The Sound Tigers and Islanders both made the playoffs in each of Bridgeport’s first three seasons, 2002-04. It has never happened since.
That could change tonight with two points.
We’ll be listening to Paul on AHL Live. We’ll likely have up Jeff Mannix’s pregame show (audio / video). We’ll be following Chris Roy, Paul, Jeff and the Pirates.
The box should be here (R: Moser, Romasko; L: Lovett, Blanchard) for what’s almost certain to be Michael Dal Colle’s pro debut. Starting at 6 is Hartford-St. John’s.
There will be much scoreboard watching, because nothing’s set in the Atlantic and precious little can be until tomorrow. (If I’ve gamed it right, Bridgeport could still play any of the Atlantic playoff teams except Portland, as well as either Toronto or Albany.) We’ll have an eye on Utica-Syracuse (for crossover seeding), Hershey-Binghamton (a regulation win for the Bears clinches the division) and Wilkes-Barre vs. Lehigh Valley (tiebreakers give the Penguins an advantage for second if they keep winning this weekend). And we’ll have the Big Club on TV, too.
If you missed it this morning, Devon Toews is in the fold but won’t be joining the Sound Tigers until after he completes his junior year academically; at least, he will if there are still Sound Tigers to join.
Elsewhere, Chris Bourque is your AHL MVP. Onetime Sound Tiger Chad Costello got the ECHL nod.
Fake Team Awards balloting continues.
More closer to game time. (Ah, but which game?)
–Bob Crawford has Hartford’s (Hrivik-less) lines and pairs, with Mackenzie Skapski in net.
–Jayson Megna with some dangles puts the Wolf Pack up 1-0 about 10 minutes into the game. Looked almost like if Alan Quine had finished that rush off last night, inside-out on a defenseman and then around Zach Fucale.
–Williams vs. McKenna.
–A puck sneaks behind Fucale, but Charles Hudon dives behind him to knock it away from the goal line.
–Hartford leads St. John’s 1-0 after one. Meanwhile in Maine:
BRIDGEPORT as we’re led to believe
F: Dal Colle-Kearns (A)-Wright
Halmo (A)-C.Jones-Fritz
Florek-B.Holmstrom (C)-Cliche
Johnston-Gomes-Markison
D: Czuczman-Mayfield
Finn-Cullity
Lafranchise-Burroughs
(Wotherspoon-expected scratch)
G: Williams
McAdam
PORTLAND, lines from Chris, D pairs as we’re told
F: Balisy-Rau-Harper
Brickley-Megan-Shaw
Flick-Olson-Turgeon
Schremp-Knight-Simpson
D: Olsen-Regner (C)
Gaunce-Weegar
Racine-MacKenzie
G: McKenna
Brittain
–I had some chicken that was getting old, by the way, so I tried to make some chicken parm. If I stop blogging, please call for help.
–Moment of silence for Ed Snider, who as Flyers owner brought the Maine Mariners to Portland.
–Chris Summers makes it 2-0 Hartford over St. John’s off a pass from Adam Tambellini. The Pirates are giving out their team awards.
–Bridgeport was in the room for the awards ceremony and has just (on the internet, at least) arrived.. Awaiting the anthem.
–Dal Colle went to the net and nearly picked off a puck in the slot on his first shift.
–Only one whistle through 8:22, not a lot getting to the net, scoreless. Still 2-0 Hartford on the Rock, getting late second.
–Dal Colle had a chance in front but missed the net. Florek tripped up on the next shift; Bridgeport to the first power play for either team a little over 12 minutes in. The Pack-IceCaps game is at the second intermission, 2-0 Hartford.
–Kearns-Cliche-Dal Colle-Wright-Finn starts it. Florek-Fritz-Halmo-Lafranchise-guessing Burroughs on the second group. The penalty passes mostly harmlessly.
–Holmstrom and Florek come on a two-on-one. Holmstrom slows up and drops to Cliche, and McKenna makes the save.
–Good last shift for Bridgeport, but again not much gets through. No score after one. Bridgeport with a 13-6 shots edge.
–Pack goes up 3-0 early in the third period. Looks like no help from the Rock tonight.
