AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Sound Tigers Advance To Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

Published on April 22, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


For the second game in a row, the Sound Tigers rallied from a 2-0, first-period deficit to beat the Manchester Monarchs by the score of 6-3; accomplishing the feat at home Friday after doing so the previous Sunday. With Friday's win, the Sound Tigers swept their best-of-five Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with Manchester three games to none.

FRI APR 18th vs. MCH, 6-3 W: Manchester took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on goals by SEAN AVERY and PAVEL ROSA, but BRANDON SMITH, on the power play, and MARTIN CHABADA scored :59 apart late in the second period to tie the game at 2-2 by the second intermission. JEFF HAMILTON, DANIEL TKACZUK and TRENT HUNTER then scored for the Sound Tigers in a 3:40 span early in the third period. Rosa added another goal for the Monarchs before Hunter clinched the series with an empty-net, power-play goal. JEREMY ADDUONO and SVEN BUTENSCHON added two assists apiece, Tkaczuk had three helpers, and STEPHEN VALIQUETTE made 18 saves for the Sound Tigers. JARED AULIN had three assists while TOMAS ZIZKA had two for Manchester. The Sound Tigers outshot the Monarchs 32-21 and were 3 for 5 on the power play. Manchester was 1 for 3 on the advantage.

SUN APR 13th at MCH, 6-3 W: DANIEL TKACZUK, JEREMY ADDUONO, MARTIN CHABADA and TRENT HUNTER scored once, and SVEN BUTENSCHON scored twice. Butenschon also added an assist while Chabada and ERIC MANLOW had two helpers apiece. STEPHEN VALIQUETTE made 35 saves as the Monarchs had a 38-35 shots on goal advantage. The Sound Tigers were 3 for 4 on the power play and 3 for 3 on the penalty kill.

SAT APR 12th at MCH, 2-1 W: JEREMY ADDUONO and TRENT HUNTER scored, and STEPHEN VALIQUETTE made 27 saves. The Sound Tigers never trailed in the game and outshot Manchester 31-28 including 15-5 in the third period. They were 0 for 3 on the power play while the Monarchs were 0 for 2. PLAYER OF THE WEEK – RW TRENT HUNTER

Hunter scored twice on the power play, including an empty-net goal, and added an assist Friday. He currently leads the Sound Tigers with four playoff goals, including a team-best three on the power play, and is tied for second on the team with six postseason points. Hunter set new team records for regular-season scoring this year with 41 assists and 71 points and tied his own record with 30 goals. He also led the Sound Tigers with 13 power-play goals and six first goals in 70 games and also notched four assists in eight NHL games with the Islanders during the regular season.

THIS WEEK – Sound Tigers Play Waiting Game The Sound Tigers will open the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals on the road this weekend versus either the AHL's Regular Season Champion Hamilton Bulldogs or East Division Champion Binghamton Senators. Their next opponent will be determined by the result of the last Eastern Conference Quarterfinal between the Providence Bruins and Manitoba Moose. If Providence wins, the Sound Tigers will face Hamilton. If Manitoba wins, the Sound Tigers will face Binghamton. The Moose lead the Bruins two games to one heading into game four in Manitoba Tuesday.

SOUND TIGERS vs. HAM: The Sound Tigers are 2-1-1 all-time, including 1-0-1 this season, during regular-season play versus Hamilton. They eliminated the Bulldogs four games to three in last year's Eastern Conference Finals. Hamilton finished this regular season with 110 points and a 49-19-8-4 record including 26-7-4-3 at home and 23-12-4-1 on the road. The Bulldogs eliminated the Springfield Falcons three games to one in the quarterfinals.

SOUND TIGERS vs. BNG: The Sound Tigers were 3-1-1-1 versus expansion Binghamton this year including 2-0-1 at home and 1-1-0-1 on the road. The Senators finished the regular season with 97 points and a 43-26-9-2 record including 23-11-4-2 at home, 20-15-5 on the road, 7-1-1-1 in their last ten games and unbeaten, 3-0-1, in the last four games. They swept the Worcester Ice Cats three games to none in the quarterfinals.

SOUND TIGERS PLAYOFF TICKETS

Playoff-strip, ticket packages for all remaining Sound Tigers' postseason games are available by calling 203-334-GOAL. Individual-game, playoff tickets are on sale at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard Box Office, on-line at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 203-368-1000. Information regarding flex packs, group discounts, birthday parties and season-ticket packages is also available by calling 203-334-GOAL or logging on to www.soundtigers.com.

