BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Bridgeport Sound Tigers pulled away from the visiting Hartford Wolf Pack with three goals in the third period to take control of what was an otherwise tight battle between the intrastate and franchise rivals and won 5-1 at the Webster Bank Arena kicking off the post-holiday break on Friday night.
Andrew Ladd had two goals while Otto Koivula added three assists to drive the engine for the Sound Tigers offense.
The victory was Bridgeport’s first against the Wolf Pack in four games this season. The Sound Tigers are now 9-1-0-0 when leading after two periods and the Wolf Pack record when trailing after two drops to 2-7-0-1.
“We did a good enough job in stretches, but we gave up way too many odd-man rushes and the chances we gave up were really good. (Goaltender) Adam (Huska) kept us in it, particularly in the second where he made some really big saves,” Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch stated.
The Wolf Pack record slips to 17-8-2-5 (41 points) and they are second in the Atlantic Division. The team heads back to Hartford where they will prepare to play the first place Providence Bruins, 4-3 winners over the Springfield Thunderbirds, on Saturday night at 7pm at the XL Center.
Igor Shesterkin is slated to be in net, but the Pack will be without team captain Steven Fogarty, who was recalled after the game by the New York Rangers as a result of the broken hand suffered by Brendan Lemieux.
With Fogarty heading to the NHL, the Rangers promoted forward Dillan Fox to the Wolf Pack from their ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners, and signed him to a PTO deal. In Maine, Fox has 12 goals and 24 total points in 26 games. He is second in scoring behind only Terrance Wallin.
Fox is a four-year minor league pro out of Division III SUNY-Plattsburgh (SUNYAC). This will be his first AHL action.
Maine dropped a 5-0 game at home to the Reading Royals and will play in Worcester against the Railers on Saturday night.
Bridgeport’s record improves to 13-16-3-1 (30 points). They sit in seventh place in the Atlantic, just one point ahead of the last place Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Tigers will host sixth-place Springfield on Saturday night.
The Wolf Pack sought to battle back early in the third period and managed to score shorthanded.
Fogarty was on the right-wing and waited as he and Boo Nieves broke in on a two-on-one. Nieves broke away from the checking of the Sound Tiger’s Travis St. Denis and got separation and took a cross-ice pass and whistled it for his third goal of the season to the short and stick-side of Jared Coreau at 2:55. The goal narrowed the Sound Tiger lead to one at 2-1.
“I really thought we had a chance there scoring early. I really felt we were going to win it when we got to one goal. Then we hit a post and just after the power play ended, they scored and we didn’t recover and they quickly got another one on us,” said Knoblauch.
Nieves, who has been snake-bitten in his shooting at times this season, wasn’t going do any victory laps while scoring a goal in a game his team lost.
“It was good to get us back in the game at that point, and it gave us a chance. It’s only a good feeling if you don’t get scored on a couple times (right after). Then it doesn’t feel so good.”
23-seconds later, Tim Gettinger snapped a shot from off the left-wing side that hit the post. That would be the closest the Wolf Pack would get again.
The Sound Tigers pulled away with two goals in a 3:01 span, reestablishing a two goal lead.
Ladd tallied his second of the game, and ninth of the season, when he finished off a strong passing sequence. It started with Koivula in the right wing corner hitting Josh Ho-Sang in front of the net. Ho-Sang made a sweet one-touch pass to Ladd, who then deftly put the puck into the back of the net at 6:03.
“We can’t give up that much space. This is a good league and players like that are gonna score those. We gave up way too many open shots like that and we’re gonna have to clean that up by tomorrow night,” said Nieves.
For Bridgeport’s head coach, and former Wolf Pack, Brent Thompson, he had all of his big scoring eggs coming from one basket. Koivula, Ladd, and Ho Sang, who is in his second game after sitting out two months waiting on his trade request. It paid off in big dividends.
“Otto had his feet moving tonight. Josh is a high-end caliber talent, and Ladd has that experience. Put all those pieces together, you have a powerful unit.”
Grant Huston followed with a 55-footer from the left point that found its way through traffic with Koivula starting the scoring play again for Bridgeport at 9:04.
Kyle Burroughs put a 195-foot shot into an empty net off a clean defensive zone draw win with 33.4 seconds left to close out the game for the Sound Tigers.
The games’ first goal came in the second period. After gaining a clean entry, on the power play, the Sound Tigers set up shop.
Matt Lorito came in off the right-point. The left-handed shot fired a bullet that Huska stopped, but for the Wolf Pack, the rebound went to the wrong guy.
Kieffer Bellows of the Sound Tigers had a wide open net and deposited his team best tenth goal of the season at 10:34.
For Bellows, it was his fifth straight game at home with a goal. He has nine goals in his last 12 games and is among the hottest players in the AHL.
Thompson was eager to discuss his growth and development.
