That’s not what I was expecting.
Not the start. Not the finish. Not what came in between.
Heck, when it bang-bang-bang-banged into a 4-0 game, it felt more like this one to effectively end last season.
I asked Thompson what he was thinking when it was 4-0*.
“You’re kind of just in a position, wow,” Thompson said, “it can’t get any worse. Start from scratch.”
So he started with a goalie change.
“Just a momentum change,” Thompson said. “I think you can’t blame all the goals on the goalie, by no means, ever. We had sloppy puck management. We lost D-side positioning on rushes.”
(I can’t believe I left D-side positioning out of this tweet.)
“We had to be able to respond,” Casey Bailey said.
Parker Wotherspoon remembered a Ben Holmstrom hit that got things going. They swapped Michael Dal Colle and Scott Eansor from the way they started.
They scored one on Connor Jones’ shot from the left side; I think it went off Josh Brown’s stick early and changed direction enough to fool Harri Sateri. Then Bailey tipped in Kane Lafranchise’s shot, and that’s when Thompson said he really felt things turn around.
Three in the second, and holy cro.
“They’re a great hockey team,” Thompson said. “They had great pushes. For a three-in-three, it didn’t feel like a three-in-three. It was fast, physical. It was kind of a playoff atmosphere.”
It was something else.
….
On newbies and returns: Will save some Ryan Hitchcock stuff for the paper during the week, but he acquitted himself well. Two points for Josh Ho-Sang. “He came back and brought energy,” Thompson said. “It was nice getting him back. Fresh legs made a difference in the pace.”
And Mitch Vande Sompel returned, throwing a hit and taking a hit early to get himself back into it. “It felt good to be a part of the team,” he said. “I felt pretty quick.”
“Vandy was outstanding,” Thompson said. “You see the game conditioning, the sharp execution, but to have his speed does add something.”
Especially down to five defensemen in the third period after Seth Helgeson fought Ed Wittchow off the draw after the go-ahead goal. Got to see the very usual Andre Benoit-Vande Sompel pair on the PK with Kane Lafranchise in the box to start the third. Helgeson’s second game misconduct in the general category (he had a two-fight game in Providence on Nov. 5); a third is a one-game suspension.
A day after they talked about a slow start against Lehigh Valley, that happened. “We have to play 60 minutes,” Thompson said. “We did a good job responding to a little adversity tonight. We showed a bit of resilience, but we can’t continue to do that. I thought we played a 45-minute hockey game. We need to play 60 minutes to be successful in this league.”
I don’t positively have the actual team record for the fastest four goals against, but I know today is not it, as I have a note somewhere that says Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had four in 2:10 on Dec. 22, 2006. Ten seconds is not the record for two goals, either; that’s another WBS Pens special, Zach Sill and Eric Tangradi six seconds apart on New Year’s Eve, 2011.
The last game Vande Sompel played was the first time they ever got a point after trailing 4-0. Before then, they’d only come from four goals down to tie a game once before, but didn’t win. Wild.
Looks like the fourth time in a Bridgeport game that neither starting goalie got a decision. The last such game appears to be because of the Poulin-Copley goalie fight.
Springfield’s Maxime Fortunus played his 1,000th pro game. The Thunderbirds sent him out first for warmup, which he took without a helmet in a spectacular throwback.
Carolina recalled Valentin Zykov from Charlotte tonight.
Worcester needed 12 rounds, but Mike Cornell finished the shootout. Worcester is selling “Gilly Gilly” shirts for Mitch Gillam, playing off the viral (but painful) beer ads.
And happy 25th anniversary of the greatest half-hour in the history of history.
They’re off tomorrow. More Tuesday, weather permitting.
*-He first thought I asked “what were you thinking when you talked to the ref,” and I’m not sure why. Speak up, Fornabaio.