Game 76. A little bit conceivably on the line, though honestly, Toronto, Albany, take your pick: It’s a tall task one way or the other, and Portland’s win ultimately meant it was one of those two.
Eamon McAdam walked into that, with a few defensemen resting, against a strong offensive team. He gave up six.
“It isn’t the way you imagine your first start,” McAdam said. “It happens. It’s obviously not good to lose.
“I know now where I need to be, consistency-wise. The pace of the game.”
I seized on that “consistency,” because he made a few really big stops, some in tight, one memorably one-on-one with Alexander Khokhlachev. And he had a couple that were rough, probably most of all the 3-1 goal that sneaked through his legs.
“There were stretches where I was feeling good. I don’t think there was any part of the game wehere I was feeling poorly,” McAdam said, saying he’ll look back at video and see what went on tonight. “Lapses will kill you in a high-level game like this.
“It’s something you always talk about, consistency, especially as a goaltender,” McAdam said.
Brent Thompson called him “a young guy coming into a tough situation. … It’s nice that our goaltending coach (Mike Dunham) was here. Overall, the effort was there. The effort has been there since he was assigned here.”
He got here saying any game time was going to be gravy, that he was hoping to get the lay of the land in the pro game.
“I’ve learned a ton since I’ve been here,” McAdam said. “The coaching staff has been huge. They’ve helped me a ton. To get a chance to play, that’s all you can ask for. I hoped to give the team a chance to win.”
Insult to injury, McAdam caught a rut going across to try to stop Frank Vatrano late. Vatrano hasn’t missed much with a goalie in the net, so McAdam’s stumble made 36 in 36 easy.
“I haven’t done that since I was 8,” McAdam said, shaking his head a little. “I was just telling my dad, I skated across, but my skate caught a rut and took both my feet out.”
He, like his teammates, get a clean slate tomorrow.
…..
Or, Tuesday. Team’s off tomorrow. Practice all week, and then the Marlies get here; see that link for the series schedule, which begins with home games Saturday and Sunday. (Justin Bourne! Mark Arcobello! This is gonna be a fun series to write.)
Not sure who else to talk to besides McAdam, I figured, when Paul said Justin Florek was still around, I’d ask him how he felt after, the other day, he said they hoped to build some momentum this weekend. Part of that is in the gamer. “(Friday’s is) the kind of effort we need going through the playoffs,” Florek said. “We know we’re never out of a game. We know we can come back down a few goals. That’s huge for building confidence going forward.”
Medical corner: Kyle Burroughs departed in the second period. Thompson called him day-to-day, lower-body. Not sure if it’s related to what kept him out a month. Justin Vaive’s surgery is set for Thursday.
The Sound Tigers’ power play went 0-for-3 today to finish at 12.09 percent, while Hartford finished at 12.12 percent: That left Bridgeport in last place in the AHL on the power play. The last team to finish in the basement and still make the playoffs? You have to go all the way back to… 2014, Chicago. (Nine of this year’s bottom 14 on the power play made the playoffs. Maybe weirdly, so did seven of the top 10. Nos. 11-16? Out.) This was a sort of historically bad power play to make the playoffs, though. (Someone suggested looking at this; won’t hat-tip him directly unless he wants it.) Going back through old officials to 1993, only noticed three lower percentages that qualified for the postseason: 2001-02 Rochester (10.4 percent), 2003-04 Portland (10.7) and 2003-04 Cincinnati (12.06 percent). Asterisk, though? All of those teams qualified for bigger playoffs as the extra teams. Portland and Cincy were fifth-place teams when five teams from each division made it. Rochester was the ninth seed when 10 teams from each conference got in. Grand Rapids, 12.5 percent in 2006-07, seems to be the previous low since the (2004-05) lockout.
The penalty kill finished ninth, 84.9 percent. Highest rank and highest percentage since 2006-07, when the Sound Tigers were fourth at 85.7.
Missouri has a 2-0 series lead; 28 saves for Parker Milner.
Will do some of the other usual season-ending stuff later tonight or tomorrow, so watch for that (I know, you wait with bated breath). And then back at it Tuesday. Postseason hockey.