AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Kenny Reiter makes 31 saves in tough-luck loss as Sound Tigers earn point

Published on March 16, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


HERSHEY, PA - Sound Tigers goaltender Kenny Reiter made 31 saves to keep the Bears off of the scoreboard through regulation and most of overtime, but Garrett Mitchell broke the scoreless tie with 2:11 left in the extra session to give Hershey a 1-0 win at Giant Center on Saturday night. With the win, the Bears improve to 29-24-3-5. The Sound Tigers earn a point with the overtime loss as their record moves to 25-25-6-4.

Reiter made his first start in nearly two weeks but showed no signs of rust early on. The rookie goaltender made numerous big saves in the opening period, including a stop on Ryan Stoa on the doorstep as well as a save on a Ryan Potulny shot between the hash marks. The Sound Tigers had chances of their own, but both Brock Nelson and Nino Niederreiter were denied on partial breakaways by Hershey goaltender Philipp Grubauer, and the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes.

The second period was nearly a mirror image of the first period, with Reiter continuing to make big saves to keep the game tied. Early in the frame, the Pittsburgh native dove back towards the goal line to deny Jeff Taffe from a sure goal on his shot from below the left faceoff circle. In the final minutes of the middle frame, Reiter came out of his crease to cut off the angle and stop Cameron Schilling's attempt from beneath the hash marks. Each team fired 11 shots on net in the second period, but the Sound Tigers and Bears remained deadlocked at zeroes through two periods.

The Sound Tigers held a 10-9 edge in shots in the final frame, but Reiter and Grubauer continued to be the stars of the show. Bridgeport's best chance came in the second half of the third period, when Nelson was denied by Grubauer's right pad on a breakaway, and sent the rebound off of the left post.

The Bears finally solved Reiter in overtime. The Sound Tigers defense was unable to control a bouncing puck in its own zone after a quick change following Jon Landry's broken stick on a point shot. Mitchell gained control of the puck in the left corner and sent the puck behind the net to Jeff Taffe, who found Mitchell at the left faceoff dot for a game-winning one-timer as Reiter was unable to slide across the crease for another spectacular save.

The Sound Tigers close out their weekend tomorrow afternoon when they host the Albany Devils at Webster Bank Arena at 3:00 p.m.

NOTES: The Sound Tigers dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen in the game; Jordan Hill skated as a 12th forward ... Reiter has been voted one of the three stars of the game in each of his last four stars, but has not earned a win in any of them, with two overtime defeats and one shootout loss (0-3-1) ... This was the fifth game in Sound Tigers regular-season history to go scoreless into overtime; the Sound Tigers have lost three in the extra session, while two were scoreless ties.

Three Stars 1. HER: Garrett Mitchell 2. HER: Philipp Grubauer 3. BRI: Kenny Reiter

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American Hockey League Stories from March 16, 2013


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