Tough to get a read on this game. Seven defensemen sort of rolling through, the top line split up two out of every three shifts, a game that didn’t mean much… at least, I don’t think this game means much. If Bridgeport had been run out of the building, maybe. If Bridgeport had somehow run the Pens out of the building, then yeah. Neither happened.
So I wrote the gamer off Justin Papineau, rusty but key in the playoffs. He’s almost microcosmic, because his turnovers are a little representative. Some of the worst gaffes Bridgeport made didn’t end up in the back of the net, through miscues or magic I don’t know. Some more innocent-looking gaffes did. By the time Maxime Talbot shoveled a breakaway through Frederic Cloutier with 24:11 to go, well, when’s Thursday, anyway?
Maybe this wasn’t as well as Bridgeport wanted to play in this game, as Papineau said. When nine new guys show up here in blue Thursday, how much will it matter?
Now, how will those nine new guys — half a skating roster, for crying out loud — fit together? Stay tuned.
LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Marjamaki-Tsimikalis-Masse
Papineau-O’Marra-Collins (A)
Thompson-Lee-Miles
Tunik
D: Pettinen (A)-Jarrett (A)
Jarmuth-Caldwell
Barr-Pratt
Kohn
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON
F: Hussey-Talbot-Kolanos
Carcillo-Christensen-Stone
Lefebvre (A)-Taticek-Dixon
Corupe-Endicott-Bonvie (A)
D: Fata-Lannon
Welch-Kelleher (A)
Bissonnette
Update: ‘A’ is for Argh! I know what I forgot to call out: the ‘A’ on Tomi Pettinen. It’s his first time. Nice to see.
Tunik basically swapped in and out for either Papineau or Collins almost every shift.
Endicott left in the second period; no word on the injury, but supposedly he looked woozy going off.
Alain Nasreddine took a shot off his leg a few nights ago and is out… supposedly he went to the doctor today and was taking a couple of days at home.
Somebody could be going up on defense; Allan Rourke supposedly pulled a groin Thursday night, not too serious but maybe enough to keep him out. No official word yet.
So Manchester won and Providence lost, flip-flopping them again. The fourth-place Bruins still control their own destiny for third, though, because three points in their last two games is enough.
And Norfolk is the leader in the clubhouse at 43-29-4-4.
Will update the West eventually. Long drive to come.
(OK, drive over: Update on the West.)
Half the West is set. I’m pretty sure Iowa beat Peoria in a shootout before Omaha lost in a shootout, so just getting to OT was enough to secure the necessary point for the Stars*. Meanwhile, once Peoria lost that shootout, the Rivermen were locked into third, unable to catch Houston. Peoria is 3, Iowa is 4, Omaha is out. Now, that other shootout, Houston won. That keeps the Aeros in the hunt for first, because Milwaukee won, too. Like the Manch/Provy battle, Houston’s behind but controls its own destiny; a tie in points will go to the Aeros. Houston is two points back with the tiebreaker and two games to go, while the Ads have one game.
And from the dumber-than-advertised pile: Binghamton needs a point to lock up fifth in the East. Rochester’s win tonight, backed with Hamilton’s loss, makes the Amerks fifth in the North and the Bulldogs sixth, with Cleveland long ago seventh. And now the other pitched battle in the West is for fifth. Chicago leads Omaha on the tiebreaker but has only one game left; Omaha needs three points to take fifth, and the Stars’ final two are against San Antonio, which by the way is also locked in the basement.
We’ll announce some awards tomorrow. (Unless there’s a tie — I haven’t counted yet — in which case I don’t know what to say…)
*-Unless they pulled their goalie in overtime. Hi, Jonathan!