CANTLON: WOLF PACK DROP A CLOSE ONE TO SOUND TIGERS 2-1 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack had their season-high four-game winning streak snapped as they lost a close contest to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Wednesday night at the Webster Bank Arena, 2-1.

The Wolf Pack record sinks to 11-10-1-2 (25 pts) and they sit in fifth place in the division. The Sound Tigers record improves to 14-7-3-1 (32 pts), good for second place in the Atlantic division and were able to snap a three-game losing streak to Hartford. This was the fifth of ten meetings between the two teams this season. The Wolf Pack next play on Friday night at the XL Center against the Charlotte  Checkers at 7 pm.

“It was a really good game. I liked our energy at the beginning,” Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said. “We played with a good tempo and pace. It’s just the penalties in the third, and they score the goal. We had a chance at the end. It was a game where either of us could have come away with the two points.”

The Sound Tigers thought they had taken the lead at 6:10 when Josh Ho-Sang came across the blue line, passed the puck to Michael Del Colle, who then put a shot on net that Alexandar Georgiev seemingly couldn’t control. Connor Jones banged in the puck that was behind him for a 3-2 lead.

After a video review at the scorer’s area, referee Brandon Biggars waived off the goal ruling a distinct kicking motion.

The Sound Tigers used a four-on-three power play advantage to get the 2-1 lead.

With one pair of D, Chris Bigras and Rob O’Gara, in the penalty box it took 39 seconds for the Sound Tigers to score. Chris Bourque was in his favorite location in the left circle and took a short chip pass from the center point off the stick off of Sebastian Aho and wasted little time blasting a rocket of a shot to Georgiev’s short-side at 9:59.

“I’m glad (C. Bourque) got that one. He had some good chances not going his way, but a shot like that is the reason we got him,“ Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson said.

It was a tough loss for the Pack when this was a very winnable hockey game.

“They score the goal, and we’re within striking distance and then we don’t give ourselves a chance to at least tie it up by the end of the period,” McCambridge said referencing just three shots on goal for the third period to Bridgeport’s twelve.

Wolf Pack players were feeling the same as their head coach.

“Tonight is definitely frustrating. We had control of the game and anything can happen. We take a couple of penalties and they capitalize and we lose the game,” remarked Boo Nieves.

The Sound Tigers started to get some offensive flow going early in the second period and tested Georgiev. Yannick Rathgeb had a backhanded chance at 5:45 and then Tanner Fritz had a shot at it at 6:18 with nice a re-direct that Georgiev smothered nicely.

With the game scoreless, the teams continued to jockey for control of the neutral zone with Vinni Lettieri and Shawn O’Donnell getting the two most quality chances for Hartford.

Then the most unlikely of combatants got the game edge up.

While leaving the ice for a line change, both the Pack’s Peter Holland and the Sound Tigers’ Ryan Bourque hacked at one another. The next thing you know, the gloves are off for what was mostly a wrestling match.

Holland took a slash and a fighting penalty while the ex-Pack Captain, Bourque, was given an instigator minor, the fighting major and the corresponding misconduct for the instigator.

For the younger Bourque, this was just his sixth fight including his junior and pro careers. For Holland, it was just his 21^st fight when taking juniors and pro into account according to dropyourgloves.com.

Kyle Burroughs was hit with a minor penalty, setting up a perfect four-on-three power play, but the Pack couldn’t connect.

“It’s vice-versa for us. When we get the power play, we’ve got to connect because special teams are so important and you have to capitalize when you have the chance.”

Just after the man advantage expired, the Sound Tigers scored the game’s first goal.

Otto Koivula was at the right side of the net and out-positioned O’Gara and backhanded home his fourth of the season on a rebound of the Burroughs shot who has just exited the penalty box at 15:51.

The Wolf Pack answered back just under two minutes later.

John Gilmour was deep in the Sound Tigers right wing corner and moved up the boards about five feet and spotted Boo Nieves open while coming off the left wing. Gilmour hit him a perfect diagonal pass and Nieves wasted little time burying his third of the season at 17:26.

“It was a really good play. Gilly was pretty poised with the puck down in the corner. We made eye contact. He was able to zip it across and all I had to do was tap it in,” commented Nieves.

