Camaraderie camp: Hartford (exh.) (A) postgame

Edit, 10:10 p.m.: Arthur Staple reports that the Islanders will send Kirill Petrov to Bridgeport, along with the defensemen they called up this morning. That handful of spots gets a little shorter.

It’s odd, and I guess the questioning led it this way a little bit, but the postgame today felt almost like a season-ending postgame, with a coach talking about how proud he was to coach this group, with players talking about how tight they were.

This was the competition for the last few spots, maybe, if they stay open. With 35, technically, for today, in camp, there are big cuts to come, probably by this time tomorrow, and by Tuesday morning if not. There may be more to come. And they talked about battling for each other. And when I asked Brent Thompson about how hard these kids made his decisions, he dropped an “oh my God.” Love it.

It was a fun unit to watch, and against a Hartford team that was rather close to representative — the Pack had a round of cuts, including ex-Sound Tiger Jack Combs, to get to 26 players before the game — it was kind of eye-opening.

Put it this way: the only forward unit that didn’t seem to have a lot of zone time was the Johnston-Gomes-Collberg line, the least-tryouty one.

Sebastien Sylvestre played another fearless game, going through everyone to feed Carter Verhaeghe in front for the first goal. Verhaeghe got to the front and was there again to help finish off a good shift for him and Sylvestre and Andrew Rowe, setting up a pinching Jesse Graham. Tyler Barnes, Jesse Root and Josh Holmstrom worked hard yet again. The Jones twins and Colin Markison made things happen.

The defense played under control, mostly. The goalies were good.

Hard to believe most of this team will be gone this week. It’s been quite a (pre)season.

BRIDGEPORT
F: Andrew Rowe-Carter Verhaeghe-Sebastien Sylvestre
Ross Johnston-Jared Gomes (A)-Sebastian Collberg
Tyler Barnes-Jesse Root-Josh Holmstrom
Kellen Jones-Connor Jones (A)-Colin Markison
D: Kane Lafranchise-Jesse Graham
Matt Finn-Loic Leduc
Patrick Cullity (A)-Tom Nilsson
G: Christopher Gibson
Parker Milner

HARTFORD
F: Richard Nejezchleb-Marek Hrivik-Chris McCarthy
Ryan Bourque-Luke Adam-Alex Krushelnyski
Tyler Brown-Adam Tambellini-Brian Gibbons
Travis Oleksuk-Chad Nehring-Michael Kantor
D: Mat Bodie-Petr Zamorsky
Brady Skjei-Calle Andersson
Kodie Curran-Brett Bellemore
G: Magnus Hellberg
Jeff Malcolm

Bridgeport 1 1 1–3
Hartford 0 0 1–2

First Period — 1, Bridgeport, Verhaeghe 1 (Sylvestre), 1:18. Penalties — Leduc, Bpt (high-sticking), 10:05.

Second Period — 2, Bridgeport, Barnes 1 (J.Holmstrom, Root), 7:46. Penalties — Kantor, Hfd (interference), 3:48; Cullity, Bpt (holding stick), 8:26; Graham, Bpt (hooking), 12:12; Leduc, Bpt (cross-checking), 12:49; Rowe, Bpt (hooking), 16:33.

Third Period — 3, Hartford, Krushelnyski 2 (Andersson, Oleksuk), 1:12. 4, Bridgeport, Graham 1 (Verhaeghe, Rowe), 4:45. Penalties — None.

Shots on goal — Bridgeport 6-5-10–21. Hartford 3-13-13–29.

Power play opportunities — Bridgeport 0 of 1, Hartford 0 of 4.

Goaltenders — Bridgeport, Gibson 1-0-0 (16 shots-16 saves), Milner (start third, 13-12). Hartford, Hellberg 0-1-0 (21-18).

Attendance — 250. Referees — C.Brown, T.Koharski. Linesmen — Galvin, Wahl.

Two periods for Christopher Gibson was the plan; Milner came in and allowed just a deflection goal. “I thought both goalies came in and made a lot of good saves,” Thompson said. “Gibby was so controlled, a calming presence.

“Technically 35” because the Islanders called up Kevin Czuczman, Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech to play today in Washington.

Didn’t ask about Ross Johnston appearing in 56 after having 29 on his lid. We’ll see about some of these numbers this week as the real season gets closer. Some numbers may change. Got a closer look today than Thursday and noticed the patch situation was interesting: The 15th-anniversary patch is on the right breast, so the DOT sponsor patch is on the left breast, making the ‘A’s on the guys today relatively small.

Hat tip to Gerry Cantlon: Luke Curadi is in camp with Cail MacLean and Adirondack (ECHL).

Nice story from Brett Cyrgalis on Anthony Capuano‘s decision to go to Annapolis, and his dad’s pride.

Team’s off Monday, though roster decisions are likely. More as it comes.

Michael Fornabaio