“For me, a lot of little things added up tonight,” Brent Thompson said.
They bent but didn’t break defensively. Christopher Gibson was good. They got bounces. They withstood that rough start to the second. And then they converted one beautiful play into a goal (lots of fun stuff about that in the gamer).
At this instant, on points percentage, they sit fourth in the Atlantic Division. They’re still a point behind Charlotte, but the Checkers, after tonight’s loss to Toronto, have played one more game.
Sorta remarkable, for all the ups and downs of the first half of the season.
……
“The last couple of nights have been good. I think the coaches will reinforce that opinion,” Josh Ho-Sang said. “I don’t know. I’m just happy to be playing and playing well.”
“Much better,” Thompson echoed. “To me Josh is learning to play the game away from the puck. He’s distributing the puck better. Again, he created a lot of chances. He’s so dynamic.
“He is buying into the team concept. For me, he’s taking little steps in the right direction. … It’s a long-term positive thing. We want him to be successful in the NHL for a long, long time.”
Assorted transactions expected tomorrow. It looked like Tanner Fritz is the likely recall to spell Casey Cizikas (they’ll need to IR someone, I think, not that that’s a huge issue). Bridgeport, then, drops to 12 healthy forwards and six defensemen. Mike Cornell almost certainly comes up from the Railers, and at least one forward surely follows. Kellen Jones is producing. Worcester lost the rematch tonight at ManchVegas; Cornell F Buckles had the winner.
They take tomorrow off and hit the road for Charlotte on Monday, so likely the last time we see them until Friday. Should be liveblogging the road games, though. (Plus I’ve got a car to fix. Thanks to all those who got me there and back tonight.)
A hat trick for Andrey Pedan in Laval.
The U.S. women are U18 world champions.
And RIP, Keith Jackson and Robert Zuraw.