First Sound Tigers visit to Charlotte since Nov. 11-12, 2010, when they gave up six goals both nights in Jack Capuano’s third- and second-to-last AHL games. First games against Charlotte since March 16 and 18, 2011, two shootout losses on the brink of mathematical elimination, the second of which was Aaron Ness’ pro debut.
It’s been a while, is what I’m trying to say.
We’ll be keeping up through Alan (Mixlr audio / AHL Live audio/pay-per-view) somehow. Still having intermittent problems accessing AHL Live through our ISP — stumped at least four techs so far! goin’ for a record — but we’ll see what we can do elsewhere if necessary. We’ll follow Alan, the team, the Checkers, Jason Shaya and anyone else we can find.
The box should be here (R: Gouin, Puddifant. L: Halkidis, Wicklum). First Bridgeport game for ref Tyler Puddifant, who’s been working in the ECHL and AHL. These two refs have both games this weekend. We were told that liney Ben Shiley works tomorrow, not tonight, after a switch with Beaudry Halkidis, who appears to be the son of former New Haven Nighthawks defenseman Bob Halkidis.
Brian Lockhart on the progress of the Saffamphitheater, which is on the City Council’s Monday agenda.
Worcester set its roster. The only tryout remaining is former Sacred Heart defenseman Connor Doherty.
South Carolina traded Taylor Cammarata to Manchester.
Jason Chaimovitch tweeted that HockeyDB.com’s Ralph Slate helped confirm this: 60 years ago Thursday, Willie O’Ree broke the AHL’s color barrier in Springfield.
RIP, Chris D’Amico and Gary Warwick Sr.
More closer to gametime.
–Sitting out, per the tweet from the team, are Kyle Schempp, John Stevens (upper body), Josh Holmstrom, Pat Cullity and Parker Wotherspoon.
Asked about Wotherspoon the other day, since he seemed to be the biggest surprise after being so highly regarded: “He’s a guy that, we have high expectations for him,” Brent Thompson said. “The standard he left us last year at, through camp, he was just OK. I hadn’t really had a chance to see Vande Sompel. The first game was kind of an extension of training camp.
“(Wotherspoon) is going to play for us.”
After the rotation of forwards all week, the same 20 dress tonight as in the opener, just swapping Gaudreau and Eansor from the start of Game 1. Kristers Gudlevskis makes his Bridgeport debut.
BRIDGEPORT
F: Dal Colle-Gionta-Bernier (A)
Eansor-St. Denis-Bailey
Gaudreau-Fritz-Bourque
Johnston-C.Jones-B.Holmstrom (C)
D: Toews-Burroughs
Vande Sompel-Lafranchise
Helgeson (A)-Aho
G: Gudlevskis
Gibson
CHARLOTTE
F: Zykov-Wallmark-Miller
Di Giuseppe-Poturalski-Saarela
Tolchinsky-Roy-Gauthier
Foegele-Bishop-Brown (C)
D: Carrick (A)-Samuelsson
Chelios(A)-McKeown
Robertson-Wesley
G: Smith
Nedeljkovic
–As a throwback to 2011, I’ll start this game radio-only. (Actual reason: to save the company a couple of bucks.) Game on.
–Game not on, actually, I jumped the gun. See what happens without video? I’m lost.
–NOW on.
–Bridgeport kills most of a high-sticking double-minor to Michael Dal Colle before McKeown’s called for roughing Jones. But quickly Toews is sent off for a slash. Four minors in 5:17.
–Scott Eansor picks up a loose pick, heads up and scores at four-on-four, his second goal in two periods. 1-0 Bridgeport earlyish. Phil Samuelsson crashed into the net, Alan notes, and the post felt it, apparently; Alan reports that the Zamboni’s coming out. (Kids of former NHLers everywhere.)
–Alan manages to work in a NASCAR reference early.
–Play resumes after eight or nine minutes, and a few minutes later, Wallmark backhands in a loose puck to tie it 10:15 in.
–Bridgeport ends the first period with 19 seconds left on its third power play, tied at 1 with the Checkers in a penaltyfest. If I’ve added right — and you guys know, in Base 60, that’s shaky — 7:41 of five-on-five.
–Shots are 9-5. (What a way to make a living.)
