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CANTLON: SOUND TIGERS SHUTOUT PACK AS THEY END ROAD TRIP

Mitch Beck — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 04:03:25 +0000

CANTLON: Sound Tigers Shutout Pack As they End Road Trip

VERSUS

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

BRIDGEPORT, CT- Steve Bernier, Travis St. Denis, and Ryan Bourque posted multiple-point games while Christopher Gibson posted his second consecutive shutout as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers ended the Hartford Wolf Pack’s eight-game road trip with a 4-0 shutout.

The loss was the third time the Pack was shutout this season, but the second in the last four games.

“The first period was pretty close. The shot total was even, but in the second period they started to pull away and we got to chasing them more. Even though we had a game last night in Lehigh Valley and have a 3 pm Sunday afternoon game, you have to find ways to get those two points,” Pack Head Coach, Keith McCambridge stated.

The Wolf Pack record stands at 25-23-4-3 (57 points). They are still in sixth place with a single point more than Bridgeport, but they trail in percentage points, .538 to .518.

Bridgeport (24-20-5-3) pulled away with two goals in the third period. They maintained puck possession using some basic work along the wall to create opportunities for themselves.

Andre Benoit, the Sound Tigers newest defenseman, made a simple chip off the wall from his own end and caught the Pack off guard. This sprung Bernier on the right-wing side for a clean breakaway. He fired his 13^th of the season on his fifth shot of the night past Brandon Halverson who was down on the ice on the 25-foot shot that sailed past his left shoulder at 13:52.

“Bernie’s an NHL player. He is a big body, brings physicality to the game. Tonight he controlled the wall. He’s been a big force for us. The line had support all night (forwards and defense). He’s been to a Stanley Cup final and he has been a big help to our younger players and tonight he helped force a lot of turnovers,” Sound Tigers bench boss Brent Thompson said.

Over three minutes later Bridgeport put the final nail in the coffin for the evening. Bourque, the former Wolf Pack captain, again effectively using the boards, from the left wing found Bernier who went in on a two-on-one with St. Denis. The former Quinnipiac Bobcat was on the right wing and St. Denis fired his one-timer off a cross-ice pass at 16:35 for his 13^th of the season.

“All night we were strong along the wall. Those are big things in games like this. (To) have Bernie out there (on the wing) he’s like a wall. It’s tough to take the puck away from him and we have some good chemistry,” St. Denis, the second year pro, said.

It was a long road trip for the Wolf Pack that might have worn them down.

“We had more in the tank than we showed,” defenseman Ryan Graves said. “Yes, we have been on a long road trip, but there are no excuses for how we played. We needed a better effort tonight and we didn’t play to our strengths.”

McCambridge wasn’t happy with the defense on both goals.

“Our defensemen were on the wrong side of the puck and all of a sudden you’re facing them and out of position and giving up Grade A opportunities. Conversely, we had some good looks on offense, but were unable to capitalize.”

The Pack’s most effective offensive foray of the whole period was a Lias Andersson break into the Sound Tigers zone. Andersson passed to an open Adam Tambellini at the right side of the net. Both of his chances were stopped by Christopher Gibson (22 saves). Gibson was recalled by the Islanders after the game.

The Sound Tigers were able to stake out a 2-0 lead scoring twice in a 3:33 span in the second period and took full control of the game.

Parker Wotherspoon took a quick short pass from Chase Bailey and split the Pack defensive pair of Brendan Smith and Vince Pedrie. Wotherspoon broke in alone on Halverson, who went for a poke-check and just flipped his third goal into the top part of the net at 2:44.

“Getting that first goal was big,” Thompson said with a broad smile. “That was a highlight reel goal. He has been playing well of late for us. I was happy he scored and played a 200-foot game for us and got rewarded showing that kinda offensive jump. We hope this evolves into a regular thing.”

Bourque pushed the puck up the right wing board to Kane Lafranchise at the right point. He then sent a quick pass to St. Denis who swept in his 12^th goal of the season at 6:17.

