games and started the last eight. Mannino had a solid outing making 30 saves on 32 shots Wednesday night in the victory and was helped by a strong defensive performance from his teamates in front of him. It is pretty safe to say that since Ondrej Pavelec was called up to the Atlanta Thrashers, Mannino has become the number one tender in Chicago. The University of Denver produce does not necessarily have the best numbers statistically (3.10 GAA, .897 SV%) but now has ten wins and six loses on the season. Ultimately when looking at goaltending statistics the "Win" column garners the most attention and 10 wins for Mannino is very respectable on a struggling Chicago Wolves team . Both of the tenders in tonight's match up have had their ups and downs on the season and will have to perform well if they want to give their club a shot at the victory. Check out Prefy's blog at The Man Advantage |
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