Bridgeport didn’t like its second period. I wasn’t sold on its third, either.
Regardless, the 23 minutes that followed the first turned what could’ve been a nice, easy night into a massive lost point. The Wolf Pack had chances to go ahead. The Sound Tigers had chances to win.
Just a tie, but bonus point to the Wolf Pack, leaving lots of conversation about playing 60 minutes, easing off the gas pedal and the like.
“Early on I thought we were good. I thought chances were good for all four lines,” Brent Thompson said.
But the Wolf Pack came back, got one, gave up a PPG (see chart below), got one back quickly, scored on the power play early in the third to take a point away from Bridgeport and tallied in the shootout to pick up the second.
It was a point Bridgeport really could’ve used.
…..
Oh, crud, forgot Monster Jam is coming in here next. Gonna have to sit a while and bask in the dirt-free glory.
One disallowed goal each way. James Wright deflected in a Jesse Graham shot 1:55 into the second; waved off for making contact above the crossbar. Daniel Paille scored on a wraparound with 3:18 left in regulation; waved off for Chris Brown contact with Gibson, preventing him from getting across.
Fascinating moment in overtime. The Pack had picked off a Kane Lafranchise pass and spent a little bit in the Bridgeport end. Lafranchise slid one out of the zone, and on the dry-scraped ice, it slid all the way down for an icing. Lafranchise, Bracken Kearns and Tanner Fritz had been on a while, so Brent Thompson called time out. Out of that, Kearns, Fritz and Lafranchise were set for the draw when ref Terry Koharski waved James Wright on and, after some discussion, sent Lafranchise off. So for a defensive-zone draw with 2:17 left in overtime, Bridgeport had no defenseman on the ice, and the guy who’d iced the puck himself was sent away.
“There was confusion about which three guys were on the ice,” Thompson said. “(Wright) was supposed to be going. He happened to be standing on the ice. (Koharski) told him to go on and took our D off.”
I am almost positive something like this happened to Bridgeport before, maybe in Hartford, but I can’t remember the details. Maybe take a look later.
New lines, although they were tweaked a time or two in the third period. “I like playing with any of these forwards,” Mike Halmo said. “It’s great to play with a guy like Kearns. He talks. He makes plays, and (Carter) Verhaeghe can make plays, too. You know you’re going to get chances going into a game.”
“Fritzy played well,” Alan Quine said. “I like having him on the wing. He created a few chances, made some strong plays.”
Speaking of those two:
| Rank | Name | GP | G-A-Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Aaron Ness | 280 | 23-100-123 |
| 10 | Alan Quine | 178* | 43-76-119 |
| 11 | Matt Donovan | 180 | 32-87-119 |
| 12 | Ben Walter | 133 | 40-76-116 |
| … | … | … | … |
| 16 | Sean Bentivoglio | 226 | 41-68-109 |
| 17 | Mike Halmo | 195* | 48-50-98 |
| 18 | David Ullstrom | 140 | 50-47-97 |
*-Through Mar 2
The preliminary World Cup rosters were named today. Locally, Jonathan Quick and Max Pacioretty were picked for Team USA. (Kimber Auerbach, too, kinda.) Frans Nielsen is going as part of Team Europe (Other). (I’ve complained about this World Cup format before, so.)
Mark Divver says not to expect Alex Khokhlachev this weekend for Providence, but Anton Blidh and Jeremy Smith could be in Saturday. All three were injured last week against Bridgeport, and the Sound Tigers are there Friday.
Scott Gomez wound up with Ottawa for the rest of the season, though he won’t be eligible to play in the playoffs.
The ECHL transactions say Kellen Jones is going up to Utica from Missouri.
This week’s almost-NHL schedule continues with practice tomorrow. More then.