It was Tim Jackman last weekend who mentioned how good it was that Bridgeport wasn’t playing from behind, that the Sound Tigers could just play their game.
Well, they played from behind three times Wednesday, did it without their first- and third-leading scorers (NHL) and second-leading scorer (MRI tomorrow, apparent subluxed shoulder, out for the weekend). And it worked out OK.
Trevor Smith played about 25 minutes. Mark Wotton had stretches like last year, where he just didn’t leave the ice and got better with every passing minute. And Matt Keith had a night, his first three-point game in over a year (Feb. 3, 2007, at Portland against… Bridgeport). Capuano had all kinds of praise for the defensive effort.
The confidence level has gone to a higher level, it seems from up here and in the bits you get in the room. It’s not quite that 2002, no-matter-what feeling, but it’s such a far cry from last year’s feeling that it almost feels comparable.
Here we are, Feb. 20, and it’s somehow not insane to say that the Sound Tigers trail the Penguins by four and the Bears by three, and lead the Rats by one and the Senators by two.
Heck, and people were even here to see it.
BRIDGEPORT
F: Regier-Walter-Jackman (A)
Bentivoglio-Smith-Okposo
Pitton-Colliton-Keith
Bourne/Haley
D: Sertich-Ford
Fraser-Spiller (A)
Dwyer-Wotton (C)
NORFOLK
F: Smolenak-Szczechura-Lessard
Stewart (A)-Jones-Wanvig
Keller-Kearns-Milley (A)
Rosehill-Henrich-(Klinkhammer-scratch)
D: Fletcher-Leach (A)
Mihalik-Schneider
Smaby-Scalzo
Bridgeport’s lines never really resolved after the Walter injury. There was a long stretch where they basically kept three center-right wing combinations together and just rotated the four left wingers through them. It got a little mix-and-match after that. I laughed (not really) when Keith scored his first goal concidentally on a shift with Pitton and Colliton. They happened to run out together precisely once after that, the second-to-last even-strength shift of the game.
This was the 10th-largest midweek crowd, and, if you take away opening nights and kids days, this was the fourth-largest Wednesday in, um, I guess, ordinary time.
Big late-breaking news from Rosemont, where Manitoba’s all-star goalie, Drew MacIntyre, got credit for the game-winning goal on a delayed penalty in overtime. It’s the ninth goal by an AHL goaltender.
Al Montoya left Hartford’s game injured after one period. Bad timing on that? Meanwhile, referee: Ian Croft. It’s like they flipped the assignment sheet on its head, isn’t it?
Tris Wykes down in Norfolk found this about the Peoria Journal Star’s sports editor’s travails on a Zamboni.
Bad news for Simon Gagne, who may be shutting it down for the season.
Staples’ and Columbia’s John Baumann gets featurized in the N.Y. Times.