We’ve seen this in bits and pieces at times, but two-plus periods of a strict five-man matchup, not usually. Worked out OK, in part because of the sixth guy out there.
“I thought we had a couple of things we could clean up, but Willy bailed us out big-time,” James Wright said. “All four lines contributed.”
When Player of the Week Dustin Jeffrey hopped over the boards, 27-23-21, 4-10 was hanging about for the Sound Tigers.
“They obviously took pride in their role, shutting down one of the top lines in the league,” Brent Thompson said. “I look at our team, the effort we had, the fact that we played a very structured, solid game.”
Stephon Williams had their back, made some big saves, got his first pro shutout. When Jeffrey sneaked in late in the first period, Williams was there.
The matchup really stood out; wondered at first if it was a five-man match, because while it clearly was on defense, there were few whistles and no penalties for 18 minutes in the first, and four forward lines lines just kept rolling on both sides. But it turned out to be the case, and they contained Jeffrey, Craig Cunningham and Greg Carey.
“(Jeffrey) is a very, very talented, hard-working guy. He’s a complete player,” Williams said of his former teammate.
“The key, for me, is to make sure I don’t give him anything easy. … He’s going to get his chances. If we can limit his chances, like we did tonight, we have a pretty good chance to be successful.”
He gave him nothing easy, gave him nothing hard and got Bridgeport back to winning.
Can they keep it going? Hartford has lost three in a row. Doesn’t matter to Thompson: “It’ll be a big challenge tomorrow.”
….
I had roughly 17 shifts for Ryan Strome, probably 14-15 minutes (we don’t get TOI), including one shift on the penalty kill (seven forwards killed penalties tonight). He wasn’t all that involved in the first period; five shifts with the lines rolling and the matchup strict. He had a few third-period shifts where things seemed to get going, including a takeaway from Jeffrey on the shift that turned into the third goal; the puck kind of rolled on him as he tried and shot wide a backhander in the slot, he said.
“I felt better as it went on,” Strome said. “I had the puck a lot. That’s what I came down for. The second and third period, I had the puck on my stick a lot. I had a chance to get a couple of more points.” (It’s not clear he’ll keep the assist he was credited with, but we’ll see.)
Thompson wasn’t writing Strome’s game any love letters just yet. “I think he was obviously feeling the game out a bit,” he said. “Back in the American League, play’s a bit more scrambly. I thought he got better as the game wore on.”
A little comfort level for Strome with his old linemate? “I like playing with (Mike) Halmo,” Strome said. “He’s creative, but he also plays an up-and-down game. I think he’s really an underrated player, actually.”
Arthur Staple talked to Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson about the Strome situation — and their own, past and present.
In the defensive effort, Williams’ shutout, Ryan Strome and the uniform saga, completely lost Sebastian Collberg’s first goal. So many moments last year seemed set to be sparks for that kid. See if this one takes hold.
Leni DiCostanzo wasn’t talking about Williamams, but assume there’s an orange and white “AM” floating around somewhere. (Put it on eBay!) From what I’ve heard and been told in the past, what happens is there’s a jersey order sent out, and the sweaters arrive fully trimmed out. Sometimes mistakes happen. (See also the legendary Wayne Gretkzy.) Sometimes they’re caught before they hit the ice, sometimes not. (There may’ve been another error in this batch that was caught in time.) Either way, Willymama has a new nickname. (It may or may not stick.)
Shutout for Parker Milner tonight, too, and a goal for Matt Finn in a 1-0 Missouri win. The Mavericks are 7-2-0-1, and Jesse Root, Tyler Barnes and Kellen Jones all went into the night within three points of the league scoring lead.
Back at it tomorrow.