The Bears were on the brink. No, really. They were down 3-1 after one. They’d given up a goal at even strength, one short-handed and one on a Stars power play. And they coulda folded up and gotten ready to fly home Thursday.
Nah.
A little line juggling — Bourque-Aucoin-Pinizzotto, Giroux-Beagle-Perreault, and maybe some changes from there based on the box — tied it after two, and the roll continued to produce a victory outside of Austin. Andrew Gordon scored two goals in the third period, including the go-ahead tally and the last goal of a 6-3 win. Game 4 is Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the AHL, looks like a team gets added to the chart… And for most of the evening, it was “Not so fast, Hamilton.” Guy Boucher turned down the Blue Jackets, who instead turned to Manitoba’s Scott Arniel, the Columbus Dispatch reported. But then, late tonight, reports surfaced that Boucher will instead take the Tampa Bay job.
| TEAM | Old | New |
| SYR* | Ross Yates (4/12) | Mark Holick (5/21) |
| HOU | Kevin Constantine (4/15) | — |
| PEO | Rick Wamsley (5/6) | — |
| ROC | Benoit Groulx (5/31) | — |
| MTB | Scott Arniel (6/8, CLB head coach) | — |
| HAM | Guy Boucher (6/8, TB head coach) | — |
*-Syracuse’s new coach was hired by Anaheim. Springfield’s affiliation shifts from Edmonton to Columbus. Oklahoma City takes over Edmonton’s affiliation. The latter few will be added to the list when they take effect. Other changes are still to come.
And yes, we usually wait until these become official. But what the heck. Only live once.
The Islanders officially announced a prospects scrimmage and skills contest at Nassau Coliseum on July 10.
And finally, the ideal candidate for this East-Coast team’s PR director’s job has to deal with the IT department in New Jersey? Hmm. Not sure who it could be.