“It was a really nice pass I don’t know if he really saw me or not. I was just trying to get in a good position I was just lucky enough to get it in past the far side of him,” St. Denis stated.

The sequence of both goals changed the game’s momentum in Bridgeport’s favor.

“No doubt we made some errors there and they took advantage of them. You get the game you work for. We had that good start we got away from our style of game,” said Ryan Graves.

The Wolf Pack did get a shorthanded two-on-one break with Smith going down the right-wing then cut to the center which let the Matt Gaudreau go to the ice cut to the middle, but Gibson was equal to the task.

Bridgeport Matt Gaudreau (game-high six shots) and defenseman Kyle Burroughs (four shots) tested Halverson as the Sound Tiger s had better offensive pressure and puck possession.

The first period was a fairly well played, even fast-paced period of hockey.

The shots favored the Sound Tigers 8-7 with each team getting a couple quality chances.

Despite that Bridgeport was the more rested squad having not played last night, it was the Pack who attacked early as Cole Schneider got a solid bid 11:24 in. The next shift saw Vinni Lettieri and John Albert with back-to-back chances.

“That’s why I don’t think you can say we had tired legs or anything we did come out strong,” commented Graves.

Then St. Denis went down the right-wing and had his short side bid snatched away by Halverson’s glove after being sent down by the Rangers earlier this morning at 3:03.

Each team had some big hits. The first was by Bernier on Pack newcomer defenseman Hubert Labrie at center ice near the penalty box. It was along the left wing boards by Andersson on Mike Cornell and the biggest one came via the Sound Tigers Connor Jones on Ryan Gropp at center ice.

NOTES:

The Sound Tigers 41 shots was the tenth time this season the Wolf Pack have surrendered 40 or more shots on goal.

Sound Tigers now lead the ten-game season series 6-3-0 the last get together is March 31^st in Hartford.

The Pack returns home Friday against Hershey to faceoff with ex-captain Joe Whitney on Gordie Howe Bobblehead night. Saturday night is against Providence and will be preceded by a Hartford Hockey alumni team (combo of ex-Whalers and Wolf Pack) playing the City of Hartford police and fire department team.

Over the last four periods of regulation play against Bridgeport, the Wolf Pack have been outscored 8-0.

The Sound Tigers Matt Gaudreau is the younger brother of the Calgary Flames Johnny Gaudreau, a.k.a., Johnny Hockey.

Halverson was sent back by the Rangers after his brief NHL debut of 12:33 yesterday in Ottawa giving up one goal on six shots for a 4.78 GAA.

The Pack then released goalie Drew Fielding and returned him to Adirondack (ECHL) and then likely exchanged gym bags with his Thunder teammate at the I-87 rest stop as defenseman Desmond Bergin was signed to a PTO by Hartford because of Brandon Crawley’s injury.

Bergin played one game two weeks ago at the beginning of the road trip on an emergency basis.

Last Pack on the ice in pre-game warm-ups: Vinni Lettieri, Scott Kosmachuk, Filip Chytil and Gabriel Fontaine.

Pack scratches:

Shawn O’ Donnell (facial fracture)

Marek Mazanec (groin week to week)

Brandon Crawley (upper body day to day)

Dawson Leedahl (healthy)

Eric Selleck (healthy)

Pack assistant captains; Tambellini, Schneider, and Graves.

Wolf Pack Line Combinations

Fogarty-Catenacci-Fontaine
Nieves-Lettieri-John Albert
Chytil-Schneider-Kosmachuk
Andersson-Gropp-Tambellini

Graves-Hubert Labrie
Brendan Smith-Pedrie
Zobrivsky-Desmond Bergin

Courtesy of Larry Brooks of the New York Post in an interview with Rangers GM Jeff Gorton the Rangers plan post NHL Tradeline next Monday they will recall Andersson and Chytil, but neither will play ten games so they can preserve the first year of their NHL contract as per CBA rules.

Andersson could play 8 or 9 games to avoid the magic ten mark, while Chytil, who played the first two games of the season with the Rangers, could only play up to seven.

