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Soundin' Off -- the lifeboat

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Kiddie comeback

This copies this. Please comment on that. Thanks.

They really could've gone either way after that first period. You know? Play a great period, outchance them, dominate them at even strength, trail 2-0? That can turn ugly as easily as it can turn into something like this.

They turned it into something like this. They never stopped coming. They got the puck low and attacked the net. They worked to draw penalties; after an 0-for-3 start, they capitalized in the second. That opened the door. They scored on the rush. They scored in the slot. They scored off broken plays, maybe karmic payback for the way the Whale took the lead.

Mostly, they scored.

"(The Whale) capitalized on bad bounces," Brock Nelson said. "Coach wasn't too disappointed." With 19 shots, Bridgeport had to "settle down and finish those chances. We were able to do that."

Nelson helped set up Nino Niederreiter's goal on the rush, battling with Micheal Haley on the wall before the puck went ahead two-on-one. Guys like Niederreiter, Colin McDonald, John Persson, Brandon DeFazio battled for the puck or for position.

How those young forwards responded to the pro game was going to be a big question of the season. For the first 60 minutes, at least, they responded pretty well.

...

Was impressed with Kirill Kabanov, especially in the second period. The penalties shook the rhythm of the rolling of the lines, and he wasn't playing special teams. Couldn't have been easy to get into the flow. But he had a very strong start to the second.

"I was nervous a little bit in the beginning," Kabanov said. "Coach started trusting me a little more, gave me a little more ice time, and my partners were great tonight. All the team had really good efforts. We deserved that win."

Scott Pellerin realized Kabanov may not have gotten the time he'd normally get.

"He forechecked very well," Pellerin said. "His attention to detail and teamwork, I'm really happy with the way he played."

Fifth time Bridgeport has scored five goals in a period, and the first time in almost three years. The second time, as tweeted earlier, was here, six years ago Saturday: I think it might've been the Wolf Pack's opener, but Bridgeport played the night before in Binghamton. That was the night Blake Comeau scored five points after posting four the night before. Sorta-fun fact about those five five-goal periods? Bridgeport trailed by two goals heading into three of them. (Tied in the other two.)

Pellerin on Win 1: "I really enjoyed it. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous." He got lots of support from his assistants and the trainers, he said. "Everyone was together. The players were really accountable all game long." Bridgeport is 7-4-1 in openers, including 4-3-1 on the road and 2-0-1 here. (That "1" is something called a tie. Ask your parents.)

I told a friend after the first that Chris Kreider reminded me of those kids who get kicked out of Pop Warner for being too good.

Prescout. They led; they didn't win; they had 10,000 show up to watch, so not bad.

Connecticut high school schedules were posted Thursday on the new CIACSports.com. Hamden-Fairfield Prep at the arena on Feb. 2, 1 p.m.; Norfolk in town that night. Think I might stick around after the morning skates?

Kenny Reiter finds himself one of three goalies in Fort Wayne, Justin Cohn notes.

And RIP, Bill Jauss and Beano Cook.