RECAP: Fresno Reclaims First Place in the Western Division
Long Beach Bombers @ Fresno Monsters
Fresno 4, Long Beach 3 – Thursday's game at Selland Arena in Fresno between the top two teams in the Western Division was tied 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 and could not be decided in overtime. Fresno's Tyler Matthews made 59 saves as the Monsters knocked off the first-place Long Beach Bombers, 4-3, in a shootout.
Diego Gluck's second goal of the game came mid-way through the third period and gave the Bombers a 3-2 lead but the Monsters came up with the tying goal for the third time in the game.
After a period of sustained pressure by the Monsters, the Bombers managed to clear the zone and Gluck skated down on a Fresno defender one-on-one. He made a slick individual move, gently putting the puck around the left side of the checker, slipping around him to the right, then picking the puck up and beating Mathews with a quick move to his backhand.
Fresno's Jarred Hicks dropped the gloves with Will Daigneault on the ensuing faceoff in an effort to spark the team and it worked. Just :38 after Gluck's go-ahead tally, Petr Philippov knotted the game again.
Logan Domagala skated the puck out of the Fresno end, all the way through the neutral zone and into the Long Beach end at the left boards. He managed to get the puck to Stanislav Danaev who hed onto it as Philippov skated into a good spot, then hit him with a backhand pass. Philippov buried a 25-foot wrist shot to tie the game for the third time.
Long Beach out-shot Fresno, 4-3, in the scoreless overtime period despite the Monsters having a power play. The game then proceeded to a shootout.
Mathews and Domenic Bosetti of the Bombers combined to deny the first 14 shooters.
But, in the eighth round, Martin Dlugolinsky scored for Fresno.
With the Bombers needed a goal to extend the shootout, Gennady Malashenko made the best move yet, a quick backhand-forehand deke, but Mathews stretched out his right pad to make the save and secure a huge point in the standings for the Monsters.
Bosetti made 26 saves in the game for Long