Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 3
BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack
Hartford, CT, April 24, 2021 – Three third-period goals lifted the Bridgeport Sound Tigers past the Hartford Wolf Pack, 4-3, Saturday at the XL Center.
Cole Coskey, Tom Kuhnhackl, and Bobo Carpenter all scored for Bridgeport in the third, after the two teams came out of the second period tied at one. The Wolf Pack kept the pressure on with goals by rookies Zach Giuttari and Justin Richards.
Coskey gave the Sound Tigers a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal 60 seconds into the third, putting a rebound of a Simon Holmstrom shot past Wolf Pack goaltender Adam Huska (21 saves) after Huska was unable to cover a loose puck.
Then, at 5:05, Kuhnhackl scored off of a 2-on-1 with Jeff Kubiak to make it 3-1. Kubiak broke down the right side in the Hartford zone and backhanded a pass to Kuhnhackl in the slot, and he dragged the puck to his right, and put it into the net on his forehand, as Huska slid across.
WOLF PACK GET CLOSE
Giuttari got the Wolf Pack back to within one with his third of the year at 13:13. The defenseman had a shot from the middle of the blue line blocked, but the puck came right back to him, and his second try found its way through a Morgan Barron screen and eluded Bridgeport netminder Ken Appleby (30 saves), who had shut the Wolf Pack out the previous Saturday at the XL Center, in a 4-0 Sound Tiger win.
Carpenter then netted what turned out to be the game-winner at 17:06, on another rebound, after Jenkins sent the puck to the front of the net from near the right-wing corner. Huska stopped Kyle MacLean’s bid but couldn’t recover when Carpenter found the rebound, along the goal line to Huska’s right.
The Wolf Pack cut the margin back to one goal with Huska on the bench for an extra attacker, but only 11.4 seconds remained when Justin Richards converted Tim Gettinger’s rebound, and Hartford did not have enough time to threaten further.
FIRST PERIOD
The only goal of the first period came at the 7:14 mark, as Jenkins snuck behind the Wolf Pack defense, and Parker Wotherspoon hit him with a long pass. Jenkins moved to the left side of the slot and snapped a shot past the stick side of Huska.
The Wolf Pack then got the only tally of the second period, on a power play at the 14-minute mark, with Cole Bardreau in the penalty box for holding. Gettinger moved behind the Bridgeport net and slipped a pass to Anthony Greco at the right-wing faceoff dot, and his quick shot beat Appleby to the stick side.
The Wolf Pack’s next game is at Bridgeport this Tuesday, April 27. Faceoff is 1:00 PM, and all of the Wolf Pack’s 2021 action can be seen live online at theahl.com/AHLTV.
GAME SHEET
Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4 at Hartford Wolf Pack 3
Saturday, April 24, 2021 – XL Center
Bridgeport 1 0 3 – 4
Hartford 0 1 2 – 3
1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Jenkins 2 (Wotherspoon, Carpenter), 7:14. Penalties-Giuttari Hfd (delay of game), 1:28; Sieloff Hfd (holding), 7:35; Wilde Bri (interference), 8:39; Bolduc Bri (boarding), 14:22.
2nd Period-2, Hartford, Greco 2 (Gettinger, Brodzinski), 14:00 (PP). Penalties-Sieloff Hfd (tripping), 4:32; Vande Sompel Bri (interference), 5:30; Cuylle Hfd (interference), 9:11; Bardreau Bri (holding), 13:27; Durandeau Bri (hooking), 18:25; MacLean Bri (fighting), 19:01; Thompson Hfd (roughing, fighting), 19:01.
3rd Period-3, Bridgeport, Coskey 3 (Holmstrom, Hutton), 1:00 (PP). 4, Bridgeport, Kuhnhackl 3 (Kubiak, Bardreau), 5:05. 5, Hartford, Giuttari 3 (Barron, LoVerde), 13:13. 6, Bridgeport, Carpenter 4 (MacLean, Jenkins), 17:06. 7, Hartford, Richards 4 (Gettinger, Newell), 19:48. Penalties-Timashov Bri (slashing), 8:45.
Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 11-4-10-25. Hartford 12-7-14-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 1 / 5; Hartford 1 / 6.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Appleby 3-2-0 (33 shots-30 saves). Hartford, Huska 7-3-0 (25 shots-21 saves).
A- 0 (Covid Restricted)
Referees-Jordan Deckard (14), Jeremy Tufts (78).
Linesmen-Glen Cooke (6), Dmitrii Antipin (77).
