Went to the wrong spot first, apparently; missed Mike Keenan, whose take I wanted on Goals 2 and 3 of this one.
With a 1-0 lead, Bridgeport proceeded to give up three in the second. One came on a Springfield clear that Keenan couldn’t keep in, which sent the Falcons on a rush; the shot trickled through Anders Nilsson, and Jake Hansen beat newbie Philip-Michael Devos to it. The second came with Keenan in the box on what looked to be a good battle with some good whacks back and forth, but which turned into a Falcons power play and, one breakdown to leave the most-dangerous man on the ice alone with time and space later, the second Falcons goal.
Draw, rebound: third goal. Failed clear, the most-dangerous man on the ice has room to take it from the left point to the right circle: fourth. And then a late four-on-four, with a major power play just two minutes away, gives the Falcons Nos. 5 and 6.
Had the penalties come 26 seconds later, there’d have been no four-on-four, just three minutes of major power-play time. (Love that rule.) But they happened, and they put the game away.
…..
If you missed the Justin Johnson news: suspended three more games beyond tonight. Details at the link; Pellerin reaction in the gamer.
For all the chaos and guys getting banged up and leaving the bench and going to the room and limping off the ice and wait-what-happened-to-Dallas-Jackson-did-Flying-Mike-Halmo-just-whack-the-guy-trying-to-get-at-JAM?… it appeared everyone survived the night. There were the expected number of players on the bench at the end.
(Yeah, really, by the way. Jackson was in front of the net as Cantin took the hit from Marchessault. Something happened as he got toward the pile, and he looked uncomfortable to begin with, and then he got bumped as Halmo flew in trying to get to Marchessault. Since Jackson appears alive, funny.)
(And yes, a boarding major is not the “danger” I mean when I call Marchessault the most-dangerous man on the ice. But still.)
Devos was around the net a bit and, with a break or two, might’ve had a couple of points. “He made some good plays early,” Pellerin said. “His line got caught a couple of times at five-on-five, but for him coming in here, a 17-hour bus ride, a flight from Greenville to La Guardia to make the pregame skate, we’ve got to give him a chance to get adjusted. Overall, he fit right in.”
One thing: 96-88-23 is odd to write.
Prescout. The same two refs happen to be on the tentative schedule to work Sunday’s game in Bridgeport.
Missed it: Isles draft pick Loic Leduc was traded in the Q. (H/T Elite Prospects.)
The U.S. beat Slovakia 6-3 at the World Juniors today. Canada’s shootout loss to the Czech Republic leaves the U.S. alone atop its pool. Germany tomorrow, then the big one Tuesday against Canada. (The top four in each five-team pool advance to the quarterfinals, so it’s really only seeding involved at this point.)
Oh, and hey: no overtime. /16