AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Haley scores first goal of the season in Sound Tigers' victory over Hartford

Published on December 26, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


Bridgeport, Conn. - Micheal Haley recorded his first goal of the season and was named the game's first star while Nathan Lawson made 28 saves to help the Sound Tigers to a 3-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack in front of a crowd of 7,097. Jamie Fraser and Jesse Joensuu added first period tallies, both assists on by Ben Walter and Jeremy Colliton. The Sound Tigers are now tied for first in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, posting a 21-8-1-2 record with 45 points. Artem Anisimov scored the only goal for the Wolf Pack, his third against the Sound Tigers this season.

Fraser opened the scoring 15 minutes into the opening period when he blasted a slap-shot from the left point through Miika Wiikman to give the Sound Tigers the 1-0 lead. The goal was Fraser's third goal of the season with assists from Walter and Colliton. Four minutes later, Walter and Colliton created the Sound Tigers' second goal of the game. Walter took a pass at the near blue-line from Colliton and walked over the line, dropping the puck for Joensuu in the right circle. Joensuu collected the puck, made a quick fake to the front of the net and snapped a shot over Wiikman's glove to give the Sound Tigers the 2-0 lead. The goal was Joensuu's 11th of the season, extending his point scoring streak to three games.

Anisimov would cut the Sound Tigers' lead to 2-1 with his 12th tally of the season. Dale Weise hit Anisimov in stride in the left circle where he took that pass and wristed a shot past Lawson, snapping his shutout streak at 89:51. Justin Soryal also had an assist on Hartford only marker of the game. Haley would make his first mark on the game about seven minutes later when he challenged Wolf Pack defenseman Vladimir Denisov to a fight. After the both threw several punches, Haley connected with a left to knock down the Russian defenseman and spark his bench going into the final period of regulation.

After the teams traded body checks and scoring opportunities within the opening ten minutes of the third period, Haley would regain the two-goal cushion for the Sound Tigers at 3-1. With the fourth line on the ice for the Sound Tigers, the combination of Tyler Haskins, Jason Pitton and Haley were able to out-work the Hartford defensemen deep in the zone. Pitton locked up with Denisov behind the net and was able to grab the puck and throw it in front to Haley where he back-handed it under Wiikman for his first tally of the season.

Wiikman suffered the loss, turning aside 14 of the 17 shots he faced. The Sound Tigers were 0-for-1 on the power-play and 2-for-2 on the penalty-kill.

Tomorrow night, the team will travel to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to face-off against the Penguins in an East Division match-up. Game-time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The Sound Tigers next home game is Wednesday, January 7 at 7 p.m. when they takes on the Houston Aeros. For tickets or information on group deal, contact the team's front office at (203) 334-GOAL or e-mail info@soundtigers.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 26, 2008


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