Things sometimes don’t look quite right in first games. And looking back to last year’s, you could probably reiterate that first paragraph. Actually, most of the second paragraph, too.
“I think they’re always hard to play in,” Bracken Kearns said. “Personally I wasn’t feeling too great. The puck’s bouncing a bit. That first game is always tough.”
They had Christopher Gibson and 38 saves. That was about all they needed.
“The guys played really well for me. They played good in the (offensive) zone, on the penalty kill,” Gibson said.
They didn’t get much going in the second period; at once point shots were lopsided and your fancier stats might’ve been more so.
“There were a lot of positives you could take, and definitely some things we need to clean up and learn from,” Brent Thompson said. “We’ve got to eliminate some sloppy habits. At the end of the day, we got two points. Gibson was outstanding.”
Game 2 tomorrow.
…..
I got asked a couple of times about Josh Ho-Sang and Michael Dal Colle. So I asked someone who actually knows what he’s talking about. “They had moments. Not consistent enough over the course of the game. They’re going to get there,” Thompson said.
“A lot of these players like that have their junior habits. We have to work on breaking them: swinging, turning your back to the play, wall battles, all the little things that add up to being a successful hockey player. DC got a taste of that. For Ho-Sang, it’s his first taste. I saw a lot of bright spots and some details that need cleaning up.”
No commitment from Thompson about tomorrow’s lineup.
Ross Johnston had one goal in 39 games last year. He has one in one this year. (He actually had two assists in his second game and scored a goal in his fourth game last year. The goal came in Providence.)
Prescout. (The fancy new AHL website sputtered tonight, so if you can call up a box, you may want to save it.) First ThunderCougarFalconBirds game ever. (I will really try to stop calling them that.) Anthony Greco, who played the playoff game in Toronto for Bridgeport on an ATO, scored his first goal in that game.
Justin Vaive, fresh off signing in the ECHL, played for Rochester tonight.
Forgot to mention this morning: Props to the guy in Hartford last night in what looked like a Binghamton Rangers Alexei Kovalev sweater. Sweet.
And RIP, Dennis Byrd.