They outshot the Phantoms two to one. They outchanced them fairly consistently. They dominated the third; “score effects,” but still.
They got a point out of it. Thompson was happy with that, “100 percent. I like the way we played,” the coach said. “They’re opportunistic. I thought we competed from the beginning of the game to the end of the game.
“We made mistakes,” he said, “but both teams made mistakes.”
A week ago they were rolling in on Monday because Thompson didn’t like the effort he saw. It has been the other way around all this weekend, though they don’t get out with a regulation win and escape with just three points.
“I felt our guys played hard,” Thompson said. “They didn’t hang their heads. They put their noses to the grindstone.”
The Phantoms tied it a minute after Michael Dal Colle passed up a shot on a two-on-none, feeding Stephen Gionta perhaps a little too deep, and Reece Willcox boxed Dal Colle out on the rebound sitting in the crease. Mitch Vande Sompel blamed himself on that first goal against, a two-on-one, letting the pass across, but it looked like there were assorted issues that turned it into a two-on-one off a Phantoms-zone draw. And the second… boy was it close. It looked live as if Danick Martel batted it home with a high stick. It looked closer to the crossbar on video. They stuck with a good goal.
And either way, Bridgeport still had 34 minutes to do something about it. They got a call to help: Video’s not wide enough to really evaluate whether Nic Aube-Kubel is on when Oskar Lindblom’s far enough away from the bench. (Unless there was something else going on.) Guess the cynical view is the Phantoms, then, had two minutes to do something about it. Bailey tipped one home.
“I think Aho saw a clear lane, me, him and the goalie,” Bailey said.
They got a point out of it.
…..
Thompson said Ho-Sang looked tired last night in the fourth game in four days. “It’s not fair to the kid,” Thompson said. “(Last night) he didn’t have the jump to play at our level, at any level. Just rest his mind, rest his body and get prepared for the next one.”
Gudlevskis will be reevaluated tomorrow, Thompson said. Team’s off, so more Tuesday unless warranted.
Fourth time Bridgeport didn’t face a power play: Dec. 19, 2003, at Worcester (Jeff Smith!); Jan. 8, 2013, vs. Hershey (an overtime loss with Geno Binda and Graham Skilliter); and Feb. 3 vs. Rochester, when Pierre Lambert didn’t call a penalty against Bridgeport, the only other time that happened before today.
Prescout, ’cause I didn’t do it last night and the T-birds are off until Friday.
Congrats to Blair Riley on 500 pro games.
And RIP, Keely Smith.