Gilmour now has points in seven of his last nine games.

The physicality continued with the Sound Tigers’ Steve Bernier battling with Bigras and O’Gara in the crease area as the period expired. Holland was making body contact with a Sound Tiger got into a shoving match with rookie left-winger, Kieffer Bellows.

The Wolf Pack started off with a solid first period on the road outshooting the Sound Tigers 12-7 and holding the usual potent Bridgeport first period offense scoreless.

The New York Rangers recently returned Matt Beleskey to the Pack. He was in the right wing circle and gave the Wolf Pack a quality chance that netminder Jeremy Smith eliminated. Holland followed from the top of the right-wing circle. Nieves was next with a cross-ice feed from the left wing to Bigras who saw his drive stopped by Smith’s right pad.

R. Bourque came in on a two-on-one from the right wing side. He tried to go high on the stick-side, but Georgiev, who made his fourth start with the Pack, stopped it with the blocker. Dawson Leedahl went in on a breakaway but got in too deep and Smith denied his backhanded attempt.

All that action came in a 2:25 span.

Halfway through the period Gabriel Fontaine put a strong bid turned away then the Sound Tigers Aho had only the second quality chance for Bridgeport with an open lane on the right wing to the net and Georgiev made the glove save at 13:35.

NOTES:

The Sound Tigers have scored 29 goals in the first period good for third best in the AHL behind Charlotte and Chicago.

Sound Tigers Josh Ho-Sang leads the AHL with 20 assists.

The Pack’s lone scratch was the recalled defenseman Vince Pedrie who had four points in five games in Maine.

The Pack record is 86-64-3-12-7 in 174 meetings with the Sound Tigers over 17 years.

The Sound Tigers are now 9-1-2-1 at home. The Pack is 4-6-0-2 on the road

Zach Redmond of Rochester still leads all defenseman in scoring. Six of his 13 goals are on the powerplay has six game winners.

The US preliminary WJC roster was released today and 29 players and three goalies are heading to their mini-camp in Everett, WA and Kamloops BC.

The goalies are, Darien native former Avon Old Farms star, Spencer Knight, who has a good chance of being a first round NHL Draftee. Cayden Primeau from Northeastern (HE), son of ex-Whaler Keith is the other.

Two Ranger draft picks from last summer are on defense. They are Joey Keane and K’Andre Miller, plus two Yale rearguards, Greenwich’s Phil Kemp and Jack St, Ivany. Another defenseman is Mattias Samuelsson from Western Michigan (NCHC), son of former Nighthawks and current Flyers development coach Kjell Samuelsson.

Up front Jack Drury of Harvard (ECACHL), son of Ted an ex-Whaler and nephew of Chris Drury, the Wolf Pack GM from nearby Trumbull.

Should he make the team, it would make the Drury’s part of the elite company of US hockey families to have two or three players on a US World Junior team.

At the top of the list is the Tkachuk’s father Keith, Matt (Calgary) and Brady (Ottawa) and their cousin Casey Fitzgerald (Boston College) and Jimmy Hayes. Some of the other brother and family combo’s include the Broten brothers, Neal and Aaron plus a nephew Shane Gersich, one-time Ranger draft picks and ex-Pack twin brothers, Peter and Chris Ferraro, and the Eaves family brothers, Patrick and Ben Eaves, sons of former NHL’ers father Mike and Uncle Murray.

This year the Hughes brothers are added to the list Jack and his likely #1 overall pick this summer Quinn and Mike Anderson returns to the team his brother Joey was the captain last year.

Two other sons of NHL players are among the invitees are one time Avon Old Farms Winged Beavers, Tyler Madden (father John now head coach in Cleveland) and Josh Norris (father Dwayne).

Sweden announced their team. It includes Rangers draft pick Nils Lundkvist. The Czechs team has ex-Pack and current Ranger, Filip Chytil’s name on their roster.

WOLF PACK LINES:

Beleskey-Meskanen-Holland

Nieves-Lettieri-Gettinger

O’Donnell-St. Amant-Schneider

Fontaine-Butler-Leedahl

Crawley-Hajak

Gilmour-Lindgren

Bigras- O’Gara