AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Wolf Pack Beat Sound Tigers 5-2

March 30, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


Nigel Dawes scored a hat-trick and Alex Bourret had four assists as the Hartford Wolf Pack defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5-2 before 5,115 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Friday night.

It was a game with playoff implications for both teams as the regular season winds down. The Sound Tigers dropped to 33-32-1-5 and remain even with the Albany River Rats - both teams have 72 points - in the race for the East Division's final playoff spot. Hartford, in second place in the Atlantic Division (but only six points ahead of fifth-place Lowell coming into the game) improved to 43-26-3-0. The Wolf Pack beat Bridgeport for the second time in three days following a win Wednesday in Hartford.

Sound Tiger newcomers Kyle Rank and James Sixsmith, playing their first professional games, earned points in the losing cause. Rank netted a goal when he one-timed a third-period shot past Hartford goaltender Chris Holt. Sixsmith assisted Drew Fata's second-period power play tally. Both newcomers (who signed ATOs before the game), along with Steve Crampton (who had been in Las Vegas of the ECHL and signed a PTO the morning of the game) filled voids left by recent injuries and call-ups to the parent club New York Islanders.

One of those call-ups was goaltender Wade Dubielewicz, giving Billy Thompson the starting job on Friday. Thompson stopped 38 shots as the Wolf Pack outshot the Sound Tigers 43-30, including a 21-9 edge in the second period. Jeff Tambellini, Steve Regier and Allan Rourke were also called up from the Sound Tigers this week, and seven players were scratched from Friday's lineup due to various injuries.

The Wolf Pack jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period on a pair of goals by Dawes. After Fata got Bridgeport within a goal in the second the Wolf Pack responded with a pair of late-period net-finders just 16 second apart. Dawes completed the hat-trick with his third of the game and 22nd of the season when he finished off a picture-perfect passing play set up by Lauri Korpikoski and Brandon Dubinsky at 18:49 of the middle period for 3-1 lead. Dane Byers scored his 15th at 19:05 to make it 4-1 Hartford at the intermission. Holt had made a big save on a shorthanded try by Sound Tiger Blake Comeau to maintain the 2-1 lead before the Wolf Pack broke it open. Jarkko Immonen scored his 16th goal of the year 4:24 into the third period for a 5-1 Wolf Pack lead.

Rank, who was recruited to play golf at St. Lawrence University before emerging as a hockey standout, fittingly netted his first pro goal on what was dubbed "Golf Night" at the Arena. He was set up by Ken Magowan and Mark Wotton at 16:32 of the final period.

The Sound Tigers were 1-for-5 on the power play and Hartford was 3-for-5 on the man advantage.

Check out the Bridgeport Islanders Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from March 30, 2007


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