–Got a look at the goals. Eansor knocked the puck away from Robertson on the first one, headed up, shook Samuelsson cutting right to left and scored blocker-side. On the second, a D-to-D pass from Lafranchise was ahead of a backing-up Vande Sompel, who then stepped up to try to get the puck away from Charlotte; he got a piece, but the whole thing left a two-on-one down low, and the Checkers got the puck there.
–A trade of penalties early, because why not. Vande Sompel hit with the even-up, going down and tripping a Checker to keep him from heading out.
–Oof — as the Charlotte PP is about to start, Burroughs fans on a pass at the side of the net, and Roy’s point-blank shot goes off Gudlevskis and trickles toward the line. Toews pulls it out just in time. Then after the PP, Samuelsson hits Jones, and Johnston goes at him. His second fight in two games.
–Johnston gets an instigator.
–Alan, 9:10 into the second period, says it’s been kind of sloppy. Well, they’ve been five-on-five for like five minutes. (About 11 of 29, but who’s counting.)
–Disappointingly, Shiley is a linesman tonight. (Nothing against him. Just like son-of-Nighthawk references.)
–An assortment of Charlotte turnovers, the last at the blue line as they try to escape their zone. St. Denis to Bailey on the right back to Eansor at the left post, and it’s 2-1 Bridgeport at 10:31 of the second.
–Bridgeport had made a full line change not long before that goal. Long shift and scrambly to begin with for the Checkers.
–Longish shift for Bridgeport, Samuelsson forecheck on Vande Sompel disrupts him, takes it away, gives to Saarela, and it’s 2-2 with two and a half minutes left in the second.
–Sound Tigers regain the lead with 50.0 to go in the second on a Tanner Fritz goal. Lafranchise sent it out of the Bridgeport zone, and I think it was Jones who gave it to Fritz, who came up the middle one-on-four, became the second guy tonight to beat Samuelsson for a goal, and put it high glove.
–The box says that was DiGiuseppe on the forecheck on the Saarela goal rather than Samuelsson, 9 rather than 8, which makes sense.
–They added a first-period shot to Charlotte, ruining the joke.
–Bridgeport starts the third on a power play after Chelios dumped Bernier in the final seconds.
–And Bourque for high-sticking 1:55 into the third.
–Charlotte ties it on the power play. Wallmark gets around Helgeson on the rush and centers to Andrew Miller in the slot. 3-3. Charlotte scores on its seventh power play and the 11th against the Sound Tigers in two games.
–Checkers caught Bridgeport with the D up-ice and sprang Miller for a breakaway with 12:30ish left; Miller hit the post, I think to Gudlevskis’ right.
–Bridgeport takes the lead again with 9:12 left on Sebastian Aho’s first goal. Dal Colle got the puck in, got it deep, got it back and took it to the net. He was denied, but Aho was in deep, pulled it out on the right side, circled around to the right circle and fired up high past a defenseman. It’s 4-3 Bridgeport.
–Heh heh — Well played, @CheckersHockey. Interesting fact, while we’re scrolling Twitter: Filip Chytil is the youngest player in the AHL in my lifetime.
–And Worcester has sold 11,000 tickets for tomorrow’s opener. Awesome.
–With the net empty, Fritz makes a smart play to clear it off the boards to let Bernier chase it down. Bernier scores, and that’ll be it: Bridgeport 5, Charlotte 3, final.
–The box score has taken away the assist on the Fritz goal (was St. Denis; I thought it was Jones) and has the Aho goal unassisted (would have to go back and look but didn’t see red possession after Dal Colle took it to the front). See if that changes before the box goes official.
–And _ON_ that second look, yeah, McKeown did play it away from the net before Aho picked it up. McKeown then may’ve set a screen on Smith for Aho. I thought I was his sweater ripple, actually, as the puck passed.
—Yipes.
–Almost two games, I said to Brent Thompson: All special teams early, a little flow later. “The kill was pretty solid for the most part,” he said. “The power play was OK at times. It just didn’t finish. Obviously it needs to be better.” All in all, “the team worked extremely hard. We had relentless puck pressure.” Sort of like last weekend, maybe, good things with some sloppy moments? “Early in the season, sloppy puck plays, too many turnover through the neutral zone.” And with the Checkers’ speed and skill, that was dangerous. “We need to eliminate (Charlotte’s) zone time, that’s one big thing.”
He said John Stevens remains day-to-day. Sounded like next weekend was more likely than tomorrow for his season debut.
More tomorrow.