Whale win 3-2 over Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Published on April 6, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


Bridgeport, CT - Cam Talbot made 38 saves Saturday night at Webster Bank Arena to key a 3-2 victory for the Connecticut Whale, who were outshot 40-20 by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, including 14-3 in the third period.

Brandon Segal's early third-period goal held up as the game-winner, and the Whale also got goals from Benn Ferriero and Ryan Bourque. Matt Donovan and Brock Nelson scored for Bridgeport.

"I got in the zone pretty quick there, I thought," Talbot said. "I was seeing pucks pretty well from the first period on and just trying to knock some of those ones down in the third period when they were getting traffic in front. I didn't really control the rebounds too well in the third period, they were all over me, but the guys did a great job of helping out and battling down low, and it was a big win for us."

The victory improved the Whale's record to a season-best eight games over .500, 35-27-5-3 for 78 points. Connecticut remains in seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race, three points behind sixth-place Portland and three points ahead of eighth-place Hershey.

The Whale scored the only goal of the first period, on the game's first power play.

With Donovan in the box for interference, Mike Vernace sent a lead pass up right wing to Ferriero, who put on a burst of speed and got around Sound Tiger defender Aaron Ness. Ferriero tried to center the puck to Brandon Mashinter, but it ended up going on goal, and Mashinter distracted Bridgeport goaltender Rick DiPietro (17 saves) enough that the puck trickled into the net.

The two clubs then combined for three goals in a span of 2:10 midway through the second period, starting at 10:27.

Thirty seconds after the Whale's Micheal Haley had tangled with Nathan McIver in a fight, Donovan tied the score for Bridgeport with his 13th goal of the season. Brandon DeFazio worked the puck out of the right-wing corner to an unchecked Donovan sneaking down from the right point, and Donovan just snuck a shot past Talbot's stick side.

Bourque restored the Whale lead only 59 seconds later, at 11:26, snapping a shot just under the crossbar past DiPietro's catching glove, after Bourque's linemates Kyle Jean and Kelsey Tessier combined to dig the puck out from behind the net.

That lead lasted only 1:11, however, as the Bridgeport power play clicked on its first opportunity of the game at 12:37 to even the score again.

It was Nelson, the Sound Tiger's leading scorer, getting the power-play marker, his 22nd goal of the season, burying the rebound of a Nino Niederreiter shot from the right side of the goalmouth.

Segal got the lead back for good for the Whale at 1:54 of the third, upping his team-leading goal total to 24. Chris Kreider deflected Sean Collins' feed from the right point to Segal all alone in front of the goal, and Segal beat DiPietro to the stick side.

The goal extended Segal's team season-high goal-scoring streak to six straight games, the franchise's longest goal streak since Ryan Callahan had an eight-gamer in November and December of 2006.

Most of the rest of the period was played in the Whale end, and Bridgeport had an apparent Johan Sundstrom goal disallowed at 9:37, when referee Chris Ciamaga ruled that Sound Tiger John Persson had pushed Mashinter into Talbot, and called Persson for goaltender interference.

Nothing else got by Talbot the rest of the way, and the Whale registered its fourth win in the last five games, and eighth in the last 10.

The Whale's last home game of the regular season is Sunday at 3:00 PM, as the Providence Bruins visit the XL Center. Fans can take advantage of the Whale's "Click It or Ticket Sunday Family Value Packs", which include a ticket, a hot dog or a pizza slice and a soda, all for only $18. Sunday is also "Fan Appreciation Day", with lots of special fun on tap, including a postgame skate.

Tickets for Sunday's game are available at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, through TicketMaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from April 6, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central