Hanging out at home tonight, after football this afternoon, for Bridgeport’s visit to Belleville. This is still a far sight better than where I was for the end of Bridgeport’s last visit to Belleville, March 3: on a picnic bench in the frigid night outside Bennett Rink, because they’d locked up after the SCC Division I final. Hey, the wireless reached.
Slightly warmer tonight, we’ll keep up through Alan (Mixlr audio / AHLTV pay-per-view). We’ll follow Alan, the team and the Senators, who have just a few injuries.
The box should be here (R: Blandina, Gour; L: Borg, Dussureault).
Worcester begins back-to-back games against Orlando tonight.
More in a bit.
—Jake Paterson makes his first start of the year:
BELLEVILLE
F: Balcers-Chlapik-Sexton
Carey-Paul-Rodewald
Balisy-Brown-Tambellini
LaBate-Beauchemin-Gagne
D: Sieloff-Wolanin
Murray-Percy
Englund-Bergman
G: Paterson
Gustavsson
–Bridgeport hasn’t posted lines, but Belleville’s off-ice officials are populating the box, and it looks at first blush like Bernier in for Holmstrom and Rathgeb in for Wotherspoon. Gibson in net. Starters R.Bourque-Fritz-Bernier, with Vande Sompel-Aho, which probably means Helgeson-Rathgeb.
–Then again, Alan just says it’s Helgeson-Vande Sompel, so we’ll see what they actually look like.
–From the tweet:
BRIDGEPORT
F: Bellows – Jones – Ho-Sang
C.Bourque-St. Denis-Sislo
R.Bourque-Fritz-Bernier (A)
Eansor-Kubiak-Koivula
D: Toews-Burroughs (C)
Helgeson (A)-Rathgeb
Vande Sompel-Aho
G: Gibson
Smith
–Jones and Wolanin matching roughing minors 6:50 in. Decent pace to it.
–St. Denis called for high-sticking Paul; 80 seconds of four-on-three.
–Bridgeport kills it off, and Vande Sompel makes it 1-0 midway through the period. St. Denis got in to win it behind the net to start it; Aho kept one in and later set up Vande Sompel sneaking in left side.
–Helgeson for delay of game. Alan relates that Ho-Sang went to the box, perhaps thinking it was too many men, and came out with a grin.
–Adam Tambellini scores from the right circle on the power play, left wide open to take a pass from Rodewald. 1-1 with 2:06 left in the first.
–Belleville then all but kills off a Wolanin rough on which the video froze on me. It’s 1-1 after one. Looks like Bernier, Ho-Sang, St. Denis, Bellows and Aho; Fritz, Sislo, Koivula, Chris Bourque and Toews. (Belleville likes changing camera angles.) Shots 8-8.
–St. Denis stopped on a breakaway 2:30 into the second period.
–Trail ref catches a Rathgeb slash 5:35 into the second. Third Belleville PP.
–Deflection caught a post, but Bridgeport gets through it.
–Second Bridgeport PP after Wolanin gives Chris Bourque a shove up high after moving the puck.
–Belleville icing. They blew the horn, there was discussion, it looked like they warned the Sens on the faceoff, they apparently had the wrong guys out there, one came on, he was about to go off… Belleville gets a bench minor. Third BPT PP with 5:17 left second.
–Paterson makes a couple of good stops on Toews from the blue line. Back even.
–Kubiak for holding the stick with 2:31 left second.
–I would love to play around with the back end of this AHLTV, if only to see how the clock jumps from one minute left to 59 minutes left. It’s 1-1 after two, by the way. Shots 20-19 Belleville; it feels like the puck has been in Bridgeport’s end more than recent-usual.
–Just like in the first, Bridgeport takes a lead at 10:02 off a Mitch Vande Sompel shot. This time he walks it off the right wall, gives back and forth with Jeff Kubiak on the right side, and puts a shot on net that Scott Eansor tips home. 2-1 Bridgeport.
–Alan notes that this is Kyle Burroughs’ 200th AHL game. He’s the 15th to play 200 games for the Sound Tigers. Moments later, Travis St. Denis hauls Balcers down into the Bridgeport net. Probably not related to each other. Fifth Belleville PP.
–Killed off.
–About 3:45 left, a Toews backpass for Bellows didn’t work, sending the Sens on a two-on-one. Gibson stopped Rodewald’s shot, and I think Vande Sompel, down in the crease, stopped Paul on the rebound with his left skate. Still 2-1.
–Gibson stops a deflection with about 10 seconds left. Another tip goes over the top with just a couple of seconds left. Bridgeport 2, Belleville 1, final.
(I probably should have hit “update”)
Don’t know their schedule the next few days, so guess we leave it as “more as it comes.”