Sound Tigers Come Back to Sink Whale 3-2
Published on December 26, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Dec. 26, 2011) - Tomas Marcinko's backhander with 4:26 left in regulation broke a 2-2 tie and Kevin Poulin made 30 saves as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers defeated the Connecticut Whale 3-2 in front of 7,408 fans at Webster Bank Arena on Monday night. With the win, the Sound Tigers improve to 12-14-3=2D1. The Whale falls to 17-9-1-3.
The Sound Tigers had been shutout their previous two games, but Rhett Rakhshani made sure it would not happen for a third consecutive game. Rakhshani played give-and-go with Casey Cizikas, feeding the puck to the rookie in the left corner of the Whale zone before getting it back in the slot. Rakhshani made a nifty move to avoid a poke check and fired a shot that was initially saved by Whale goaltender Chad Johnson. However, Rakhshani gathered the rebound and backhanded it past Johnson for his third goal of the season to give the Sound Tigers a 1-0 lead 4:08 into the second period.
The Whale responded to even up the score midway through the period via their power play. Brendan Bell fired a shot from the left point into the slot, and Andre Deveaux deflected the puck past Sound Tigers netminder Kevin Poulin for his eighth goal of the season to knot the score at one. The Whale took its first lead of the game with 4:03 remaining in the middle frame. Kris Newbury gathered the puck by the left circle and fired towards the net. The puck went off a Sound Tigers defenseman and right in front to Blake Parlett, who was all alone and beat Poulin to give the Whale a 2-1 lead heading to the final period of play.
However, the Sound Tigers would tie the score just 1:28 into the final period when Scott Howes collected the loose puck to the right of Chad Johnson and backhanded it home for his second goal of the season, which set the stage for Marcinko. After hard work by linemates Trevor Frischmon and Blair Riley to keep the puck in the Whale zone, Riley fed the puck to Marcinko in the slot. His initial shot hit Frischmon in front, but Marcinko found his rebound and backhanded it past Johnson for his fourth goal of the season.
The Whale attempted to tie the score in the final minutes, but Poulin made save after save down the stretch and the Sound Tigers held on for the 3-2 win. The victory snaps the Sound Tigers six-game skid, and they are 4-1-1-0 this season against the Whale.
The Sound Tigers close out the 2011 calendar year on a three-game road swing, beginning Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. with the start of a two-game series at Scope Arena against the Norfolk Admirals.
American Hockey League Stories from December 26, 2011
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