For most of the year Brent Thompson has been fond of saying that they haven’t accomplished anything yet.
They stuck a letter next to their name in tomorrow’s standings. That’s a little accomplishment, anyway.
“I just look at it as Step 1,” Thompson said.
There are things, he said even then, that they need to improve on. And sure, there are.
“This is Step 1,” he said. “A little step in the direction we want to go. We look toward getting home ice. That’s Step 2.”
The magic number to do that, which would hang a banner in the process, is seven points.
….
They usually block a lot of shots, but they seemed to have themselves in lanes at the right times tonight. “Sean Backman in particular blocked a number of shots,” Thompson said. The other penalty-kill guys were all good, he said, “but I just noticed Backman.” Backman took a hard Giroux shot early, didn’t miss a shift and came back to block some more. Oleksy blocked Giroux a couple of times in the second period. (And Giroux still put 10 shots on goal.)
Ullstrom confirmed that he was looking for Kael Mouillierat in front after he took Aaron Ness’ pass and gained the zone, but he got a fortunate bounce, apparently off Brent Regner’s skate and in.
Kevin Poulin’s 23rd win ties him with Mike Morrison (2007-08) for second all-time in a single season. Rick DiPietro won 30 in 2001-02 before winning 12 in the playoffs.
Matt Donovan was among those named to the AHL’s All-Rookie team. He’s the fifth Sound Tiger so honored and the third out of Denver. (But the first from Oklahoma.) Wade Dubielewicz, Chris Campoli, Nathan Lawson and Rhett Rakhshani were the other four.
Mike Halmo, as noted in the comments, was the only player without a shot on goal. No worries. The fourth line didn’t get into the flow all that much with the special teams getting a workout (they didn’t play five even-strength shifts between penalties in the first; they didn’t get to eight in the second). He got a shift or two with Frischmon and Backman in the third. “Guys are a little faster, a little stronger,” Halmo said. “It was good to get out there with the guys.” He got a fight on his first shift, going to the net, giving David Savard a hit, taking Savard’s cross-check and then tossing them. “That’s the way I’ve got to play up here,” he said. “It was nice to get the jitters out, the nervousness out of my body.” Between that and getting his first shift out of the way off the opening faceoff, he felt pretty good after that.
Syracuse, Friday’s opponent in Bridgeport, plays Binghamton tonight.
And finally, Manny Legace on That Spot along the boards: “I’ve heard it’s happened a lot here. Fix it. They’re not going to fix it; it’s the other team’s zone. But if there’ve been some complaints, fix it. Especially when we’re battling for our lives.”
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The Sound Tigers clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 3-2 win over Springfield today at Harbor Yard.
More later.
Edit: Also, Matt Donovan was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie team.