Whale Beats Sound Tigers 4-3 in Shootout
March 9, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
HARTFORD, Conn. (March 9, 2012) - Whale forward Kris Newbury found a loose puck in the slot and beat Sound Tigers goalie Kevin Poulin with 4.9 seconds left in regulation, and Whale completed its comeback in the shootout as they defeated the Sound Tigers 4-3 at XL Center on Friday night. With the win, the Whale improves to 30-19-5-5. With the shootout loss, the Sound Tigers remain one point ahead of the Whale and have recorded points in 23 of their last 25 games as their record moves to 32-19-3-4.
The Sound Tigers dictated most of the play in the opening 20 minutes. Calvin de Haan and Ty Wishart both hit posts, but Micheal Haley finally put the puck past Chad Johnson. Tony Romano fed Micheal Haley in the slot after Jon Landry kept a clearing attempt in the Whale zone, and Haley beat Johnson glove-side for his 13th goal of the season to give the Sound Tigers a 1-0 lead at the 13:48 mark.
The Whale evened the score on the power play when Jonathan Audy-Marchessault backhanded a shot from the slot past Kevin Poulin at the 8:45 mark of the middle frame to tie the game 1-1. The Sound Tigers answered with a power play goal of their own, as Justin DiBenedetto spun and fired a rebound from his backhand over an outstretched Johnson to put the Sound Tigers up 2-1 with 2:18 left in the second period. However, the Whale responded quickly to tie the score once again. Jordan Owens wraparound attempt was initially stopped by Poulin, but Tommy Grant buried the rebound with 37 seconds left in the period. The two teams went to their dressing rooms tied 2-2, despite the Sound Tigers outshooting the Whale 20-12 in the second period.
Haley netted his second goal of the game to give the Sound Tigers a 3-2 lead. Steve Oleksy held the puck in the zone by the right circle to find Haley all alone in the slot, and Haley beat Johnson to put the Sound Tigers up one with just over 15 minutes left in regulation. The Whale pulled Johnson for the extra attacker and found the equalizer in the waning moments of regulation. Tim Erixon's point shot was deflected by Casey Wellman right onto the stick of Kris Newbury. Newbury fired the puck past Poulin, and the game was tied 3-3 with 4.9 left in regulation.
After a back-and-forth overtime session, the Whale completed its comeback in the bonus round. Mats Zuccarello, Wellman and Brendan Bell all scored on their attempts, while Romano, Sean Backman and Rhett Rakhshani were stopped by Johnson.
The Sound Tigers return to action tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in their first visit to Webster Bank Arena this season.
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