You look up at the end of the night, and it’s 6-1, and the goaltender ends up third star. Sometimes credit for the goalie gets a little lost in a night like this.
“He didn’t get lost,” Brent Thompson said. “He was very noticeable. … Whenever there was a breakdown, he was there to shut them down. Even the goal they scored, the defense just didn’t clear the secondary chance.”
Two big early saves, 16 saves in the second period, a good one on Ryan Haggerty in the third period: Poulin was there. Over and over. As usual. Over the past six games, he’s allowed nine goals on 208 shots, a .957 save percentage and 1.44 GAA.
Team effort. All four lines, all six defensemen seemed to do something at some point, block a shot, get a stick in a lane, make a play.
“Guys stepped up,” Colton Gillies said. “Our kill’s been great. Poulie’s been great. Leggio’s been great in practices. It’s a big game (Saturday). It’s going to be a good one for the fans.”
…..
Biggest win ever for this franchise in Hartford, and against a lineup with some experience. “We read the lineup before. There were some good names on it,” Sundstrom said. “We didn’t know what to expect. I don’t think 6-1 explains everything. We had some turnovers.”
Thompson mentioned the turnovers, giving Hartford life at times. But Bridgeport contained them (or Poulin stopped them) most of the time.
(At the other end, that was… not exactly the Cedrick Desjardins I think anyone expected, though he didn’t get a lot of help, either.)
The third line was particularly strong, with some long shifts in the Hartford end and the Justin Courtnall goal.
“I think we’re skating much more now,” Johan Sundstrom said. “Courts and Gillies are doing a great job getting the puck deep, (winning) one-on-one battles.”
Turned into a big night for Colin McDonald with two late goals after two earlier assists. “I’ve had plenty of chances so far, and for whatever reason had trouble finding the back of the net,” McDonald said. “I had some good chances early on that didn’t go in.”
McDonald has been taking most of the right-circle draws for that line, and Ryan Pulock’s goal came off one of them in the third period tonight. “I’ve been working on it a little down here,” McDonald said; he said there may be some off nights, but it works out well, with him as a righty and Alan Quine as a lefty, to maybe grab a few more faceoff wins. “It’s going to be something to add to my game, and hopefully someone notices it.”
Quine’s eight-game scoring streak, of course (cough), ties for the Bridgeport active lead. Poulin’s five-game winning streak is one short of the Bridgeport active (cough) lead, just in case Anders Nilsson ever comes back.
Dallas Jackson did indeed play left wing for Hartford tonight — first time he’d ever played forward — when the veterans swarm left the Pack short up front. I thought he played pretty well, actually. Chris McCarthy had a few good scoring chances. Ryan Haggerty had a few besides his goal, too.
Big win for Sacred Heart tonight in Watertown, in a game honoring local coach Jason Pagni: the Pioneers beat UConn 2-0. Andrew Bodnarchuk had the shutout, his first.
If you missed it Thursday, Michael Farber spoke to Bryan Murray about his battle with Stage 4 colon cancer. Emotional piece, with the knowledge that a colonoscopy could’ve made a difference.
And RIP, Alvin Dark and R.A. Montgomery (h/t Kat Seelig).