They’re back downtown, though we’re not. We’ll be listening to Jeff Mannix (audio / video) and following Chris Roy, Paul, Jeff and the Pirates.
Elsewhere: Stockton appears a step closer to the AHL and a sale to the Flames. Todd Bertuzzi will be a Binghamton Senator on a PTO. (Bruce Garrioch had been on that a few days.)
Unfortunately, no Latvians. RT @TheAHL: Ready for this? #AHLAllStar Fan Balloting presented by CCM is now underway! http://t.co/n7SMY1YntR
— Jason Chaimovitch (@JChaimo) January 9, 2015
The big deal about computers solving poker.
More around warmup.
–Poulin vs. Mike McKenna, are the reports from up there.
–Jeff says Griffin Reinhart and Loic Leduc are both scratched, which would indicate Scooter Vaughan on defense. C.J. Stretch is scratched up front.
Based on this week’s practices (and white sweaters, with Portland wearing red), that’d seem to indicate something like:
BRIDGEPORT
F: Collberg-Mouillierat (A)-McDonald (A)
Zolnierczyk-Quine-Conacher
Persson-Sundstrom-Gillies
Gallant-Langkow-Courtnall
D: Ness (C)-Vaughan
Pelech-Mayfield
Czuczman-Graham
G: Poulin
Leggio
PORTLAND from Chris
F: Martinook-Bolduc-Samuelsson
Shinnimin-Hodgman-Szwarz
O’Donoghue-Gaudet-Selleck
Southorn-Wathier-Dziurzynski
D: Campbell-Hanley
Oberg-Hache
Reese-Samuelsson
G: McKenna
Domingue
R: Burchell, Chmielewski. L: Lovett, Ross.
–Bridgeport kills a Gallant interference penalty. Then Portland puts the puck in after a whistle, sparking a scrum. There are coincidental minors before all that, though, so two minutes of four-on-four.
–No score after one. Helped by a couple of power plays, Portland outshoots Bridgeport 16-7.
–Actually, looking at it, no, not so much helped by the power plays.
–In Wilkes-Barre, Marc Cantin has his first AHL goal, at last. (He’s an assist away from the Gordie.) Prescout, while we’re there.
–Second period in a row Bridgeport starts strong one rotation through.
–The strong Bridgeport start continues a second rotation through: Colton Gillies one-times home Johan Sundstrom’s feed at 6:05, capping a good shift off a Sundstrom faceoff win. Ends a long McKenna shutout streak, over 160 minutes.
–Tough lady on the air with Jeff: Had a stroke, felt the headaches, slurred her words… kept working. (Yes, she’s on to educate people that that might not be a great idea.) Meanwhile, off a defensive-zone draw after Portland’s first chance of the period, Zolnierczyk comes up the right wing with Quine on a two-on-one and beats McKenna at 7:43 to make it 2-0.
–Vaughan called for a big hit on Shinnimin in the Bridgeport zone; Hodgman goes after him, and Vaughan finishes that quickly. The hit is called a major, and Hodgman gets roughing, so it’ll be two minutes of four-on-four and then a three-minute major for Portland.
–Martinook, hooked from behind on a breakaway, scores anyway to make it 2-1 Bridgeport almost midway through the period.
–Poulin comes up with some big saves a few shifts after the Vaughan penalty expires.
–Bridgeport leads 2-1 after two. The penalties in the middle of the period ended Bridgeport’s near-absolute dominance. Shots end up 16-7 Bridgeport, so 23-23 in all.
–Alex Bolduc got a cross-checking penalty at the buzzer, so Bridgeport will go on its first power play to start the third.
–Two Bridgeport power plays now, and the Pirates have had the better chances.
–A trade of penalties, and just after Bridgeport’s expires, Quine buries Conacher’s drop-off on the rush on the power play to make it 3-1 Bridgeport midway through the third.
–Courtnall for a trip with 4:33 to go. Poulin, Jeff notes a couple of times, has been huge tonight.
–The power play is quickly negated, for the second time this period, by another penalty.
–About two minutes left, a Pirate hit the post, and the puck caromed back under Poulin’s pads. McKenna goes off for the extra attacker on the draw.
–Pelech denies the Pirates entry, John Persson scores from the neutral zone and it’s 4-1 Bridgeport.
—Bridgeport 4, Portland 1, final.
–Bridgeport’s out of last in the Northeast with Albany’s loss. It’s tied with Providence; the AHL site has Bridgeport in eighth in the conference, breaking the tie by percentage, though Providence would have the tiebreaker if they’d played equal games.
–Most of the good Brent Thompson stuff goes in the gamer; talked about coming back strong in the second period (he was fine with the first, too, actually), about Poulin being Poulin (“It starts with him”), about the kid defensemen continuing to come along. Graham and Pelech both had a couple of very solid plays, I thought. “Pelech,” Thompson said, “that was one of his best games of the year. He had good gaps, a good stick, good reads.”