There were two points when this game could’ve gone either way, though obviously the second one was a harder climb.
The first eight, eight and a half minutes of this thing were played pretty even. High pace. Fun to watch. Teams breaking up odd-man rushes. Teams missing open nets. (Someone may’ve tweeted that. Sorry for recycling.)
Then boom, penalty, power-play goal through Mike Blunden’s screen. Then boom, Slater Koekkoek cutting down the slot for a pass from Jonathan Marchessault (now a nemesis in three divisional cities): It’s 2-0 in 11 seconds.
“We didn’t respond,” Brent Thompson said.
The response didn’t come — not for lack of trying from the one who sparked it — until Brett Gallant fought Eric Neilson in the second.
“I think everybody has great respect for Gally. He’s definitely a great asset to have on our team to get us going like that,” Justin Courtnall said.
Courtnall scored on the rush a minute later. Bridgeport went on the power play — hey, power plays! — a few seconds later and could’ve been right back in the thing.
Syracuse blocked a couple of shots, killed the penalty, then scored a minute after that as Tanner Richard was left unmolested for a rebound, leaving Bridgeport to talk about winning battles.
“They know themselves it has to happen within,” Thompson said. “It’s a function of working and working smart together.”
Fortunately or unfortunately, they get the Crunch again tomorrow. And speaking of two points, Bridgeport is now 12th in the conference, just three out of playoff position but just seven ahead of last.
…….
Thompson said Cory Conacher and Scooter Vaughan are day-to-day, so maybe they’re back in tomorrow. See if some of the testiness from tonight carries over, too.
Matt Lashoff got an assist in his debut. “Different rink size, new systems, new team,” Lashoff said. “Definitely a lot of things I want to tie up. I started to feel a little better as the game went on. … They’re a good team. They pressured us,” he added. “I was right into the fire.”
With Conacher out, John Persson was on that power-play unit with Harry Zolnierczyk and C.J. Stretch. Scored the last goal on the power play at the side of the net off Stretch’s feed. Persson wasn’t the only one getting unusual special-teams time, though the others were more a function of the score late in the game.
Lindsay Kramer tweets on Mike Angelidis‘ goal totals the past few years. Nice run.
Islanders draft pick Devon Toews left Quinnipiac’s game against Merrimack with an apparent shoulder injury. Haven’t seen a postgame update.
Mike McMahon had an interesting note on that game: Merrimack declined a penalty shot late, making Quinnipiac serve the minor instead, to negate a Bobcats power play. Neat. Merrimack wins 3-1.
UConn-Notre Dame in about an hour and a half (12 and a half, whatever). It’d be very difficult for Bridgeport-Syracuse to start on time at 3, but it should be relatively close. (As tweeted, I have 3:39 in the pool.)
And RIP, Bob Wilson.