Penalties happened. Some of which created other penalties. Some of which almost necessitated other penalties. Some of which were kind of remarkable in their genesis.
The Amerks took advantage of Bridgeport’s. The Sound Tigers did not (or almost did and watched their stick break, almost turning into a four-on-one) take advantage of Rochester’s.
Bridgeport had been perfect on the penalty kill through two games, but Rochester snuck a guy behind the defense to score twice (once, technically, even strength, but just after a penalty expired) and scored on a five-on-three.
“It’s early in the year, we’re going to be working some kinks out,” Brent Thompson said. “More important is how we respond.”
The officiating seemed to be getting to several people, not least soon after the Amerks scored their second goal. Brendan Guhle went down after absorbing a shot from Mitch Vande Sompel. He was slow to get up. Rochester went on a rush. Bridgeport got a turnover and was about to go the other way. That’s when the whistle finally blew. No argument against blowing the whistle for an injured player. No idea why it happened then, after Rochester had gained 150 feet and might’ve been at a disadvantage going the other way.
Bridgeport’s bench got hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
The penalties chopped things up. Rochester had already had a huge possession edge in the second period (just before Steve Bernier’s goal gave Bridgeport a 3-1 lead, I had the Amerks with a 29-1 shot-attempt edge in under 10 minutes, in fact 29 in a row, with eight of them blocked), but then the penalties didn’t let Bridgeport maintain any momentum.
“I thought we played a real solid first period,” Mike Sislo said. “You start to get in the penalty box, that can be a momentum-changer. I think our penalty kill did a good job killing most part, but it took us a while to try to get that momentum back.”
For instance, Dal Colle, Jones and Ho-Sang had an equally huge possession edge in the first (I had them 10-1). “Those guys are great players. I’ve got to just get them the puck and get open,” Jones said. “I like our chemistry. But when we take penalties, we barely play as a line. We got two even-strength shifts in the second and maybe three in the third.”
….
History: 23 Sound Tigers games in a row without overtime.
Imperfect all around: The Amerks put themselves offside on golden chances at least a couple of times in the third. Two of Bridgeport’s goals could’ve had a Rochester player on the second assist. It’s early. Another chance tomorrow.
The ECHL has done some horrible things to its website, but you can still make out that Eamon McAdam made 21 saves to win the Newfoundland Growlers’ debut in St. John’s last night, at least if you squint hard enough. (Actually, our ol’ buddy Jason in Wilkes-Barre discovered that you can still get LeagueStat boxes through the back door.)
Worcester opens tonight. Let’s play a little roulette and bet on this being the box.
And hate to see news like this in my industry. Hoping everybody over there makes it through this.