AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Magic Number Is Still Two For Sound Tigers

Published on April 9, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


PORTLAND, ME - The American Hockey League's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, top affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, lost 5-2 on the road Sunday to the Portland Pirates, who notched their 50th win of the season with the victory. The Sound Tigers' magic number to clinch a berth in the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs remains two points gained by them or lost by the Binghamton Senators, who will return to action this Wednesday when they visit the Norfolk Admirals.

Portland took charge with an early 3-0 lead, but the Sound Tigers rallied for a late first-period goal to cut the deficit to a pair.

Dustin Penner redirected a Ladislav Smid shot for his team-leading 38th goal of the season 1:28 into the game with Ryan Shannon collecting his team-best 57th helper to make it 1-0. Shannon then slipped a backhander from just below the goal line and off Sound Tigers goaltender Wade Dubielewicz for his 25th goal of the year off assists from Zenon Konopka and Penner to make it 2-0 at the 5:10 mark. Igor Pohonka swatted home a rebound to increase the lead to 3-0 with 3:12 left in the opening frame for his tenth tally of the season off helpers from Glencross and Bittner.

Joe Tallari, who scored the first goal and assisted on the game-winner in Saturday's 2-1 home win over Hartford Wolf Pack, put the Sound Tigers on the board and cut the deficit to 3-1 with his second marker of the season off assists from Peter Tsimikalis and Chris Barr with 20 seconds left in the first period. The helper was the first as a pro for Tsimikalis while Barr notched his second assist in as many games, and in his AHL career, on the play.

The Pirates took the three-goal advantage right back at 4-1 when Pohonka put home his second goal of the game and 11th of the season 3:14 into the second period off assists from Simon Ferguson and Maxim Kondratiev.

The Sound Tigers cut the lead to a pair again, this time at 4-2, when Mark Lee redirected a Matt Koalska shot on the front end of a four-minute power play for his first AHL goal with David Masse also collecting an assist 7:56 into the third period.

The Sound Tigers pulled Dubielewicz in favor of an extra attacker with just over two minutes left to play but replaced him for a defensive-zone face-off then pulled him again when they went on a power play with just over a minute left to play, but Kondratiev lifted a clearing attempt the length of the ice and into the empty net with one second remaining for his second goal of the year off an assist from Aaron Gavey to finish the scoring at 5-2.

Pohonka was the first star of the game, Shannon the second and Kondratiev the third. Dubielewicz made 41 saves while Portland's Nathan Marsters made 26. The Pirates had a 46-28 shots on goal advantage. The Sound Tigers were 1 for 7 on the power play and 4 for 4 on the penalty kill.

The Sound Tigers will finish the regular season with a pair of road games this coming weekend versus the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday, April 14th at 7:05 p.m. and the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday, April 15th at 7 p.m.

All Sound Tigers games are web-cast live at www.soundtigers.com. Fans can also watch all AHL games live on the Internet via the B2 Networks pay per view. Information regarding Sound Tigers ticket packages, promotions and upcoming games is available on-line at www.soundtigers.com, by emailing info@soundtigers.com or by calling 203-334-GOAL.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 9, 2006


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