Bridgeport Splits Home-and-Home
December 7, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Bridgeport Sound Tigers split a home-and-home series with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after coming up short in a 5-3 loss on Sunday afternoon at Webster Bank Arena.
Harry Zolnierczyk and Ryan Pulock each scored their team-leading ninth goals of the season, but it was not enough as Lehigh Valley scored three times on the power play to get the victory.
C.J. Stretch got the Sound Tigers off to a great start as he ripped a shot past the glove of Phantoms goalie Anthony Stolarz on the power play to make it 1-0 less than four minutes into the game.
The Phantoms bounced back on a power play of their own a short time later. Andrew Gordon would collect a rebound in front of Kevin Poulin and put it in to tie the game 1-1 with nine minutes remaining in the first.
With the game still tied at 1-1 and six minutes gone by in the second period, Bridgeport was the victim of some bad puck luck.
The Phantoms Darroll Powe dumped the puck in and went on the forecheck against Scott Mayfield. Mayfield beat Powe to the puck, but backhanded it past Poulin while trying to clear it behind the net and gave the Phantoms a 2-1 lead.
Only 26 seconds later, the Phantoms would extend their lead with another power play goal. Off the faceoff, Jason Akeson was able to find the back of the net and Lehigh Valley had a 3-1 lead.
The Sound Tigers would not go down without a fight as they cut the Phantoms lead down to one just three minutes later. Zolnierczyk took a feed from Aaron Ness in the slot, firing a shot past Stolarz and the Phantoms lead was now 3-2.
Later in the 2 nd period, Lehigh Valley got their two-goal lead back when they scored for the third time on the power play. Brandon Manning fired in a shot off a faceoff past Poulin and Lehigh Valley took a 4-2 lead with just over four minutes left in the second period.
The high scoring second period saw it's fifth goal as the power play for the Sound Tigers would have an answer of its own. Ryan Pulock, back with the team after a one day call up to the Islanders, fired home a one-timer on a 5-on-3 power play to cut the Phantoms lead back to one at 4-3.
In the third period, the Sound Tigers would hit two posts and have a 5-on-3 power play with under three minutes left in the period but the Phantoms were able survive all of it.
Jason Akeson finished off the game and a four-point performance as he put the puck into the empty net for his second goal of the game with 31 seconds remaining in the third period.
Stolarz earned his third win of the season for the Phantoms as he made 34 saves. Poulin made 30 saves in the loss and fell to 9-4-3 on the season.
The Sound Tigers are back in action on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. as they head on the road to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to take on the Penguins. Bridgeport then returns to at Webster Bank Arena as they welcome in their in-state rivals, the Hartford Wolf Pack, for another Northeast Division battle at 3 p.m.
Notes: Aaron Ness was named the third star of the game as he notched two assists... Ryan Pulock has eight power play goals on the season... Colin McDonald and Scooter Vaughan each had an assist... Bridgeport took 21 shots in the second period.
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