Gorton said there mindful of the Wolf Pack situation as they’re in a playoff hunt as to how they would handle the recalls.

Anaheim assistant GM and former Sound Tiger head coach, one-time Nighthawk, and Yale Bulldog Dave Baseggio were in attendance.

So was one time Rangers scout Dave Brown, the Director of Player Development for the Philadelphia Flyers.

With the trade deadline eight days away scouts are doing their last-minute reviews before the expected significant trades are consummated.

The post CANTLON: SOUND TIGERS SHUTOUT PACK AS THEY END ROAD TRIP first appeared on Howlings.

CANTLON: (SUN) PACK DROP ANOTHER 6-3 IN BRIDGEPORT TO CLOSE OUT WEEKEND

Mitch Beck — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 02:21:29 +0000

Pack Drop Another 6-3 in Bridgeport To Close Out Weekend

VERSUS

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Bridgeport Sound Tigers (2-4-0-0) jumped on the Hartford Wolf Pack (3-3-0-1) with three goals in the first period and never looked back posting a 6-3 win in their first regular season meeting of the 2017-18 season.

The Wolf Pack dropped all three of their weekend games by a combined score of 14-4. Clearly, ahead of the team is a long week of hockey correction ahead.

“It was an uphill battle and we were in the box early again and in three-on-threes can’t start that way,” Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said from the hallway outside a clearly dejected locker room.

The first period was all Sound Tigers. The Pack seemed to be still on the team bus parked behind the Webster Bank Arena as each team was completing their first three-in-three on the season. Bridgeport was clearly the fresher squad.

The Sound Tigers used the power play to grab the games first lead.

Mitchell Vande Sompel took a shot from the left wing side that was stopped by Pack goaltender, Chris Nell. The puck went right to the stick of Tanner Fritz, who’s left wing shot was stopped. The rebound of that shot went right to red-hot rookie scorer, Scott Eansor, who fired in his team-leading seventh of the season (no assists) at 5:32.

The Sound Tigers snagged a 2-0 lead on an ill-advised blind backhanded pass up the middle by Neal Pionk. The pass was picked off by Ross Johnston who fed Mitchell Vande Sompel who in turn buried a wrist shot from 40-feet out past Nell for his first career goal at 12:58.

“We certainly turned the puck over too much after our PK did a very good job killing a five-on-three. Throwing it to the middle of the ice really helps them in your end to get into the offense quickly and immediately you have to begin to defend as opposed to getting yourself on the offensive.”

The Sound Tigers extended their lead to 3-0 shortly after killing off a Wolf Pack power play holding them to one shot. After exiting the penalty box, Tanner Fritz outraced everybody to a loose puck sent out by Parker Wotherspoon and his shot hit the crossbar earlier but he didn’t miss this time, beating Nell from fifteen feet out on his second goal of the season with 24.8 seconds left.

Goals in the last minute of the period always sting.

“I was happy with our guys set the tone early. The third in a three-in-three is toughest. We got off to a good start,” Bridgeport head coach Brent Thompson, an ex-Wolf Pack defenseman, said. “The rest of the squad followed Johnston and Jones with good physicality and our puck pursuit was right there.”

Seconds before Adam Tambellini was stopped on their fourth shot on net and just the second quality chance of the opening frame.

The Pack finally got on the scoreboard early in the second period.

The Wolf Pack got some quality offensive zone time and the puck came up the boards via Cole Schneider’s forechecking work to Garrett Noonan who slid a pass from the right point to the left point and Brandon Crawley launched 55 footer with a partial screen in front with the Pack’s Cole Schneider and Sound Tigers Seth Helgeson blocking Kristers Gudlevskis vision at 5:17 for his first pro goal.

“That was one of the few bright spots we had where we put pressure on them inside their zone and made them play on their heels. We got some momentum there,” remarked McCambridge.

However, back came the Sound Tigers just 2:17 later.

At 7:34, Travis St. Denis wired a perfect cross-ice pass earning an assist through the box when Michael Del Colle came charging in off the right wing and buried his first of the season restoring their three-goal lead.

