AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scores three goals in the third to spoil Smith's two-goal night

December 27, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA - Trevor Smith had two power-play goals and Brett Skinner and Jason Pitton both tallied their first goals of the season but it was not enough as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Sound Tigers by the score of 5-4. The Penguins had three goals in the final period of regulation, two from the league's leading goal-scorer Chris Minard and the other from Nick Johnson. Jeff Taffe scored twice in the first period for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Peter Mannino was in goal for the Sound Tigers and turned aside 19 shots while his counterpart, John Curry stopped 23. The Sound Tigers record drops to 21-9-1-2 keeping them in second place in the East Division with 45 points, only five points ahead of the Penguins.

Smith would give the Sound Tigers' their first lead of the opening period while on the power-play, with his 17th goal of the season. Kurtis McLean settled the play in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton zone at the left circle and allowed his power-play unit to set up. Skinner, playing at the top of the point, took McLean's feed and one-timed a shot on goal that Penguins' starting net-minder John Curry stopped. The rebound fell between his legs and before he could pounce on it, Smith was there to slide it under Curry for the Sound Tigers' 1-0 lead, six minutes into the period. Less than a minute later, Taffe would tie the score at one. Ryan Stone fed a pass to Taffe flying through the Sound Tiger zone where he deked around Mannino and banked the puck off the goaltender's stick for his 15th goal of the season. Jon D'Aversa had the second assist on the goal.

With their second power-play of the game, the Sound Tigers struck again at the 9:03 mark on a great individual effort from Skinner. The quarterback on the Sound Tigers' man-advantage, Skinner, skated through the neutral zone, flipped the puck around a Penguin defenseman, going from his back-hand to his fore-hand and snapped a shot through Curry's legs. Jack Hillen and Ben Walter each had the assists on Skinner's first tally as a Sound Tiger. As the period wound down under a minute, Taffe would even the score once again, this time at 2-2. Stone broke up a Sound Tiger breakout attempt and fed a blind pass to the far right point. The puck bounced off the boards to Deryk Engelland who one-timed a shot towards the net where Taffe snuck in at the back-door, redirecting the puck past Mannino for his 16th marker of the year.

Mannino would make the biggest save of the second period about six minutes in. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton leading scorer, Chris Minard came into the zone along the near wing boards and snapped a quick shot while using Sound Tiger defenseman Jack Hillen as a screen. Mannino peaked around his defenseman and saw the puck at the last second, snatching it out of mid-air with his glove to keep the game tied at two. Smith would regain the lead for the Sound Tigers, adding to his team lead in goals with only 50 seconds left in the middle frame. Mike Iggulden fired a slap-shot on Curry that he saved but once again Smith was on the door-step waiting for the rebound, poking it into the net for his 18th tally of the season. McLean also assisted on the goal giving the Sound Tigers the 3-2 lead.

The Penguins would tie and take the lead within the first three minutes of the third period. Johnson evened the score at 3-3 when he capitalized on a goal-mouth scramble, back-handing a shot past Mannino for his second tally of the season. Mark Letestu and Reid Cashman both had assists. Only 23 seconds later, Minard would extend his goal-scoring streak to five games when he took a step back in the slot and one-timed a Stone pass from the left corner past Mannino to take the 4-3 lead. Taffe also had an assist on Minard's 23rd of the season.

The Sound Tigers would make the game interesting while on the penalty-kill, Tyler Haskins and Jason Pitton combined to tie the score at four. Haskins out-worked a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman at the right point and was able to push the puck out of the zone to Jack Hillen in the neutral zone. Hillen fed the puck to Pitton, skating into the Penguin zone where he snapped a quick shot past Curry for his first goal of the season, tying the score at 4-4. On the same Penguin man-advantage, Minard to tally his 24th marker this year six seconds later to cement the Penguin comeback victory, 5-4. Taffe and Pesonen both had the assists on the game-winning goal.

On the man-advantage tonight, the Sound Tigers were 3-for-6 and 2-for-3 on the penalty-kill. The Sound Tigers out-shot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 27-24.

The Sound Tigers will not return to action until the new-year when they visit the Philadelphia Phantoms on Friday, January 2 at 6:05 p.m. The following night, they will travel north to Albany to face-off against the River Rats at 7 p.m. The team's next home game is scheduled for Wednesday, January 7 at 7 p.m. when the Houston Aeros pay their first and only visit to Arena at Harbor Yard this season. Tickets for upcoming home games are available by contacting the Sound Tigers' front office at (203) 334-GOAL or e-mailing info@soundtigers.com.

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