“It’s not only his play with the puck, but his play away from the play is better. He was having a tough time at the beginning of the year, but he is learning the systems. The biggest difference is he’s moving his feet and he is getting it now. It’s about breaking old habits. You’re in a league that is bigger and stronger, and you can’t do things you got away with like you did in college or juniors. The pace changes and I accept that it takes time. Some break it early. Some take a year. Some take two years. It’s a long road for him, but I couldn’t be happier for him right now his attitude and work ethic. Right now it’s all about confidence. 100%, he’s got it. It’s a long year if you stay focused, good things can happen.”
It was the first time the Sound Tigers have scored the game’s first goal this season in the series between the two teams.
“We got that first goal and refocused and got some momentum and started creating chances,” said Thompson.
A power-play came a result of an instigator penalty called on Darren Raddysh. He came into the play when Bridgeport’s Robert “Bobo” Carpenter nailed his defensive partner, Vincent LoVerde, from behind.
Neither coach could have been happy with the officiating or the linesman.
Nieves was tackled in the offensive zone in the second period. No call was made on the play. Joey Keane dropped the puck on the power- play for the trailer and he gets dropped in neutral zone on a solid hit by Carpenter.
“You’re not trying to get me fined are you?” replied Knoblauch with a smile and a chuckle when he was asked about the officiating. “Sometimes the calls go your way and sometimes they don’t. That’s all I’m gonna say.”
Nieves on ice frustration was noticeable, but he stickhandled his way around the question too.
“That’s not my area of expertise. It’s frustrating and it is what is, but you just can’t let it get in your way.”
The Sound Tigers generated half of their 14 shots from the back-line over the first two periods.
The Pack got a solid effort from Vitali Kravtsov who had a solid chance at 5:50 of the second period. He then made a tremendous recovery play diving to block a pass to Bellows at the end of his shift.
The Sound Tigers staked out a two-goal lead in the last minute of regulation of the second period.
Defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon made a strong lead pass to Koivula. He took the pass and went down the left-wing side, spreading out the Wolf Pack defense and then found Ladd, a former NHL first-round pick, open, backdoor.Ladd didn’t miss with 22.7 seconds left in the period.
The Pack only managed to put nine shots on net in the second period.
“Well, we did go through a long stretch without a shot on net, but I don’t think (we were too choosy). I think we tried to stick-handle too much on our entries rather than chip it deep and get behind their defense,” said Knoblauch.
The first period was scoreless with both teams trying to find a rhythm after coming back from the holiday break.
Bridgeport had a 5-2 shot advantage in the first ten minutes.
Huska made two quality stops on the five denying Grant Huston and then Bellows.
Over the final ten minutes though, the Wolf Pack found their stride and outshot their hosts 7-0 and generated some quality chances in the final five minutes.
Raddysh, Phil DiGiuseppe, who was just returned from his Rangers recall earlier in the day, Kravtsov, Nick Ebert, and Vincent LoVerde were all denied on solid scoring chances. LoVerde’s coming in the final ten seconds of the period.
LINES:
Nieves – Fogarty – Beleskey
O’Regan – Kravtsov – Di Giuseppe
Jones – Lettieri – Gettinger
Zerter-Gossage – McBride – Gropp
Raddysh – LoVerde
Keane – Geersten
Rykov – Ebert
SCRATCHES:
Patrick Newell (Upper-Body, day-to-day)
Jeff Taylor (Healthy)
Lias Andersson (Suspended)
Gabriel Fontaine (Season Ending Shoulder Surgery)
NOTES:
Both teams come off shutouts in their last game before the break. The Wolf Pack white-washed the Providence Bruins, 4-0, with Igor Shesterkin recording 32 saves. Meanwhile, the Sound Tigers shut-out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-0 off a 38-save performance from goalie, Jakub Skarek. It was his first AHL shutout.
Bridgeport left the pre-game skate early. Seven Wolf Pack players remained as the clock hits zero. You are required to exit the ice or you can be penalized and fined by the AHL for the violation.
There has been some strong goaltending so far this year in Hartford, but out West, Stockton beat San Jose 8-1 with the goaltenders only seeing 19 shots on goal. The G.A.A. for the goalies in that one is not going to look pretty.
At the WJC, the US downed Germany 6-3 as a former member of the Avon Old Farms Winged Beavers, Trevor Zegras tallied four assists including a fantastic play off a turn and pass to Connor Hall, who put it in past a thoroughly surprised German goaltender.
The Sound Tigers’ Oliver Wahlstrom tallied his first goal of the tourney. It was the sixth of the game and came after he came off the left-wing half-wall in the German offensive zone. He cut to the middle and tucked his shot in along the ice.
The US squad is off Saturday and will play the Russians on Sunday.
Brooklyn Kalmikov, the son of former Sound Tiger, Konstantin Kalmikov, was traded at the QMJHL Trade Deadline from the Cape Breton Eagles to the Victoriaville Tigers.
