AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Bridgeport Earns Split of Weekend Series

Published on January 4, 2015 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Sound Tigers got a measure of revenge against the Albany Devils, defeating them by a score of 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Webster Bank Arena.

Bridgeport fell behind just over a minute into the game when Albany's Joe Whitney scored after receiving a nice stretch pass from Paul Thompson. The Sound Tigers falling behind early to Albany was reminiscent of last night's game, in which the Devils also scored quickly in the contest, but just as they did in last night's competition, the Sound Tigers responded with a goal of their own.

Cory Conacher fired a wicked one-time slapshot past Albany's Scott Wedgewood with the Devils short two men, evening the score at one. The power play goal was Conacher's second goal of the season and one of two that the Sound Tigers would score on the day with the man-advantage.

It was at this point that the game began to get chippy. The Devils ended up taking four penalties in a row, including a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on Reid Boucher. Boucher would end up with 16 total penalty minutes after receiving a 10-minute misconduct at the conclusion of the game.

One of Boucher's penalties resulted in a 4-on-4, during which the Sound Tigers took the lead. Aaron Ness planted himself in front of the Albany cage, redirecting a shot from Kael Mouillierat to give Bridgeport a 2-1 advantage.

Harry Zolnierczyk would extend the Sound Tigers' lead when a point shot from Conacher ended up deflecting off a body in front of the net and took a fortunate bounce off of the boards, eventually landing in the crease. From there, all Zolnierczyk had to do was knock the puck into the open cage, resulting in Bridgeport's second power play goal of the game and a 3-1 score.

The Devils would pull within one when they received a 5-on-3 advantage due to penalties on Bridgeport's Colton Gillies and Chris Langkow. Thompson took a pass from teammate Joe Whitney and walked into the high slot, eventually ripping a shot by Bridgeport goaltender Kevin Poulin to cut the lead to 3-2.

Any hope of an Albany comeback would be dashed with just under two minutes to go in the game, when Bridgeport's Alan Quine rushed down the left side and rang a shot of the far-side post and into the mesh for the 4-2 advantage.

Albany's Mike Sislo would score with seven seconds to go to bring the lead down to 4-3, but the Sound Tigers would end up holding on for the victory, splitting the back-to-back series with the Devils.

Poulin made 24 saves for the win and held down the fort to keep the lead. Wedgewood was the hard-luck loser, making 23 saves in the loss.

The Sound Tigers return to action next Friday night with a 7:00 p.m. game against the Portland Pirates. It commences a four-game road trip for Bridgeport, as it will travel to four different arenas.

Notes: There were 22 total penalties in the game...Today was Star Wars Day at Webster Bank Arena, with Darth Vader participating in the ceremonial puck drop...Both teams ended up taking 27 shots on goal.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2015


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