Kellen Briggs did his best to make everyone forget about John Murray with a spectacular 33-save shutout, his first as a member of the Reign and the fourth of his pro career. Tomorrow’s story in the paper will focus mostly on Briggs’ performance and the Murray trade, so … as for the rest of the game …
It was a physical one. Fifteen penalties, two fights, and another Bud Holloway goal. Holloway has wasted no time endearing himself to the I.E., with two goals in two games since being sent down from Manchester.
Coach Taylor said that Holloway, who skated with Jon Rheault and Jon Francisco again, is “going to get lots of ice time and get his confidence going so when he goes back to Manchester hopefully he’s a better player.”
His goal was a very straightforward slapshot from the right faceoff circle. Neither Francisco nor the Phoenix player (I forget who) really won the faceoff. The puck squirted a couple feet away from the dot, just sat there, and Holloway swooped in and one-timed it into the top of the net.
Other than that, the highlights consisted of saves by Briggs, forechecks, backchecks and two fights – one involving Dan Knapp and the other involving Shawn Germain. Taylor said that Briggs “saved our bacon a number of times. (Phoenix) should have scored twice in the first period.”
The official scoresheet is here.