Gut-wrenching, and maybe back-breaking, night for Bridgeport. Carter Verhaeghe scored two goals against his old teammates in Syracuse’s 4-1 win. Casey Bailey’s one-timer (power-play feed from Sebastian Aho) got Bridgeport back to within 2-1 in the third period, but Verhaeghe’s second restored the two-goal lead. That might not have been a killer, because at the time, Laval had a two-goal lead at home over Charlotte. Then the Checkers scored twice in regulation and again in overtime.
So Charlotte’s lead over Bridgeport is nine points. The Sound Tigers have two games in hand but will need at least two more Charlotte losses than Bridgeport losses for that season-ending meeting here to matter. The Checkers’ magic number is 14, and they’re on the verge of clinching the tiebreaker, too (Bridgeport can get no more than 39 regulation or overtime wins, and Charlotte has 38).
Saturday’s Scoreboard Watching: Charlotte at Laval II, 3 p.m.; Hershey at Hartford, 3 p.m.; Wilkes-Barre at Binghamton; Lehigh Valley at Providence; Springfield at Rochester
Yanick Turcotte got in tonight with Alex Gallant on the other side. The inevitable happened in the second period, and it didn’t last long.
BRIDGEPORT
F: Dal Colle-St. Denis-Bernier (A)
Bourque – Stevens – Ho-Sang
Hitchcock-C.Jones-Bailey
Turcotte-Kubiak-B.Holmstrom (C)
D: Benoit-Lafranchise
Aho-Burroughs
Helgeson (A)-Vande Sompel
G: Gudlevskis
McAdam
They’re staying out in the I-81 corridor this weekend. Hopefully will meet them in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. One more day of college hockey first.