“Any time you get three wins in a weekend, it’s not just a good weekend, it’s a great weekend,” Brent Thompson said after that one. “As far as points, the necessity to get those, climbing the ladder in the division. Hershey’s a dangerous team.”
Bridgeport controlled even strength, scoring four at five-on-five and one more at four-on-four. But Hershey… three power-play goals kept the Bears in it.
“They’re the most dangerous power play we could ever face,” Thompson said. “They execute better than most. They’ve got elite players at the American League level. And their young players can move the puck.”
They tic-tac-toed a couple of goals in, and they had a chance at the end to tie it up. Jaroslav Halak and the penalty killers finished it off, making it four straight wins for Bridgeport.
And Carter Verhaeghe kept up his 2017 two-points-a-night thing. A nice shot on the rush, four-on-four; a nifty deflection.
But he lost his linemate early in the second period; rare to see Bracken Kearns barely able to get up. Kearns tried it a couple of times but left the game again both times. Lower body, is the report.
Andrew Rowe mostly stepped into that spot, sometimes double-shifting with the Holmstroms too but mostly playing the middle there.
“I’ve got good chemistry with Kerno, but I thought Rosey stepped in — he’s got a lot of skill,” Verhaeghe said. “He made some good plays. He fits right in, and Fritzy, we’ve got chemistry right now. We want to keep it going.”
On Jan. 14, Bridgeport blew a lead and lost to Utica at home. On Jan. 15, Stephon Williams and the Sound Tigers won in Providence. Halak hasn’t lost since. The team’s only loss in those 13 games was the one to Springfield.
Remind me to save these, because I think it’s the third time I’ve looked up the first column at least:
Atlantic Division, points after games of:
| Team | Jan. 1 | Jan. 14 | Feb. 12 |
| WBS | 45 | 59 | 75 |
| LV | 44 | 50 | 66 |
| PVD | 45 | 49 | 65 |
| HER | 43 | 47 | 61 |
| BPT | 34 | 38 | 62 |
| SPR | 30 | 37 | 43 |
| HFD | 26 | 32 | 41 |
….
When we talked, Thompson said he hadn’t talked to the trainers or the doctors about Kearns. Kearns was, though, walking around afterward and seemed from outward appearances in decent shape. It’s a long way to Friday, etc.
Alex Vazzano was heading back out with his gear afterward. Guessing that means either Eamon McAdam comes in or Williams will be OK, but not sure which. Day off Monday, so we’ll see Tuesday.
If you had a ticket for today’s game and couldn’t make it, you can exchange it for a ticket to another game this season.
The AHL record for consecutive wins by a goalie: 19, John Grahame, Providence, 1998-99. So Halak’s halfway there. Grahame went 37-9-1 in the regular season and 15-4 in the playoffs that year for Peter Laviolette as the Bruins won the Calder Cup.
Forgot to mention last night: 500 AHL games for Trevor Smith.
And RIP, Al Jarreau.