I had a whole screed drawn up about that penalty near the end of the first period, with Dustin Kohn sitting on top of the dashers… Long story short, I didn’t think you could say it wasn’t a penalty, but because he wasn’t on the ice — which is defined as both skates on the pond — could that penalty really be “too many men on the ice”?
It feels comical now.
1) Kohn is waiting for Ford to come off the ice, waiting long enough that it struck me that maybe he ought to swing his legs back in… oops, Ford’s pass hits his leg. And Frederic L’Ecuyer waves him to the box: Bench minor, too many men on the ice. Wow, only the fourth one this season on Bridgeport…
2) The puck goes deep into the Bridgeport zone, and you can see five Bruins players in their forecheck and three Sound Tigers setting up. My notes say that, somewhere near the bench, Trevor Smith is on for Jeff Tambellini, but that’s not clear on video; meanwhile, also not on video, I think Tambellini is tripping over Joe Rullier.
3) I’ve totally lost the flow of this change in my notes — it comes after a TV time out and a couple of icings — and the video doesn’t make it clear who’s on for whom (I can’t even catch every number), but it shows six Sound Tigers on the penalty-boxes half of the ice. Yeah, I think that’s farther than five feet away from the bench. L’Ecuyer calls it.
“Too many men is a real slap in the face, no question about it,” Mark Wotton said.
“You’ve got to be ready when your name is called. To me, some guys were a little sleepy,” Jack Capuano said.
Add that to five other penalties, toss on that they go with a very short bench on the penalty kill, and then add that you’re playing Providence…
Recipe for disaster.
Pretty tip-home by Tambellini off Wotton’s shot got them on the board after a good Fata hit-then-fight. Tambellini drove to the net to score off a loose puck late. The Bruins held on and finished it late.
This was a far cry from the night up at Providence two weeks ago. But still.
BRIDGEPORT
F: Tambellini (A)-Nielsen-Bentivoglio
Regier-Walter-Bootland
Smith-Colliton-Haskins
Brennan/Haley
D: Fata-Spiller (A)
Kohn-Ford
Wotton (C)-Rullier
PROVIDENCE
F: Pelletier-Krejci-Karsums
Hoggan (A)-Bitz-Trevelyan
Thompson (C)-Hendricks-Collins
(Tobin-scratch)-Rabbit-MacIntyre
D: Skinner-Schaeffer
Jon.Sigalet-Curry
Zinger (A)-Smith
Wotton-Ford started; Kohn-Rullier was another pair. They cut way down in the final minutes.
Had Kohn touched the puck deliberately while on the bench, BTW, that would be interference, by rule.
Today’s Newsday sidebar mentions that Wade Dubielewicz may come here for some work. One time that had been noted as possible: When the Isles go west early next month. (Okposomania and Dubie Time all at once? Can the barn take it?)
Speaking of, Kyle Okposo had an assist (PDF) in a win over Switzerland. It gets interesting Saturday against Russia, 2 p.m. EST.
Dumb stats with which I’m too enamored: Wednesday’s was the 14th-biggest mid-week crowd in team history. (Self-aggrandizement alert: “Yeah, us and our coupons!”) And three of the 16 latest Bridgeport game-winning goals ever? They have come this month: Wednesday (5th-latest), Albany Dec. 16 (13th) and a day earlier against Bingo (16th). Tambellini’s goal at Hartford last Friday was the sixth-latest tying goal that led to a tie (remember those?) or a shootout. (Look, I told you they were dumb stats.)
Freddy Cassivi is up to fill in for injured Caps goalie Brent Johnson. Tarik El-Bashir also has some stuff on Ray Emery’s departure from Ottawa’s practice this morning. Marc Denis is on waivers.
Oh my… Break up the Amerks! Their 10-game losing streak is over.
Been meaning to link to this Toronto Star story about Kevin Kaminski and his recovery from a concussion.
Programming note: The weekly feature is scheduled to run Monday this week. (Long story on which I’m not entirely clear.)