Sound Tigers end Phantoms streak
by David W. Unkle
Published on November 9, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
(PHILADELPHIA) - Paced by two Jeff Hamilton goals, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers ended Philadelphia's win streak at three games with a decisive 6-2 American Hockey League victory in front of 4223 fans at the Wachovia Center Sunday.
In an odd twist to the AHL schedule, the Phantoms were coming off three consecutive games against the Hershey Bears.
Looking for their fourth consecutive victory in as many games, Philadelphia took on the Sound Tigers who were on the final leg of a five game road trip.
Bridgeport jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Hamilton's first of two goals with a holding penalty to the Phantoms Jeff Woywitka about to expire.
Hamilton poked the puck into the net with Phantoms goalkeeper Antero Niittymaki on his back and unable to locate the puck during a mad scramble in front of the Philadelphia net.
The Phantoms were unable to generate any offense in the opening period as they went over thirteen minutes into the game without generating a shot on net.
"We just came out flat and were working from behind all night," said Phantoms center Patrick Sharp, who had one of the team's two goals tonight.
After the Phantoms tied the score at one apiece early in the second period, the Sound Tigers used goals by Kevin Colley and Jeff Hamilton to go up 3-1.
Hamilton's goal came off the draw as Sharp tried to poke the puck out of the Phantoms defensive zone.
The puck instead landed on the stick of Bridgeport defenseman Jody Robinson whose feed to Hamilton beat Niittymaki.
Dennis Seidenberg brought Philadelphia back to within one with a power play goal at 13:46 of the second period but with 44 seconds left in the period, Philadelphia surrendered a shorthanded goal, dropping behind by two goals.
With Hamilton in the box for tripping, Bridgeport's Rob Collins grabbed control of the puck, feeding Martin Kariya on a two-on-one break.
Two third period markers by Collins in the third period finished the night's scoring.
"We've killed something like 30 penalties in the last three games. I'm not a mathematician, but that's a whole hockey game," said Phantoms Head Coach John Stevens. "We took lazy penalties. You can find them all weekend long. If you take penalties against good teams, it's going to be tough to win hockey games."
With the victory, the Sound Tigers return home to Connecticut with a 4-0-1-0 record on the trip. Bridgeport faces Norfolk at home on Tuesday.
Philadelphia takes on Cincinnati during a matinee contest on Wednesday.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Bridgeport 1-3-1 Philadelphia 0-2-0
FIRST PERIOD- Scoring: BRI Hamilton 8 (Weinhandl, Manlow) 7:02 (pp). Penalties: PHL Woywitka (holding) 5:33; PHL Kane (cross-checking) 9:55; BRI Pettinen (high-sticking major) 12:43; PHL Seidenberg (hooking) 15:39; BRI Manlow (interference) 16:27; PHL Hope (boarding) 19:31; PHL Law (slashing) 19:37.
SECOND PERIOD- Scoring: PHL Sharp 5 (Kane, Law) 2:31; BRI Colley 1 (Down, Robinson) 7:59; BRI Hamilton 9 (Robinson) 11:15; PHL Seidenberg 3 (Law, Sharp) 13:46 (pp); BRI Kariya 3 (Collins) 19:16 (sh). Penalties: BRI Bekar (fighting major) 5:28; PHL Kane (high-sticking) 5:28; PHL Kane (fighting major); PHL Meyer (interference) 8:39; BRI Guite (high-sticking) 12:46; PHL Vandermeer (cross-checking) 16:46; BRI Hamilton (tripping) 17:27; BRI Weinhandl (obstruction-holding) 19:49.
THIRD PERIOD- Scoring: BRI Collins 3 (Kariya) 3:32; BRI Collins 4 (Smith, Letang) 17:18 (pp). Penalties: PHL Kane (unsportsmanlike conduct) 4:36; BRI Down (interference) 9:16; BRI Belak (boarding) 14:53; PHL Vandermeer (aggressor, fighting, game misconduct) 14:53.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Bridgeport 8-19-4 Philadelphia 6-9-6
SPECIAL TEAMS STATS
PPG ADV SHG
Bridgeport 2 10 1
Philadelphia 1 7 0
GOALIES
S SV TIME
Niittymaki (PHL) 31 25 60:00
Dubielewicz (BRI) 21 19 60:00
STARS OF THE GAME
1. Jeff Hamilton (BRI)
2. Martin Kariya (BRI)
3. Patrick Sharp (PHL)
Selected by: Laura Borden (Delaware County Times)
NOTES
1. Philadelphia's Kirby Law has nine points (4G, 5A) in his last four games.
2. Bridgeport is 3-5-1-1 all-time against Philadelphia, including 1-2-0-1 at the Wachovia Spectrum.
3. Philadelphia's Patrick Sharp has a goal in each of the teams' three games this weekend.
4. Dennis Seidenberg's second period marker was the sixth straight game in which the Phantoms scored a power play goal.
5. Jeff Hamilton's goal ended Philadelphia's streak of sixteen straight penalty kills.
GAME OFFICIALS
Referee: Justin St. Pierre
Linesman: Jim Doyle
Linesman: Paul Nicholls
ATTENDANCE: 4,223
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central.
American Hockey League Stories from November 9, 2003
- Sound Tigers end Phantoms streak - OSC Original by David W. Unkle
- Phantoms lose 6-2 to Bridgeport - Adirondack Phantoms
- Falcons Upended in Portland, 1-0 - Springfield Falcons
- Monarchs Stretch Home Winning Streak To Four with Victory Over River Rats - Manchester Monarchs
- Sound Tigers Win 6-2 In Philadelphia - Bridgeport Islanders
- Bears All Alone in First Place after 2-2 Tie with Norfolk - Hershey Bears
- Thomas blanks Penguins - Providence Bruins
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
