We’ll remember this for one punch from behind, for one crazed scrum, for another crazy scrum where Joey MacDonald took matters into his own hands for the second time in two months.
We probably shouldn’t, because they never gave themselves a chance to win, in a game in which they needed to at least give themselves a shot. They twice got themselves back into the game, then coughed up another goal within a couple of shifts.
For space reasons — this gamer was rollin’ way long — I cut back what Bernie Cassell said to its bare minimum. Here’s the fuller version:
“It’s about two points. We’re in a playoff push here. You’re always looking for positives to build on. I think part of developing is finding the negatives to work on, then working on them the next day in practice. But developing is about winning, and helping the guys win. We’re in a playoff push. The two points are important. We’ve had that up on the board the last week or so. The big lesson coming out of the game is consistency. To be a solid team, to be a playoff team, you’ve got to be consistent. It is second-to-second … shift-to-shift, then game-to-game, then week-to-week, you’ve got to build.”
Things got out of hand tonight, in almost all aspects. Kind of stunning to see it happen, to watch that punch coming, to see everyone charge in after Ebbett and Miller, to see MacDonald come pushing his way out of the crease.
(I half-joke in the gamer about Chris Brown finally taking control at the last one, when he waved at Mike McKenna, telling him not to step over that red line. I’m more stunned at some of the other things that happened. See the gamer for more on that.)
This one almost reminded me of Feb. 1, 2002, for the sheer chaos of it (Ben Walter and Andrew Ebbett? C’mon!), but also for the sheer one-sidedness of it. Not that Bridgeport couldn’t have won, just that it kept shooting itself every time it had a chance to get there. That one carried over. This one, there’s a few days off.
But MacDonald (38) has the new single-season record for goaltender penalty minutes, passing DiPietro’s 35 in 2001-02, almost half of which came That Night. Little Mac* has a little ways to go to catch up to DiPietro’s career record of 49. One more time to take it into his own hands, that could do it.
BRIDGEPORT
F: Regier-Walter-Jackman (A)
Bentivoglio-Smith-Okposo
Pitton-Desrochers-Keith
Brennan/Morency
D: Fata-Ford
Sertich-Spiller (A)
Fraser-Wotton (C)
PORTLAND
F: Bouck (C)-Ebbett-King
Ryan-Dixon-Platt
Miller-Wirtanen-Bootland
Peters-(Birner-scratch)-Segal
D: Weinrich (A)-Salcido
Schneider-St. Jacques
Festerling-Callahan (A)
Here’s the 50-game mark. They’re five points behind a fourth-place tie, Binghamton and Albany, and they need to vault two teams in the next 30.
Flu bug was hitting hard. Okposo wasn’t feeling very well, apparently, hence the couple of missed shifts. “Yes, no, maybe, I dunno,” John Sullo yelled over his shoulder at one point.
Desrochers was going back to Johnstown. Colliton is apparently coming back here, though who knows what happens in the next couple of days/weeks.
Jim Mill in the house again to see a suspendable offense. They should really publicize it when he’s coming. “Somethin’ wacky’s gonna happen!”
A little white-padded MAF action coming our way? Maybe, sez the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Get Jim Mill here that night, too, and let’s sell this barn out.
Did not get my exclusive interview with SpongeBob, though he walked past me as I went to get dinner. I felt the thrill in the air. Then I almost got run over by kids.
Steve Valiquette has two NHL shutouts.
Former Michigan kid Kevin Quick goes to Norfolk.
Darien’s Ryan Shannon got a call up to Vancouver.
And finally, RIP, Sign Man Karl Ehrhardt.