HARFF: (FRI) PACK PUMMELED BY SOUND TIGERS
Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5, Hfd Wolf Pack 1
VERSUS 
BY: Ben Harff, Hartford Wolf Pack
Hartford, CT, October 27, 2017 – The Bridgeport Sound Tigers completed a sweep of a pair of back-to-back games with the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday night at the XL Center, defeating the Wolf Pack 5-1.
Bridgeport had downed the Wolf Pack by a 6-3 score Sunday in Bridgeport in the teams’ first meeting of the year.
Josh Ho-Sang and Connor Jones had a goal and an assist each for the Sound Tigers, and Travis St. Denis, Ben Holmstrom, and Alan Quine also scored. Michael Dal Colle had two assists. Filip Chytil scored the lone Hartford goal.
The Sound Tigers struck first and early, just 1:21 into the game. Wolf Pack goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (29 saves) almost made the stop, but Ho-Sang’s powerful shot trickled through him and into the net.
At the 6:39 mark of the first, Ryan Graves picked up a cross-checking penalty, giving the Sound Tigers the first power play opportunity of the game. The Wolf Pack successfully killed off the man-down situation and picked up a quick two-on-one chance as Graves left the penalty box.
After building up momentum from the penalty kill, the Wolf Pack tied the game at 10:16. Neal Pionk let a shot go from the blue line, and the rebound kicked out to Gibson’s right side, from where Chytil buried home the rebound.
Bridgeport struck again with only 1:20 remaining in the first. Devon Toews hit St. Denis with a stretch pass resulting in a partial breakaway. St. Denis executed a quick deke and had a wide-open net on his forehand to give the Sound Tigers a 2-1 lead.
The second period was dominated by the Sound Tigers, as they possessed the puck for the majority of the period. “I thought they had more possession,” said Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge after the game. “Our turnovers and giveaways and giving up that many odd-man rushes is something that you just can’t have.”
The Pack earned their first power play chance 16:14 into the second period. Their offense began to come alive as they earned several chances and quality shots on net during the two-minutes of man-up hockey. “The power-play opportunity at the end of the second period had a couple real good looks in close,” said McCambridge.
The Pack struggled, though, in the third period. Jones made it a 3-1 Bridgeport lead at 7:48, on a shot from the right side, and just 2:55 later, at 10:43, Holmstrom scored from the left circle to make it a three-goal Sound Tiger advantage.
This 4-1 lead seemed to halt any chance of a Wolf Pack come back and with 5:06 remaining, Quine connected on a power play to make the final 5-1.
“We didn’t do enough right, enough correct things to be able to come out with a win,” McCambridge said.
The Wolf Pack continue a busy weekend Saturday night, when they travel to Allentown, PA to meet the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Faceoff is 7:05 PM and all of the action can be heard live on News Radio 1410 WPOP, and online at www.newsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.
The next Wolf Pack home game is next Saturday night, November 4, when the Providence Bruins make their first visit of the year to the XL Center. That game is a 7:30 PM faceoff and tickets for all Wolf Pack 2017-18 home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, online at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.
Season ticket information for the Wolf Pack’s 2017-18 AHL season can be found online at www.hartfordwolfpack.com. To speak with a representative about all of the Wolf Pack’s many attractive ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451.
Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5 at Hartford Wolf Pack 1
Friday, October 27, 2017 – XL Center
Bridgeport 2 0 3 – 5
Hartford 1 0 0 – 1
1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Ho-Sang 1 (Dal Colle), 1:21. 2, Hartford, Chytil 2 (Pionk), 10:16. 3, Bridgeport, St. Denis 2 (Toews, Burroughs), 18:40. Penalties-Graves Hfd (cross-checking), 6:39.
2nd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Sproul Hfd (interference), 5:39; Aho Bri (slashing), 16:14.
3rd Period-4, Bridgeport, C. Jones 1 (Vande Sompel, Wotherspoon), 7:48. 5, Bridgeport, B. Holmstrom 2 (Johnston, C. Jones), 10:43. 6, Bridgeport, Quine 1 (Dal Colle, Ho-Sang), 14:54 (PP). Penalties-Sproul Hfd (hooking, slashing), 14:25; Kosmachuk Hfd (fighting, game misconduct – aggressor), 19:56; Johnston Bri (roughing), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 10-13-11-34. Hartford 6-9-9-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 1 / 5; Hartford 0 / 1.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Gibson 1-3-0 (24 shots-23 saves). Hartford, Georgiev 0-2-1 (34 shots-29 saves).
A-3,509
Referees-Guillaume Labonte (35).
Linesmen-Kevin Briganti (39), Nick Briganti (58).
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