AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Sound Tigers Tie Series But Fall Behind Again

Published on May 5, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


The Sound Tigers beat the Binghamton Senators 5-0 at home Wednesday and 3-2 at home Friday to even their best-of-seven, Eastern Conference Semi-Final series at two games apiece. However, they were shutout 3-0 in Binghamton Saturday to fall behind three games to two.

WED APR 30th vs. BNG, 5-0 W: MARTIN CHABADA opened the scoring on the power play with 2:14 left in the first period, TRENT HUNTER doubled the lead to 2-0 with 1:18 left in the second period, SVEN BUTENSCHON made it 3-0 with a power-play goal 1:16 into the third period, DANIEL TKACZUK upped the lead to 4-0 2:56 later, and JEFF HAMILTON closed out the scoring with a five-on-three power-play goal at 10:22 of the final frame. ERIC MANLOW and JEREMY ADDUONO had two assists while Hunter, Butenschon, Tkaczuk and Hamilton added one helper apiece. RICK DiPIETRO made 29 saves for the fourth shutout of his AHL-playoff career. RAY EMERY made 33 saves for the Senators before being replaced by MATHIEU CHOUINARD, who did not face a shot, with 2:13 left to play. The Sound Tigers were 3 for 11 on the power play, 7 for 7 on the penalty kill and had a 38-29 shots on goal advantage. The game was marred by 225 penalty minutes, 192 of which were assessed in the third period.

FRI MAY 2nd vs. BNG, 3-2 W: Binghamton's DENNIS BONVIE opened the scoring 11:12 into the first period, but JUSTIN MAPLETOFT tied the game 3:24 later on assists from TRENT HUNTER and RICK DiPIETRO. Mapletoft then set up a four-on-four goal by ALAN LETANG 1:38 into the second period making it 2-1 Sound Tigers, but the Senators' ANTOINE VERMETTE tied the score at 2-2 just :53 into the third period on BRAD SMYTH's second assist of the game. Hunter swatted a hip-high puck out of the air and past Binghamton Goaltender RAY EMERY with :21.4 left in regulation to break the tie. The Sound Tigers were 0 for 7 on the power play, 4 for 4 on the penalty kill and had a 29-25 shots on goal advantage. DiPietro made 23 saves for his second win in a row while Emery made 26 saves in a losing effort.

SAT MAY 3rd at BNG, 3-0 L: Seconds after TRENT HUNTER hit the cross bar while on a shorthanded breakaway, Binghamton's JOSH LANGFELD notched a power-play goal to break a scoreless tie late in the second period. Langfeld's goal snapped the Senators' 0 for 24 power-play drought, including 0 for 23 in the series. CHRIS BALA and CHRIS KELLY then scored 2:27 apart late in the third period. Binghamton was 1 for 2 on the power play. The Sound Tigers were 0 for 4 on the advantage and had a 26-25 shots on goal advantage. RAY EMERY made 26 saves for his second shutout of the postseason while RICK DiPIETRO stopped 22 shots. PLAYER OF THE WEEK – RW TRENT HUNTER

Hunter scored one goal and assisted on another in each of the Sound Tigers' wins. He assisted on the first goal, the eventual game winner, and scored the second goal in Wednesday's 5-0 win then set up the Sound Tigers' first goal and swatted the puck out of mid-air with :21.4 left in regulation for the deciding goal Friday. Hunter, who was also a +3 last week, is tied for the AHL's playoff-scoring lead with seven goals and 11 points. He set new Sound Tigers' records for regular-season scoring with 41 assists and 71 points and tied his own team record with 30 goals this year. Hunter also led the Sound Tigers with 13 power-play goals and six first goals in 70 games and notched four assists in eight NHL games with the Islanders during the regular season.

THIS WEEK – Sound Tigers Try To Force Game Seven

The Sound Tigers will host game six this Monday at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard at 7:05 p.m. If they win Monday, they will travel to Binghamton for game seven Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. The Senators won the East Division Championship and finished in third place in the Eastern Conference 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 IceCats three games to none in the quarterfinals. The Sound Tigers were 3-1-1-1 versus Binghamton, 2-0-1 at home and 1-1-0-1 on the road, during the regular season.

MON MAY 5th vs. BNG, 7:05 p.m.: The Sound Tigers are 1-1 all-time when facing playoff elimination beating the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-0 at home in game seven of last year's Eastern Conference Finals and losing game five of last year's Calder Cup Finals 4-3 on the road to the Chicago Wolves in double overtime.

TUE MAY 6th at BNG, 7:05 p.m. (if necessary): This would be the second seventh-and-deciding game in team history. The Sound Tigers are 4-3 all-time when in position to win a playoff series including a 6-3 home victory over the Manchester Monarchs in game three of this year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

SOUND TIGERS PLAYOFF LEADERS

Goals –TRENT HUNTER, 7
Penalty Minutes – ALAIN NASREDDINE, 27
Assists – DANIEL TKACZUK, 7
Wins – STEPHEN VALIQUETTE, 3
Points – TRENT HUNTER, 11
Goals Against Average – RICK DiPIETRO, 2.00
Plus / Minus – J. ADDUONO & D. TKACZUK, +5
Save Percentage – STEPHEN VALIQUETTE, .931

SOUND TIGERS PLAYOFF SPECIAL TEAMS

Power Play – 10 for 45, 22.2%; t-6th
Shorthanded Goals Against – 0
Penalty Kill – 31 for 33, 93.9%;
3rd Shorthanded Goal For – 0

SOUND TIGERS STREAKS

The Sound Tigers have lost three straight road games, all during the playoffs. • They have won seven home games in a row, three during the playoffs and their last four of the regular season, as well as four straight home-playoff games dating back to last year's Calder Cup Finals. • The Sound Tigers have outshot Binghamton in three straight games, by a 93-79 margin, going 2-1 in that time.

SOUND TIGERS BITS

The Sound Tigers have not followed a road loss with a home loss since falling 5-3 in Albany to the River Rats on March 2nd and 4-2 at home to the Manitoba Moose on March 5th. • They are 17-11 all-time in Calder Cup Playoff games including 5-3 this year, 3-0 at home and 2-3 on the road. • The Sound Tigers are 4-1 all-time in Calder Cup Playoff series including 1-0 this year. • They are 4-2 all-time, 1-1 this year, in playoff-series openers including 3-1 at home and 1-1 on the road. • The Sound Tigers are 4-0 all-time in postseason series, 1-0 this year, when winning game one and 0-1 when losing game one. • They are 4-3 all-time, 1-0 this year, when in position to win a playoff series. • The Sound Tigers are 1-1 all-time when facing postseason elimination beating the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-0 at home in game seven of last year's Eastern Conference Finals and losing game five of last year's Calder Cup Finals 4-3 on the road to the Chicago Wolves in double overtime. • They are 2-4 all-time, 1-2 both at home and on the road, in playoff-overtime games including 0-1 this year. • The Sound Tigers were 5-3-11 in overtime games, 3-2-4 at home and 2-1-7 on the road, during the regular season including 0-1-1 versus the Senators losing 5-4 in Binghamton on October 11th and skating to a 1-1 tie at home on March 16th. • They were 21-7-3-1 versus East Division teams, 12-3-1 at home and 9-4-2-1 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

The Sound Tigers' roster has not changed since April 22nd.

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 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.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

The Sound Tigers will practice at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard Monday at 10 a.m. The scheduled for the remainder of the week is to be determined. Please call 203-334-4625 to confirm practice times and locations.

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American Hockey League Stories from May 5, 2003


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