From three…

Once the Sharks got into the Bridgeport zone, they looked suspiciously like early Bridgeport.

You know, on the perimeter, not getting to the net, giving the defense and the goalie a chance to stop the puck.

Taking nothing away from Mike Morrison, who deserved the shutout, he got some help in the D-zone coverage, once the Sharks got into the zone.

On the way into the zone… well, the Sound Tigers sort of handled the speed, if you take away the couple of breakaways. They played a little more aggressive forecheck, sending a second forward, slowing the Sharks down but also letting the defense jump in a little more. “If you’re going to forecheck hard, you’ve got to track hard,” Capuano said.

They got help when Devin Setoguchi nailed Jamie Fraser into the boards, making it a five-on-three in the first. They got help when T.J. Fox couldn’t find the open net and instead found Morrison’s glove, when it was a 2-0 game.

And they won. Which, the way the standings and the schedule are, is all that matters…

BRIDGEPORT
F: Bentivoglio-Walter-Jackman (A)
Okposo-Smith-Regier
Pitton-Desrochers-Keith
Haley/Morency
D: Fata-Ford
Fraser-Spiller (A)
Dwyer-Wotton (C)

WORCESTER
F: Cavanaugh-Armstrong-Setoguchi
Packard-Fox-Iggulden
Valette-(Rome-scratch)-Staubitz
Kaspar-Raduns-Mink (C)
D: Evans (A)-Traverse (A)
Spang-Joslin
Walsh-Forrest

An interesting Morrison stat in the game story, courtesy of a regular reader.

They’ll likely bring in a forward to have an extra body, though there was no name yet.

A few things to remember about the suspension, as I tried to note in the story: 1) He got him in the head from behind — trouble; 2) There was a strong precedent established with Purinton’s suspension; 3) He has been in trouble before. Change any one of those things, and it’s a very different situation. Another thing that could have made it a very different situation, noticed on the replay, is noted in the weekly.

As for whether suspensions are appealable: It seems as if that gets mixed into the review process. The league is in touch with the teams involved before it makes the announcement.

And I’m told not to expect Chris Simon here, if that thought crossed your mind at all.

Edit: You know I love dumb quirks. Tonight’s attendance: 2,256. On the Sound Tigers’ all-time attendance list, this is the third of three in a row that came against a Worcester team. Feb. 7, 2007, 2,273 (Boguniecki drew and scored on a five-on-three in overtime); Dec. 20, 2004, 2,269 (the IceCats won 3-1, a Bridgeport goal was disallowed, and we had to quote Greg Cronin with seven … second delay), and tonight, which will probably be least memorable.

Michael Fornabaio