SOUND TIGERS PLAYOFF LEADERS

Goals –TRENT HUNTER; 4
Penalty Minutes – DANIEL TKACZUK, 6
Assists – DANIEL TKACZUK, 5
Wins – STEPHEN VALIQUETTE, 3
Points – DANIEL TKACZUK, 7
Goals Against Average – STEPHEN VALIQUETTE, 2.33
Plus / Minus – J. ADDUONO & D. TKACZUK, +5
Save Percentage – STEPHEN VALIQUETTE, ..920

SOUND TIGERS PLAYOFF SPECIAL TEAMS

Power Play – 6 for 12, 50.0%; 1st
Shorthanded Goals Against – 0
Penalty Kill – 7 for 8, 87.5%; 5th
Shorthanded Goal For – 0

SOUND TIGERS STREAKS

The Sound Tigers have won seven straight games, three in the playoffs and four during the regular season. • They have won five straight home games, one in the playoffs and their last four during the regular season, and have won two straight home playoff games dating back to last year. • The Sound Tigers have won three straight road games, two in the playoffs and one during the regular season. • G STEPHEN VALIQUETTE has won six straight games, three in the playoffs and three during the regular season. • C DANIEL TKACZUK (5g,9a), LW JEREMY ADDUONO (5g,7a) and RW TRENT HUNTER (7g,6a) are all on seven-game scoring streaks, three in the playoffs and four during regular season. • D SVEN BUTENSCHON (3g,4a) is on a four-game scoring streak, three in the playoffs and one during the regular season. • RW MARTIN CHABADA (2g,2a), C JEFF HAMILTON (1g,2a), C ERIC MANLOW (3a) and D BRANDON SMITH (1g,1a) are all on two-game scoring streaks. • Hunter (3g) is on a three-game goal streak. Tkaczuk (2g) and Chabada (2g) are on two-game goal streaks. • Tkaczuk (9a) is on a seven-game assist streak. Butenschon (4a) is on a three-game assist streak. Adduono (3a), Manlow (3a), Hunter (2a) and Hamilton (2a) are on two-game assist streaks. • G RICK DiPIETRO is on a five-game winning streak and is unbeaten in six straight games at 5-0-1, all during the regular season.

SOUND TIGERS BITS

The Sound Tigers are 15-8 all-time in Calder Cup Playoff games including 3-0 this year. • They are 4-1 all-time in Calder Cup Playoff series including 1-0 this year. • The Sound Tigers are 4-1 all-time in playoff-series openers, 3-1 at home and 1-0 on the road. • They are 4-0 in postseason series when winning game one and 0-1 when losing game one. • The Sound Tigers are 4-3 all-time when in position to win a playoff series. • As the AHL's 2001-02 KILPATRICK TROPHY Regular Season Champions, the Sound Tigers had home-ice advantage in all four of their playoff series last season. The series with Manchester was the Sound Tigers' first-ever as a lower-seeded team. • The Sound Tigers were 21-7-3-1 versus East Division teams, 12-3-1 at home and 9-4-2-1 on the road; 6-6-2-0 versus Canadian Division teams, 4-3 at home and 2-3-2 on the road; 8-4-2-0 versus North Division teams, 6-0-1 at home and 2-4-1 on the road; and 35-17-7-1 versus Eastern Conference teams, 22-6-2 at home and 13-11-5-1 on the road, during the regular season.

SOUND TIGERS TRANSACTIONS

G RICK DiPIETRO, C JUSTIN PAPINEAU, RW ERIC GODARD and C JUSTIN MAPLETOFT were reassigned to Bridgeport by the Islanders Friday. • G SCOTT STIRLING and C TYLER RENNETTE were released from professional tryout contracts Saturday. • LW GRAHAM BELAK was reassigned to the East Coast Hockey League's Cincinnati Cyclones Monday. • C ADAM EDINGER was released from a PTO Tuesday.

SOUND TIGERS ON THE AIR

All Sound Tigers' games are broadcast live on "News/Talk 960" WELI-AM and at www.soundtigers.com. WSTC/WNLK 1400/1350 AM also broadcasts road games. All game broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to face-off on the quarter hour.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

The Sound Tigers will practice at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard Wednesday through Friday at 10:30 a.m. The weekend travel and practice schedules are to be determined. Call 203-334-4625 to confirm practice times and locations.

Check out the Bridgeport Islanders Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from April 22, 2003


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