Tossin’ it up a little early for the 7:15 start: We’ll be listening to Pete Michaud (audio/pay-per-view). Following Twitter reports from Paul, Pete, the Ads’ official feed and their play-by-play account.
The box should be here. Add a second ref, Jason Rollins, whom Bridgeport has seen just once: 50 weeks ago in Norfolk. Prescout here. They’ve got a little trip tonight, too, though nothing like Bridgeport’s.
See late-last-night’s blogpost for the ECHL returns of Sebastian Collberg and Mark Nemec.
Texas signed Matt Mangene to a PTO.
More later on.
–Sebastian Collberg got conditioning from his conditioning assignment last night, apparently: The Islanders reassigned him to Bridgeport today. Meanwhile don’t think anyone’s tweeted a Bridgeport goalie yet, but it’s John Gibson for Norfolk.
BRIDGEPORT likely
F: Sivak-Mouillierat-McDonald (A)
Zolnierczyk (A)-Quine-Conacher
Gillies-Sundstrom-Courtnall
Gallant-Langkow-Vaughan
D: Ness (C)-Pulock
Pelech-Mayfield
Czuczman-Graham
G: Poulin
Leggio
NORFOLK from Pete
F: Kerdiles-Karlsson-Leblanc
Friberg-Sarault-Wagner
Laganiere-Steckel-Cramarossa
Gagne-Bailey-Yip
D: Bell-Clark
McIver-Manson
O’Brien-Nightingale
G: Gibson
LaBarbera
R: Rollins, Brenk. L: George, Ritter.
I have the Darien and Fairfield Prep lines if anybody wants ’em.
–Looks like Kevin Poulin.
–Appears the only other change is Kevin Czuczman in for Griffin Reinhart.
–Trying to finish up this high schools story, but it had been entirely Bridgeport for the first eight or nine minutes. After the Admirals killed off a Nate McIver penalty for dragging Langkow down, Antoine Laganiere buries a rebound to give the Admirals a 1-0 lead.
–That came at 8:07, so maybe make that “entirely Bridgeport for the first seven or eight minutes.”
–On Bridgeport’s second power play, Mouillierat fans at the back door, Sivak puts one wide at the back door, and at the end, Gibson robs Conacher after Zolnierczyk rushes up the left wing.
–Mat Clark came across to hit Adam Pelech hard. On his next shift, in the Norfolk zone, Justin Courtnall goes with him. Off the draw, Bridgeport gets it back in and keeps the pressure on, and Ryan Pulock ties it with a blast with 28.2 seconds left in the period.
–It’s 1-1 after one, though Norfolk will carry most of a Conacher hooking minor to the second.
–Gibson has stopped both Colin McDonald and Cory Conacher on partial breaks in the first seven minutes or so of the second.
–Longish five-on-three coming up as first McDonald and then Conacher are taken down.
–No go. Best chance probably Conacher’s from the right circle.
–Cramarossa-Vaughan off a draw after Cramarossa knocks Conacher down.
–Remains 1-1 after two.
–Zolnierczyk’s turn to get robbed by Gibson on a break midway through the third. They’ll go four-on-four after Conacher and Bailey scrap and get minors.
–Now it’ll be a long four-on-three — 63 seconds or so — after Quine’s called for a hook.
–I miss Pat Shetler.
–Max Friberg gives the Admirals a lead with 8:26 to go, potting the rebound of Brendan Bell’s point shot just as Conacher and Bailey were set to come back. Gibson, slow to get up after that Zolnierczyk save, will leave in favor of LaBarbera.
–Poulin out with 1:45 to go and a draw to LaBarbera’s right.
–Admirals time out with 41 seconds left. (Bridgeport’s was with 1:45 left.)
–The Admirals hang on: Norfolk 2, Bridgeport 1, final. Bridgeport probably deserved better, but hey, lucky them, hop on the road, play in 17 hours.
–Nice pop for Kevin Poulin in the three stars, but would hope the only reason Gibson isn’t one is because he was hurt.
–Only 12 defensemen in 14 years have scored more goals in a Bridgeport sweater than Ryan Pulock. He has played 28 games.
–“I honestly thought our whole team played hard,” Brent Thompson said. “The entire game, we competed very hard. We stuck to the game plan for 60 minutes. We’re disappointed, obviously — we’ve got to score on the power play; we’ve got to stop them scoring on the four-on-three. That’s the difference in the game, but I still feel we outplayed them.”
Reinhart, like he said last night, day-to-day; game-time decision tomorrow. He expects Collberg will be in the lineup if everything goes according to plan. “He — that was exactly what we wanted to see from him. He was good. He got his confidence. He scored some goals. I got great reports talking to the coaches. He did everything he was supposed to. He competed two ways. He was edgy.”
Thompson was getting on the bus getting ready to look this one over. A game now in 16 and a half hours. Yeah.
More then.