5YA: Day 1 (and today)

Bridgeport 0 1 2--3
Rochester 0 0 0--0

First Period -- None. Penalties -- Pyatt, Roc (interference), 3:13; Schultz, Bpt, triple-minor (roughing, double attempted spearing), 6:06; Peters, Roc, double-minor (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:33; Peters, Roc (roughing), 17:00; Roche, Bpt, double-minor (boarding, roughing), 18:41; Van Oene, Roc (roughing), 18:41; Houda, Roc (boarding), 18:41.
Second Period -- 1, Bridgeport, Morisset 1 (Podollan, Smith), 5:58. Penalties -- Taylor, Roc (slashing), 3:05; Mezei, Bpt (holding stick), 8:28; Schultz, Bpt (roughing), 13:43; Kolnik, Bpt (slashing), 15:59.
Third Period -- 2, Bridgeport, Hunter 1 (Smith, Kolnik), 11:19. 3, Bridgeport, Hunter 2, 19:21 (empty net). Penalties -- Schultz, Bpt (tripping), 5:45.

Shots on goal -- Bridgeport 4-6-9-19. Rochester 10-10-9--29.
Power play opportunities -- Bridgeport 0 of 5, Rochester 0 of 7.
Goaltenders: Bridgeport, Rick DiPietro, 1-0-0 (29 shots-29 saves). Rochester, Mika Noronen, 0-1-0 (19-17).
Attendance -- 9,887. Referee -- Rooney. Linesmen -- Brisebois, Murphy.

My three stars: 1) DiPietro; 2) Smith; 3) Morisset.

The List of Firsts that ran the next day:
Starting lineup: Goal: Rick DiPietro. Defense: Branislav Mezei-Chris Armstrong.
Forwards: Raffi Torres-Justin Mapletoft-Marko Tuomainen.
Alternate captains: Chris Armstrong, Dave Roche, Ray Schultz
Boos: 7:42 p.m., before player introductions. During player introductions, both Amerks and Sound Tigers got applause.
Faceoff: 8:01 p.m., Mapletoft defeated Chris Taylor.
Shot: Trent Hunter from the right-wing boards, 1:20 first.
Save: DiPietro, :58 first, off a deflection. Christian Matte's shot from the left-wing boards at 5:35 was the first clean Rochester shot.
Goal: David Morisset from Jason Podollan and Nick Smith, 5:58 second.
Penalty: Ray Schultz, roughing and a double-minor for attempted spearing, 6:06 first.
Power play: 3:13 first, after Taylor Pyatt interfered with Mapletoft. No goal, no shots.
Penalty kill: 6:06 first, the roughing segment of Schultz's triple-minor. No goal, two shots.
Empty-net goal: Trent Hunter, unassisted, 19:21 third.
Goal against: None yet.
Special-teams goal: None yet.

Some days, that feels like yesterday. Others, it seems like a lifetime ago.

Points to anyone who can name the whole 19-man first-night lineup. (I had one wrong forward and one wrong defenseman in there, and I can't believe the forward I left out.) One name is either tricky, or is so tricky that you know it immediately...

I'm toying with the idea of doing some fifth-anniversary stories, and if I do, Morisset will be a good symbolic first.

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Meanwhile, back in the present...

Five cuts today -- Magowan, Johnson, Henley, Rodney, Platt -- so they are down to 13 forwards, eight defensemen and three goalies, which is pretty close to where they'll be Sunday. Cullen's out with a mild concussion, and Caldwell remains out with the shoulder, so they basically have one healthy extra in each class.