AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Fenton provides the offense to lead Worcester to a 5-3 victory over the Sound Tigers

March 24, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


Bridgeport, Conn. - The Worcester Sharks would skate into Arena at Harbor Yard on Tuesday night and halt the Sound Tigers' winning streak at three games with a 5-3 victory. P.J. Fenton struck twice for the Sharks, his fifth and sixth goals of the season, The Sharks also received markers from Steven Zalewski, Mike Fornataro and Andrew Desjardins. Sean Bentivoglio was named the game's third star with a goal and an assist. Jesse Joensuu and Ben Walter each had a goal for the Sound Tigers whose record falls to 44-21-3-5 but remain in first place in the Eastern Conference with 96 points.

Two minutes into the opening period, Worcester got on the board with a goal from Zalewski, his 12th tally of the season to give the Sharks the 1-0 lead. Fenton would increase Worcester's lead to 2-0 a minute later when he jammed a loose puck under the Sound Tiger net-minder, Nathan Lawson's pads. Mike Fornataro and Derek Joslin had the assists on Fenton's fifth goal of the season. Joensuu cut the Sharks lead in half at the 7:31 mark of the first when he wristed a quick snap-shot over the glove of Worcester starting goalie, Thomas Greiss. Bentivoglio rimmed a pass around the boards to Joensuu behind the net. The Finnish winger, made a quick move to elude a Worcester defenseman and skated out to the right circle where he wristed a shot over Greiss' glove. The goal was Joensuu's 18th of the season, cutting the Sharks' lead to 2-1. Fornataro would regain the two-goal lead, three minutes later for Worcester when he tapped a fluttering puck behind Lawson and into the net for his tenth goal of the season. Jason Demers and Fenton had the helpers. Fenton picked up his third point and second goal of the period, with 47 seconds left in the frame to give Worcester the 4-1 lead.

At the start of the second period, Sound Tigers' head coach Jack Capuano replaced Lawson in goal with Peter Mannino. The scoring output would continue however as Desjardins collected his eighth goal of the season to give the Sharks the 5-1 lead. Jason Demers and Dan DaSilva assisted on the marker coming with four minutes to play in the middle frame. Bentivoglio cut Worcester's lead to 5-2, 58 seconds later. Jeremy Colliton started the play in the high slot, feeding a pass to Chris Lee who crept in from his point position along the left-wing boards. Lee took the puck and threaded a pass to Bentivoglio for the tap-in goal at the back post for his ninth tally of the season.

Walter would tack on his 18th goal of the season with four minutes to play in regulation time when he grabbed loose puck in the high slot and wristed a shot over a screened Greiss to make the score 5-3. Mark Wotton had the only assist on the goal.

Lawson and Mannino combined to make 22 saves on 27 shots while Greiss earned the win, turning aside 47. The Sound Tigers were 0-for-7 on the power-play and 2-for-4 on the penalty-kill.

The Sound Tigers will hit the road for the next three games starting with the Hershey Bears on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in a game that could decide who finishes in the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The following night, the Sound Tigers will take on the Lowell Devils at the Paul E. Tsongas Arena. Face-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Sound Tigers will not return home until April 3 when the Bears pay their final regular season visit to Arena at Harbor Yard at 7 p.m. For tickets or information on how to receive special group discounted tickets, contact the team's front office at (203) 334-GOAL or info@soundtigers.com.

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