Little big man

The Sound Tigers' media notes, I've just noticed, list Michael Mole at 6-foot-10.

That's 12 inches too many, obviously, but that's about how big he played in the first period.

Give Albany any one of those three goals, and the afternoon could have been quite different. Give them two, and the afternoon might have been quite ugly.

And the season would have been over, for all intents and purposes.

Mole gave them time with big saves, huge saves, a missing ingredient some nights. The Magowan-Rank-Pitton line disrupted Aucoin's line and kept up a forecheck of its own, scoring a goal. Desharnais scored on a power play through a Regier screen; Regier scored driving to the net for a Tambellini rebound short-handed.

If this wasn't the biggest regular-season game in this barn, it's second only to that last regular-season game against Hartford in 2002. (More on that, maybe, later this week.) It was crucial. It was huge. It was about 6-foot-10's worth of huge.

And though the Rats still have the easier path, Bridgeport is still on the road.

LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Tambellini (A)-Desharnais-Comeau
G.Johnson-Smith-Regier
Magowan-Rank-Pitton
Sixsmith/J.Johnson
D: Fata-Berry
Fraser-Wotton (C)
Malec-Rourke (A)

ALBANY
F: McLeod-Aucoin (C)-Willis
Murley (A)-Petruzalek-Bayda (A)
Estrada-Angelidis-MacDonald
Dwyer/DaSilva
D: Cumiskey-Carson
Babin-Boychuk
Flood-Conboy
(Love-scratch)

SCRATCHES
F: Laaksonen-Nielsen-Boguniecki
Nolan-Gove-Peat
Marjamaki-Colliton-Nokelainen
McCormick/Ogorodnikov

(Which forward unit would you take?)

Yeah, anyway, Murley-Aucoin-Bayda was the order of the day, and it was mostly Cumiskey-Boychuk, Babin-Carson.

Some quotes that got snipped from the story after it stretched into the 19-inch range: "We've been playing desperate every night," associate coach Jack Capuano said. "I know we lost to Hershey (Saturday) night, but the team deserved to win. The team has been battling hard."

And: "It's nice that the coaching staff had confidence in some of the new guys," Magowan said about getting the Aucoin checking assignment with Rank and Pitton. "To get that responsibility was huge. Where that line goes, that team seems to go."

Newbie Trevor Smith has a two-year deal with the Islanders beginning next seaason.

So Boguniecki and Nielsen are both due for tests Monday that might allow them to return next week. Nokelainen will have X-rays Tuesday that could get him cleared; Nolan could be cleared for next weekend, too. Colliton's surgery went well. Galbraith should be OK to play -- he skated Sunday -- but he and Crampton will both probably return to the Coast.