“That was a really good play. EB (assistant coach Eric Boguniecki) and I had a talk with them about chemistry. We need offense from those guys and we got to get them going. It was good to see them finally click, but we still have some work to do.”

McCambridge tinkered with three of his four lines, except Boo Nieves line, seeking to find some spark offensively.

“When it isn’t there for you, you try to find a combination to give you some energy and life. We just couldn’t find it today.” McCambridge said.

The Sound Tigers extended their lead halfway through the third period to make it 5-1. Former Wolf Pack captain Ryan Bourque motored down the left wing getting space on rookie rearguard Brandon Crawley. Del Colle out-positioned John Gilmour. While the shot he took was stopped, Kyle Burroughs managed to move in quickly to pounce on the rebound at 9:19 for his first of the season.

Tambellini snagged his team-leading fourth goal on the power-play. Tambellini converted Joe Whitney’s pass and put it under the crossbar over goaltender, Kristers Gudlevskis’ left shoulder. The goal came on the power-play at 12:20 to put the Pack down 5-2.

The Sound Tigers got an empty-net tally from Steve Bernier, who tallied his fourth of the season at 17:33. Bernier tucked the puck in before crashing into the end boards. For Bridgeport, the six goal output was the highest of the season.

Vince Pedrie closed the game’s scoring when he came from the right point and got to the faceoff dot. While on the power-play, Pedrie fired a shot to the far side at 18:33. It was his first pro tally.

“Despite the outcome, I was pleased that we worked hard right to the end (of the game) and clearly we didn’t get the results or score we wanted. We’ll learn for our next three-in-three not to get into penalty trouble,” McCambridge said.

A full set of brass was on hand to take in the game led by GM Chris Drury.

NOTES:

Newcomer defenseman Ryan Sproul, acquired yesterday from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Matt Puempel, has yet to arrive from Grand Rapids where he was playing with the Griffins. He will likely make his debut on Friday in Hartford against Bridgeport.

With seven defensemen now on the roster there could be a reassignment to Greenville this week.

“We were looking for the right balance of depth between here and with the New York Rangers. It was a fresh start for both players. Matt came from the Ottawa organization last year,” McCambridge said. “He came here this year and did work very hard and we now have a little more balance on defense. Over the course of the season, as I have learned over the years, you can never have enough defenseman. (We) will make an assessment with relation to Greenville regarding the player’s roster.”

Malte Stromwall is officially off the Rangers organizational roster after being placed on unconditional waivers. He cleared and is returning to Europe to play. McCambridge was sad to see him go.

“I know the player and the on-ice product. He was just one recall away from staying in North America and being in the AHL. I was surprised and disappointed, but this is a decision a player and his agent chose to make.”

Puempel was assigned to Grand Rapids where he will make his debut Wednesday against Tucson.

Pack scratches were Dan Catenacci (lower body), who skated gingerly in warmups. Seems likely to be a groin injury. Filip Chytil is also listed day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Vinni Lettieri is second among AHL rookies with shots on goal with 22. Daniel Sprong, of Wilkes Barre/Scranton, already has 29 and put up 10 points in 10 games.

Bridgeport’s Scott Eansor now has seven goals in six game and a 40% shooting percentage. It’s good for 4^th best among AHL rookies.

The Pack has the 14^th best power play at 18.5% and the fourth best PK unit at 90.0%.

The Sound Tigers sit 24th of 30 on the power play at 13.6% and 20^th best on the PK at 81.5%.

Ex-CT Whale, John Mitchell, was released from his PTO with the Cleveland Monsters after posting a goal and an assist in three games. He signed with Nuremberg (Germany-DEL) for the rest of the year.

Sound Tigers assistant coach Eric Boguniecki, a West Haven native, received an award from the West Haven Youth Hockey Association prior to the game. The presenter was long time West Haven High School head coach, Joe Morrell.

This was the worst attended, non-storm related, game between the two CT rivals with official attendance listed at 3,077 but was more like a 1,000.