AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Sound Tigers Earn Tough Point In OTL To Norfolk

Published on October 8, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


NORFOLK, VA - The American Hockey League's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, top affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, earned a hard-fought standings point in a 6-5 overtime loss on the road to the Norfolk Admirals Saturday. The Sound Tigers are 1-1-1 so far on a season-opening stretch of four straight road games.

Norfolk opened the scoring 8:15 into the game on the power play as Steve Crampton redirected a James Wisniewski shot from the slot for his first goal of the season with Mark Cullen also collecting an assist on the play, but the Sound Tigers answered just 45 seconds later as David Masse notched his first goal of the year and with the team off assists from Matt Koalska and Allan Rourke to make it 1-1. Rourke now has points in all three games as a Sound Tiger.

The Admirals regained the lead and doubled it with a pair of even-strength tallies 1:09 apart late in the opening frame. Captain Ajay Baines made it 2-1 with his first of the season at 15:51 off assists from Colin Fraser and Shawn Thornton, and Martin St. Pierre upped it to 3-1 with his first of the campaign at the 17:00 mark off assists from Anton Babchuk and Jason Morgan.

The Sound Tigers took 1:47 of a two-man advantage with them into the first intermission and picked up a third power play early in the second period and converted the back end of the second five-on-three as Kevin Colley scored his second goal in as many games and this season off assists from Bruno Gervais and Rob Collins to pull them to within 3-2 at the 2:03 mark.

However, Norfolk went back ahead by a pair when Colin Fraser notched his first marker of the year off an assist from Crampton at the 6:58 mark.

Each team had a power-play goal disallowed late in the middle frame. First, referee Jeff Smith ruled the Admirals Nathan Barrett kicked the puck into the Sound Tigers net at the 12:16 mark. Then, Sean Bergenheim squeezed a shot through the pads of Norfolk goaltender Adam Munro with 1:56 left on the clock, but Smith said the whistle had blown. So, it remained 4-2 Admirals through two periods.

The Sound Tigers rallied to tie the game then take their first lead of the evening with three unanswered goals in the third period. Justin Papineau made it 4-3 with a shorthanded goal off an assist from Collins at the 6:56 mark, Sean Bergenheim tied the score at 4-4 off an assist from Papineau at 11:11, and Collins put them up 5-4 with 5:05 to play off some great work from behind the net by Bergenheim. However, Norfolk rallied.

The Admirals pulled Munro in favor of an extra attacker inside the final minute-and-a-half of regulation, went on the power play with 1:15 to play and tied it at 5-5 with 10.2 seconds remaining when Barrett scored his first goal of the season off assists from Crampton and Cullen.

The Sound Tigers went on a power play 30 seconds into the extra session but were unable to score. Norfolk then went on the advantage at the 3:06 mark and nailed the deciding goal 32 seconds later as Wisniewski slipped an off-wing one-timer between the right pad of Sound Tigers netminder Wade Dubielewicz and the near post for his first marker of the campaign off assists from St. Pierre and Cullen.

Crampton was the first star of the game, Fraser the second, and Collins the third. Munro made 15 saves to earn the win while Dubielewicz stopped 33 of 39 shots in a losing effort. The Sound Tigers were 1 for 9 on the power play while the Admirals were 3 for 13 and had a 39-20 shots on goal advantage.

The Sound Tigers will finish a season-opening stretch of four straight road games when they visit the Binghamton Senators next Saturday, October 15th at 7:05 p.m. They will open the home portion of the schedule on Saturday and Sunday, October 22nd and 23rd when they host the Portland Pirates and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard. Information regarding Sound Tigers tickets is available by calling 203-334-GOAL or emailing info@soundtigers.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from October 8, 2005


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