Five power-play goals keep Sound Tigers in the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference
April 5, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
Bridgeport, Conn. - Jon Sim scored three power-play goals and was named the game's first star in the Sound Tigers' 6-3 victory over the Albany River Rats. Trevor Smith and Ben Walter also had tallies on the man-advantage and Joe Callahan added his fourth goal of the season to close out the scoring for the Sound Tigers in the third period. River Rats' forward Cory Quirk continued his hot streak against the Sound Tigers, scoring twice to give him three goals against the Sound Tigers in two games. Ryan Weston also had a goal for Albany. Peter Mannino was in goal for the second straight game for the Sound Tigers and earned his 16th win of the season. The Sound Tigers record improves to 47-23-3-5 and they now sit two points behind the Eastern Conference leading Hershey Bears with 102 points.
Quirk broke the scoreless tie 6:11 into the first period with his third goal of the season. With Quirk screening Mannino in front, Ryan McGinnis wristed a shot from the point that Quirk was able to redirect through the Sound Tiger net-minder to give Albany the 1-0 lead. The River Rats would take a 2-0 lead with less than two minutes to play in the first period on Sutter's fifth tally of the season. Tomas Pospisil and Ryan Weston had the assists on the goal.
The second period came down to whose special teams were stronger. Smith put the Sound Tigers on the board with a power-play goal, cutting Albany's lead to 2-1. Jon Sim whipped a pass from the left corner that hit Smith in the shin-pad and settled in the crease. Smith quickly chipped the puck over Albany starting goalie, Daniel Manzato for his 30th tally of the season. Quirk would regain the two-goal lead for the River Rats four minutes later but the Sound Tigers would answer right back with a power-play goal from Sim. Andrew MacDonald started the play from the point before feeding a pass to Smith in the right circle. Smith snapped a shot on net that Sim tipped over the glove of Manzato to tighten the score at 3-2. The two teams would trade man-advantages until the Sound Tigers were finally able to capitalize on a 5-on-3 opportunity with less than a minute to play in the middle frame. This time it was Chris Lee setting up the identical play that got Smith his tally in the period. Lee fed a pass to Smith in the right circle where a spun a shot on net that Manzato thought he had covered. Sim was there on the doorstep to poke the puck in for his second goal of the game, tying the score at three. The Sound Tigers would take the lead 21 seconds later on Walter's 19th goal of the season. Jesse Joensuu skated the puck into the River Rats' zone and looked as though he was skating behind the net before dropping the puck to Ben Walter at the right post. Walter one-timed a shot past Manzato to give the Sound Tigers the 4-3 lead. Junior Lessard also had an assist on the go-ahead tally.
Sim completed his hat-trick on the man-advantage, 5:45 into the third period. Jamie Fraser sent a pass to Mike Iggulden deep in the River Rats' zone where he snapped a feed to Sim in front for the tap-in goal, his 12th of the season to give the Sound Tigers the 5-3 lead. Callahan would add his fourth goal of the season to close out the scoring, with about six minutes remaining in regulation time. Rob Hennigar and Iggulden had the assists on the Sound Tigers' sixth goal of the game.
Mannino earned the win stopping 30 of the 33 shots he faced while his counterpart, Manzato, made 37 saves. The Sound Tigers were 5-for-12 on the power-play and went 8-for-9 on the penalty-kill.
The Sound Tigers will conclude their regular season next weekend with two home games starting on Friday night against the Springfield Falcons. Game-time is set for 7 p.m. The following night, the Sound Tigers will face-off against the Lowell Devils at 7 p.m. For tickets or information about the Sound Tigers' playoff dates, contact the team's front office at (203) 334-GOAL or e-mail info@soundtigers.com.
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