I didn’t have it written, but I had the notes assembled on that third Rochester goal. It was gonna be a doozy. “Controller disconnected” might’ve appeared somewhere.
But do you even remember it anymore? Not really.
No, I mean, they’re not going to forget how they got in those 4-0 holes the past couple of games.
“Maybe we shake some things up regarding our team meetings,” Brent Thompson said. “We really need to have better starts.”
But through 1,316 regular-season and 59 playoff games, they’d never won a game after trailing by four goals. They’ve done it twice in a row now.
It started, sort of, at 3-0. Ryan Hitchcock, Steve Bernier and Travis St. Denis were all over the Amerks for a while. And then Andrew MacWilliam chipped it out to Danny O’Regan, who came up the right side, picked the corner above Kristers Gudlevskis’ blocker and ended the goalie’s night.
“We missed four or five goals right there,” Bernier said. “They shoot one puck: It goes in. It’s obviously frustrating on the bench, but everybody came out the right way after that. Sometimes you just need a good shift, even if nothing good happens on the shift (on the scoreboard).”
On a power play soon after, Ryan Bourque got a piece of a clear, then got a piece of a shot. And then it was kinda the Travis St. Denis show from there. Down 4-0 became up 6-4.
At this point, I should really just pin this tweet.
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Stephen Gionta left in apparent pain after a collision with Matt Tennyson in the final seconds of the second period. Thompson called him day-to-day, upper body, to be re-evaluated Saturday, not going on the trip.
St. Denis had the seventh natural hat trick in team history and the fifth five-point game. Only Jeff Tambellini got five with a hat trick, and he scored the third in overtime. “He’s shooting,” Bernier said. “We talk a lot about him shooting the puck on the power play. He’s got a great shot.”
St. Denis went to the net for the first one. The other two were one-timers.
“Saint’s playing the right way,” Thompson said. “In the first, he wasn’t sharp. As the game went on, he got a little more confidence. He’s shooting the puck.”
First hat trick for a Sound Tigers forward in almost two years, Alan Quine on April 2, 2016, at Wilkes-Barre. That was also the last natural hat trick.
The third piece of that line has fit in seamlessly, picking up three points tonight. Bernier credited Ryan Hitchcock’s taking the hit at the blue line to set up St. Denis’ first goal. “He’s playing with a lot of poise and confidence with the puck,” Bernier said.
Hitchcock talked again about enjoying playing with those two. “Even when we weren’t scoring,” he said, “I thought we were generating a lot of chances.”
Should ask about how Yale and Quinnipiac can work that well together.
As Kristers Gudlevskis finished off Sunday flawlessly after the 4-0 deficit, Eamon McAdam did it tonight. This looks at a glance like the first time Bridgeport has had the reliever get the decision in back-to-back games.
They were off to Hershey postgame. I am not. Liveblog tomorrow.
This wasn’t even the craziest hockey game in the state tonight. Tip of cap to Chris Avena, if you were wondering why he wasn’t on the Zamboni tonight, and the Wreckers on a fine season. And tip of cap to Randy Craig and the Eagles, for whom this has been the best year ever for a long time now. So it’s Guilford-Farmington Valley in D-II on Friday night, Eastern Eagles vs. Tri-Town Saturday morning in D-III, and Fairfield Prep-Greenwich in D-I Saturday afternoon.
And RIP, Tom Benson and Ed “The Glider” Charles.