–Czuczman and Mayfield, three shots apiece in the first period.
–St. John’s gets one back with about 12 minutes left on a power play.
–Wright stopped on a two-on-one after Williams makes a save at the other end. Still scoreless about three minutes into the second.
–Hartford goes up 4-1 late. It’ll be on Bridgeport.
—Hartford 4, St. John’s 1, final. The Wolf Pack’s magic number is seven.
–A hold and an unsportsmanlike penalty midway through the second give Bridgeport a two-minute five-on-three. Big chance.
–James Wright scores on the five-on-three, coming back into the zone, a drop pass on the left side sent across right to Wright for the one-timer against the grain. Fritz and Halmo on the assists; 43 seconds left on the power play.
–Holmstrom high stick soon after the penalty expires sense Portland to its first power play.
–A Portland wraparound comes to I think Balisy in front for a stop with Williams down. Somehow stays out with bodies crashing.
–Brickley with half a step on Burroughs comes in, and Williams makes the stop late in the second.
–Bridgeport leads 1-0 after two. Shots are 23-18 on the sheet at the moment, though the system was slow for a while this period.
–Utica trails Syracuse 1-0. Joel Vermin scored nine seconds into that game.
–Quickly into the third, Portland ties it up. Connor Brickley from the right wing, maybe a little Kevin Czuczman screen, ripped it high-blocker. It’s 1-1.
–Portland appears to take a 2-1 lead, though they’ll review it. Brett Olson driving to the net.
–It stands. Pass came from the right side, Dylan Olsen, so Olsen to Olson at 4:16. Pirates lead 2-1.
–Florek called for boarding Weegar with 14:42 to go. Second Portland power play.
–Now Utica has a 2-1 lead in the third.
–Sound Tigers kill that penalty off. A couple of Williams saves.
–Andrey Pedan’s empty-netter gives Utica a 3-1 lead. That game’s now over. Utica leads Bridgeport by a point for the moment.
–Another big goal for Matt Finn. Markison and Jones make good plays on the wall and on the puck to win it back. Puck trickles to the left circle to Finn for a blast with six minutes left to tie it at 2.
–Fair enough that Jones and Markison get the assists. It was an even 6:00 left.
—Bridgeport, 3, Portland 2, final, with a mini-melee at the end. Will have to go back to check what started that, but it’s done: Bridgeport clinches a playoff spot, with place, opponent and schedule to be determined.
–Looked like Holmstrom, coming across, delivered a hit on Gaunce that Portland didn’t like.
–Wilkes-Barre beats Lehigh Valley, so the Penguins are guaranteed a finish ahead of Bridgeport. Hershey loses to Binghamton, so no division clinch tonight.
–In 14 games since coming back up, Finn has five goals. Three were game-winners; the other two tied games, one in the second (he scored the winner later in that one), the other tonight.
–Empty-netter for Florida sends the Big Club home tied at 1.
–Brent Thompson on his boys being in: “Obviously well-deserved. Our team deserved to be in the playoffs. They competed hard all year. It’s just Step 1. We have other goals.” He was very happy with the effort, particularly down the stretch tonight.
Double-checked that I hadn’t missed anything big as he juggled some things down the stretch; said he was just looking for something, trying to pressure the defense.
First impressions of Dal Colle: “Very good. I was very happy with his game,” Thompson said. “More so that he played with a good pace. His decisions on the wall. I thought he was positionally sound. He had a really nice opportunity on the power play; he probably wishes he’d be able to get that back and score. It was a very good impression in his first pro game.”
So. Nothing set yet. Providence, as it stands, can still finish first and can still finish fifth. It sits third but plays Wilkes-Barre, a tiebreaker ahead in second, tomorrow. Hershey is three points ahead of them and still needs a win to clinch the division; if not, tomorrow’s Providence-Wilkes winner (if not both) will remain alive. Portland is a tiebreaker ahead of Bridgeport in fourth. Bridgeport is a point ahead of Utica.
In short… Bridgeport still has five possible opponents next week. Fortunately for the Sound Tigers, none of them is a golf course.
We’ll be back here tomorrow night for the Albany liveblog. (Pavel Zacha scored his first as a pro tonight.) More then.