Boy, that one almost boiled over. Got pretty heated, and the sideshow was fun, too.
I thought maybe it settled down a bit after the major penalty kill. Ben Holmstrom disagreed.
Maybe the second period was a little more physical,” he said. “But in the third period, points are so valuable, shifts are so valuable, you’ve got to channel the emotion the right way. There are times you can let it loose a little more and times you’ve got to tighten it up. Every game here on out is going to have a lot of emotion.”
Somebody gave Kieffer Bellows a shot from the bench while he was tied up with Garrett Pilon; not sure who. Bellows dropped the gloves and gave Pilon a heck of a right. They took Bellows to the box, and Tyler Lewington was close behind, yelling at Bellows. (Who gave back the little “yap yap” sign in the penalty box.) Holmstrom came to the crease and gave Lewington a shove. Lewington complained to the officials (and seemed, at one point, to be pointing out the ‘A’ on his sweater) but wound up with an unsportsmanlike minor for his troubles. Beck Malenstyn got locked up as well, a misconduct.
Bellows was sent off, deemed the aggressor of the altercation.
“Wrestling match, they’re both roughing, he thinks they’re going to fight, and he’s quicker to the draw on the punch,” Brent Thompson said. “It is what it is.”
It turned into the only Hershey goal, and one the Sound Tigers thought shouldn’t have counted, anyway, the only actual-hockey ding to a great Christopher Gibson day.
“They don’t have the ability to video review (for goalie interference),” said Thompson, who has been down this road before. “You could see it plain as day. It’s something the league has to look at. Listen, the referee’s got a tough job. There’s a lot of action going on out there. Obviously that’s happened to us a couple of times. Goaltender interference, actually in the crease, you can see it, the video replay’s there: If we’re trying to mirror the NHL, that’s plain as day.”
Still…
……
…they had their chances in overtime, and some during the course of play, but the Bears carried things for some stretches. “We do need to execute a lot better,” Thompson said. “Sloppy puck plays bite us, whether it’s just a shift of momentum or a bad shift, extended zone time for them. We’ve got to make sure we manage the puck better. … This time of year, we have to learn time and situation, when it’s time to get the puck deep and work in the zone.”
Stephen Gionta with a couple of shifts in overtime; lost a couple of faceoffs but forced a couple of turnovers. “Reliable centerman that could move, just kind of defensive-oriented, then counter with a couple of our offensive guys,” Thompson said. “At the end of the day, just a reward for strong play through the course of the game.”
Chris Bourque is a tiebreaker behind Fred Thurier for 20th in all-time AHL scoring, 744 points (319-425 for Thurier, 251-493 for Bourque). The legendary Bronco Horvath is next at 263-484-747.
Kellen Jones in the house.
Worcester is all but done.
Providence College is on to the Frozen Four, and a couple of local ties in that all-regional team. Quinnipiac is in the first period as we type.
The Canadian Women’s Hockey League announced it is folding. Sad news. Here’s Alex Carpenter’s tweet. A Sportsnet story on the decision.
And a crazy baseball fact (hat tip: Buster Olney)
They are skating tomorrow. We are triangulating our availability. More as it comes.