On they go: Hershey postgame

Tough weekend. Playoff atmosphere. Again, didn’t feel like a three-in-three game. Again, they get it done against the Bears, this time going away.

“Did we make mistakes? Yeah, we made mistakes. We’ve got things to clean up,” Brent Thompson said. “I like the effort on a nightly basis. I’m very happy with that. They take a hit to get it deep. Guys who don’t normally dump it in, got it in.”

(Josh Ho-Sang was walking by at the time. Anyway.)

“We’ve got a long way to go. We haven’t done anything yet,” Thompson said.

Thompson was particularly fond of saying that in 2011-12, right up until they got the ‘y’ next to their name in the standings that Friday night in Providence. That team had the goaltending get hot at New Year’s, too, come to think of it. (Said that the mistakes are easier with a guy like Halak in the back; Thompson came back that McAdam was solid yesterday, too.)

“Guys step in: (Josh) Holmstrom didn’t play last night, steps in, did a great job,” Thompson said. “(Colin) Markison played one game last week. (Jon) Landry deserved, probably, to play today, but (Jesse) Graham came in and did a great job, walking the line: He played solid.”

“It’s going to take every guy,” Thompson said. “All the guys in the room have to be ready to come in and play for the guy beside him.”

Guys played a tough, physical game. Andrew Rowe, for one, said he was enjoying it, as things heat up here with 25 games left.

“There’s a ton of character in this locker room,” Thompson said. “Leadership, character and willingness to buy into the system

“They understand what’s at stake. Every game’s a playoff game. We don’t have room to slip or take a night off.”

….

Team’s off tomorrow. More Tuesday unless warranted.

The awarded goal. You don’t get those often. The only other one for Bridgeport that I have on record was Mattias Weinhandl’s in Hartford, 14 years ago on Tuesday. (He was tripped by, appropriately enough, John Tripp.) Bridgeport surrendered one here a couple of years later, Dec. 4, 2005, when Rob Collins threw his stick to deny Dwight Helminen the satisfaction.

Chris Bourque’s goal tied him with Ken Gernander for second in all-time AHL scoring by American-born players. They’re a mere 233 behind Keith Aucoin. Meanwhile in Utica, T.J. Brennan dropped three on the Comets, moving past Bryan Helmer for second in goals among all AHL defensemen. John Slaney’s 166, just 36 away — Brennan could pull that off by Easter, no?

Milestoney night: 200 AHL wins for Mike McKenna.

Prescout. Zane McIntyre’s all right. It’s another home-and-home with Providence next weekend, there Friday/here Saturday. On points, Bridgeport trails the Bruins by one and the Phantoms by two; on percentage, Bridgeport remains ahead of Providence but behind Lehigh Valley. The Bears are five back of Bridgeport.

Edit: Knew I’d forget to mention that Tuesday is the next coach’s show with Alan Fuehring and Thompson. Tuesday night at 7 at Original Vazzy’s of Bridgeport.

Awesome to hear that NBC will have Dave Strader calling the Dallas-Boston game next Sunday with Daryl Reaugh. They sounded great last night in Strader’s return, and how cool was it to see the Stars salute Strader after the game?

Charismatic has died.

And RIP, Norma McCorvey and Peter Mansfield.

Michael Fornabaio