Looked like a bit of fatigue out there today at Cromwell. Lots of skating this week, lots of work, lots of letting guys show what they could do. Don’t know if any of the young guys exactly made themselves indispensible, but they also just about all fit in.
Wasn’t the most exciting game, especially with Frederic L’Ecuyer and his hooking call in midseason form. (I can’t take credit for that line, but I’ll withhold the who.) A little fighting in the third at least stirred some things up, with some fans chanting Masi Marjamaki’s last name. Haley and Morency fought one second apart soon after.
Six cuts late Saturday: Marc Cavosie and A.J. Bucchino were released from tryouts; Brett Jaeger was released from his AHL tryout but has an ECHL deal with Utah; Kazuma Takahashi, Martin Frechette and Chris Gaudet were all assigned to Utah.
The rest probably come Monday. You wonder first how the Islanders juggle it; keep Berard? Keep eight D, then? How do you handle Simon’s suspension (which will be up sooner than you may think; the Sound Tigers play only one game in the time it’ll take Simon to sit out five)? Whatever happens, there’s a logjam here up front; do you keep any of the kids? Gordie Dwyer? If it’s seven D up top and two make it down, what do you do about the D here? Who’s your backup goalie? What do you do with the other one? We’ll know soon.
Bridgeport 0 0 0–0
Hartford 1 1 0–2
First Period — 1, Hartford, Fritz (Lee, Graham), 6:36. Penalties — Kasparaitis, Hfd (hooking), 4:07; Regier, Bpt (hooking), 8:11; Hart, Bpt (slashing), 9:56; K.Johnson, Bpt (tripping), 14:24; Haskins, Bpt (hooking), 15:55; Kozak, Hfd (hooking), 17:01; Constant, Hfd (interference), 19:18.
Second Period — 2, Hartford, Liffiton, 19:59 (pp). Penalties — Haskins, Bpt (hooking), 7:07; Morency, Bpt (slashing), 13:29; A.MacDonald, Bpt (hooking), 18:23.
Third Period — No scoring. Penalties — Damon, Bpt (hooking), 1:16; Marjamaki, Bpt, major (fighting), 7:31; Korpikoski, Hfd (high-sticking), 7:31; Owens, Hfd, major (fighting), 7:31; Haley, Bpt, major (fighting), 10:32; Ouellette, Hfd, major (fighting), 10:32; Morency, Bpt, major (fighting), 10:33; Kozak, Hfd, major (fighting), 10:33; Korpikoski, Hfd (hooking), 13:39; Jessiman, Hfd (high-sticking), 15:54; Smith, Bpt (hooking), 17:18; Graham, Hfd (hooking), 17:39.
Shots on goal — Bridgeport 8-10-6–24. Hartford 14-16-6–36.
Power play opportunities — Bridgeport 0 of 7, Hartford 1 of 8.
Goaltenders — Bridgeport, Mole (23 shots-22 saves), Ouellet (11:12 second, 13-12). Hartford, Zaba (24-24).
Referee — L’Ecuyer. Linesmen — Galvin, Demers.
LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: K.Johnson-G.Johnson-Haskins
Regier (A)-Damon-Labelle
Pitton-Smith-Bourne
Marjamaki-Haley-Morency
D: Sertich-Hart
MacDonald-Dwyer
Kohn-Ford
G: Mole
Ouellet
HARTFORD
F: Dupont-Pyatt-Moore (A)
Korpikoski-Owens-Jessiman (A)
Fritz-Graham-Lee
Constant-Ouellette-Kozak
D: Baranka-Potter
Liffiton-Sauer
Kasparaitis (A)-Barthel
G: Zaba
(Holt)
Mark Lee was kind enough to stop and say hello as he was walking back to the Pack dressing room. Good kid who works hard, and sounds like he has a shot at making the team… Set up Mitch Fritz going to the net for the first goal.
Kyle Rank begins in Wheeling.
I first typoed the linesman’s name as “Glavin,” which called to mind bad memories of standing in one spot with my hands on my head for a while. Tip o’cap to The Team To Beat and, one hopes, MVP Jimmy Rollins. This Space might root for them, if rooting for the Cubs and the assured end of this godforsaken world weren’t so inviting at this point…
Oh, and by the way: At least all that black the Mets added to their uniforms finally makes sense…