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Bridgeport Islanders

Bridgeport Wins Season Opener Against Hartford

October 12, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


2007-08 Record: 1-0-0-0, 2 points, (0-0-0-0 Home, 1-0-0-0 Road), Tied-2nd Place, East Division

Week 1 Recap: The Bridgeport Sound Tigers opened their seventh season in the American Hockey League with a 3-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack Saturday night at the Hartford Civic Center. The Sound Tigers received goals from two of the summer's new acquisitions, Tim Jackman and Ben Walter. Frans Nielsen recorded the game-winning goal about two minutes into the second period. Joey MacDonald made 28 saves as Bridgeport started off the year with a win.

Next up for the Sound Tigers is their Home-Opener against the Norfolk Admirals Friday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m. The Sound Tigers will then travel to Lowell, MA to face-off against the Lowell Devils on Saturday, October 13 at 7:05 p.m. at the Paul E. Tsongas Arena.

Week 2 Schedule: (Home Games in Bold)

(All games are broadcasted LIVE on www.soundtigers.com and on Saturdays, the games can be heard on ESPN Radio 1300 AM.

Friday, October 12 - 7:30 p.m. - vs. Norfolk Admirals - (0-1-0-0, 2 pts) - Tied-Third Place, East Division

Saturday, October 13 - 7:05 p.m. - @ Lowell Devils - (0-1-0-0, 0 pts) - Tied-Sixth Place, Atlantic Division

Week 1 Game Results:

10/6/07 - Bridgeport 3 @ Hartford 2

Hartford, Conn. - Bridgeport Sound Tigers' starting goalie, Joey MacDonald and the Sound Tigers outlasted the Hartford Wolf Pack by the score of 3-2 to capture their first victory of the season.

Early in the first period, both teams exchanged power plays with neither team able to capitalize. MacDonald, made two big saves to help his defense kill of the penalties. The Wolf Pack jumped on the scoreboard first when Jordan Owens wristed a shot through the legs of MacDonald for the 1-0 lead. Greg Moore and Jake Taylor assisted on the goal at 8:17. Sound Tigers' new assistant captain, Tim Jackman scored the Sound Tigers first goal of the season at 13:33, to tie the score at 1-1. Sean Bentivoglio found Jackman at the right circle and Jackman one-timed a shot over the shoulder of Hartford net-minder Al Montoya. About two minutes later, Jackman's line was back at it when Ben Walter scored his first of the season on the power play. Bentivoglio recorded his second assist of the game and Jackman also had an assist on the goal, giving the Sound Tigers the 2-1 lead at the end of the opening period.

The Sound Tigers wasted little time increasing their lead to 3-1 just 1:37 into the second period. Dustin Kohn fed a long break-out pass to Jeff Tambellini, springing him on a two-on-one with line-mate Frans Nielsen. Tambellini slid a pass under a sprawled out Wolf-Pack defender to Nielsen who snapped the pucks` through the legs of Montoya for the 3-1 lead. At about the half-way mark of the middle frame, Hartford would trim the lead to 3-2. Wolf Pack defenseman, Corey Potter received a pass from Hugh Jessiman at the point and sent a shot on net that eluded a screened MacDonald to make it a one goal game heading into the third period.

In the final frame, team defense was the theme for the Sound Tigers and everyone chipped in to help preserve the lead. One of the gutsier plays came when Nigel Dawes and Alex Bourret had a two-on-one against Sound Tigers rookie defenseman Andrew MacDonald. Andrew MacDonald played the odd man rush perfectly and at the last second laid down on his stomach to block the cross ice pass. Dawes saw Andrew going down to block the shot and chose to shoot. His shot however was blocked by Andrew MacDonald's foot to deny the scoring chance. Joey MacDonald shut the door on Hartford the rest of the way, stopping all 10 shots he faced in the third period and finished with 28 saves, winning the game for the Sound Tigers 3-2. The Wolf Pack out-shot the Sound Tigers 30 to 22 but were 0 for 4 on the power-play. The Sound Tigers finished one for five on the man-advantage.

"The guys played a solid game in front of me which made it easy to make saves and see the puck," Joey MacDonald said. "We showed a lot of character to give up the early goal and fight back to win on the road."

Sound Tigers Player of the Week: (Week 1)

Joey MacDonald - G - #33

1 GP, 1-0-0-0, 2.00 GAA, 0.933 SV%, 28 saves

Twisted Wristers:

Bruin' up the same offense: Off season acquisitions, Sean Bentivoglio and Ben Walter, skated for the Providence Bruins last season and took on the Wolf Pack in the playoffs last spring. The two were a force, each scoring 12 points for the Bruins in the series. Their 24 points helped defeat the Wolf Pack in seven games. The duo combined for three points tonight with the Sound Tigers.

Trickle Down Affect: The New York Islanders and Rangers, NHL affiliates of both teams, have one of the fiercest rivalries in hockey and tonight their farm clubs continued the rivalry. In tonight's game, there were two big fights all stemming from the Sound Tigers main need over the off-season, size. Matthew Spiller dropped the gloves in the first period with Dane Byers and connected with at least four solid shots. The heavy weights went at it in the second period, Kip Brennan and Mitch Fritz, with Brennan landing the biggest punch of the bout knocking Fritz's helmet off.

Kohn-Head: Rookie defenseman, Dustin Kohn, was impressive in his Sound Tigers debut tonight. Kohn was a plus 2 and had an assist on the Nielsen's game winning goal.

J-Mac: Joey MacDonald was outstanding in his first game as a Sound Tiger making 28 saves on 30 shots, with his biggest save coming with 20 seconds remaining. Hugh Jessiman snapped a shot from the high slot that MacDonald squeezed in his chest and did not allow a rebound to finish off the Wolf Pack.

3 Stars:

1. Joey MacDonald - The loss of Wade Dubielewicz isn't so bad right now with MacDonald filling the Sound Tigers' crease

2. Sean Bentivoglio - Two assists and a lot of speed from Bentivoglio tonight

3. Tim Jackman - A goal and an assist leading the team to the 3-2 win

Sound Tiger Recent Transactions

Jeff Tambellini (LW) - Recalled from New York Islanders (NHL) - 10/07/07

Sound Tigers' Team Leaders:

Record . Points . Standings 1-0-0-0 . 2 pts . t-2nd East Division

Home: 0-0-0-0 Road: 1-0-0-0

Leaders Goals - 3 tied with 1

Assists - 5 tied with 1

Points - Tim Jackman (2)

Plus/Minus - Dustin Kohn (+2)

PIM - Matthew Spiller (9)

Games Played - 19 tied with 1 game

Special Teams Power Play - 1 for 5, .200; 6th overall

Penalty Kill - 4 for 4, 1.00; t-1st overall

SHGF - 0 SHGA - 0

East Division Standings:

EAST GP Record PTS

Philadelphia 2 2-0-0-0 4 pts.

WB/Scranton 3 2-1-0-0 4 pts.

Albany 1 1-0-0-0 2 pts.

SOUND TIGERS 1 1-0-0-0 2 pts.

Hershey 1 0-1-0-0 0 pts.

Norfolk 1 0-1-0-0 0 pts.

Full and partial season tickets packages for the 2007-08 Sound Tigers' season are on sale now. For more information please contact the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at (203) 334-4625 or online at www.soundtigers.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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