We keep coming back to shots in postgamers with Brent Thompson.
The first was dicey for Bridgeport, and the funny part is it wasn’t horrific in the corsi/fenwick/etc sense. They turned the puck over too much. They talked about how they didn’t do a good enough job getting in on the forecheck.
Still, they tossed an unblocked shot toward Mike McKenna, by my count, 15 times in the first period, and only eight made it on net.
“I think any time we have possession of the puck in the offensive zone, we have to, one, we’ve got to get in the goalie’s eyes,” Thompson said, and traffic always helps, “and two, we do have to throw more pucks at the net and draw secondary chances.”
Jesse Root shot; Jared Gomes, who’d lugged the mail end-to-end on that play to begin with, was in front with Taylor Beck (fresh from a change) to get the rebound. And that was the lone Bridgeport goal.
They’ve talked in the past about 60-minute efforts, and it’s sorta cute how last night dovetails with tonight. Last night was a brilliant first and a so-so second and third. Tonight, the first was shaky, but the second and third were better.
And maybe not coincidentally, the net score of those three strong Sound Tigers periods? Nothin’-nothin’. #dryscrape #pointsforall etc.
“Personally, I’ve had too many chances the last couple of games that could’ve been the difference in the game,” Joe Whitney said. “They’ll come by playing the right way.”
…….
On Kirill Petrov, “I felt his game shape and conditioning weren’t where they needed to be,” Thompson said. He mentioned that he has said similar things about other players coming back from injury, not playing three-in-three, “spoon-fed,” the like. That said, Petrov’s sticks were not in the rack. Think at this point it’d be surprising to see him again.
That Vaive-Wright-Beck line had some good moments again. “It’s nice to play with two guys who can work with the puck down low,” Vaive said. “It’s definitely beneficial, as a bigger guy, it’s easy to get down there and support them. Taylor’s a great skater. He can get in there and get pucks back. … Wrighter’s been great on faceoffs and stuff the last couple of days.”
Bridgeport, as noted every time it comes close, has never gone a full game without a penalty. Assorted times with two minutes and no more. A couple of times without facing a power play, but there were other penalties in those games. (They took 11 penalty minutes in one of them, a fight, a coincidental cross-check, a coincidental unsportsmanlike, and a Nino Niederreiter slash in the middle of a Ryan Potulny double minor.)
I didn’t see what happened to him or even when he left, but counted heads in the third period and realized the Pirates’ Jonathan Racine was missing. The only extra they had on the roster was forward Wayne Simpson, the last scratch in warmup tonight, so we’ll see if they make a move by tomorrow.
Regular warmup music* replaced by Christmas songs in assorted mixes. Plus “In the Hall of the Mountain King” in the middle somehow, but nothing wrong with that. Then an odd mix of “Mambo Italiano” later somehow, and, um, well. Then what googling suggests is Prodigy’s “Pandemonium,” I think, and… well, we’re off the rails now. Will be interesting to see how things sound coming back from the break.
They got the outdoor game in tonight in West Sacramento, Calif.; Stockton won 3-2. The Marlies left Wilkes-Barre for Hershey — 6-2 Toronto, and yipes, excellent scheduling skipping Toronto, Bridgeport; three points for Mark Arcobello — so naturally Wilkes-Barre goes back to shutting people out.
Jeremy Welsh seemed from afar like an interesting cat when he showed up here with Union. This story from the league’s website about his wild summer vacation sure doesn’t suggest anything differently.
Missouri has come back from that first loss in a long while with two wins in a row this weekend. Meanwhile, Norfolk and Adirondack pulled off a no-penalty game in the Coast, the fifth such ECHL game ever. Lucky. (h/t Jason Iacona) Joe’s brother Steven Whitney had a couple of assists in that one.
Justin Cohn in Fort Wayne talked to referee Nic Leduc, back on the ice after a scare last spring. (h/t: Scouting the Refs.)
And RIP, Dickie Moore.
*-The regular opener, Alesso’s “Years,” is about the only one I’ve got any kind of Stockholm-syndromey attachment to, personally. (I know you were wondering.) It played in the middle of the second period tonight and felt very weird. Like when “Joker and the Thief” appears at any time other than the start of the third period. Or when “Take My Hand” or “DOA” appears anywhere other than the first-song-of-warmup they were for a while.