Playing 60, or seven, or in between

There’s that first 18 minutes, where the IceCaps took advantage of every hole the Sound Tigers gave them and built a lead. There’s the next seven, where Bridgeport caught a break that got them going and tied it while a former NHL goalie stayed down. Then there’s two minutes in the third where it was decided for the Caps.

Of course there’s the four minutes and change to end the game, when the Sound Tigers had a man-advantage, something that hasn’t always lived up to the second half of that compound.

Rough way to end a good homestand. In a vacuum, a 4-3 loss to the team with the best record in the East might not be such a horrible thing. There was too much to aggravate in this one.

….

Seriously, Brent Thompson after a loss is not a happy man.

Nino Niederreiter wasn’t thrilled with his game, thought it was his worst of the three. (From up here, I’d thought he looked his most confident going to the net, trying to make plays; he disagreed.) “I’m just trying to play simple, move my legs better,” Niederreiter said. No word if he’s going up or not; he said he’s still taking it day-by-day.

I thought I had less time after the game than I actually did, so I didn’t hang around the Caps’ room long enough to get an answer: Anybody catch why they were so upset at the end of the game? Edit: Apparently the clock didn’t run coming out of the Sound Tigers’ time out. Thanks to the backup timepiece, game was probably over before it was over.

Edward Pasquale, who got himself into the stars as voted, is 5-0.

Manchester and Portland put a game’s worth of shots on goal in the first period. They may have tired themselves out; one didn’t match its first-period total after that, the other just barely did.

Mark Messier ran the New York City Marathon. It’s pretty darn hard.

I look forward to reading the linked-herein list of quirky things about the U.S., but those mentioned here aren’t bad.

Team’s off tomorrow; more Tuesday, when we’ll have the weekly chat.

Michael Fornabaio