Four Bridgeport goals lead locals past Wolf Pack

By KIMBER AUERBACH

The Sound Tigers used four third period goals to come from behind and beat the Hartford Wolf Pack, 4-1. Yann Danis only surrendered one Wolf Pack goal, keeping his team in the game for their fourth third period comeback of the season.  Ben Walter opened the scoring for the Sound Tigers in the final period of regulation, a goal that was followed by tallies from Trevor Smith, Mike Sillinger and Tyler Haskins. 

Artem Anisimov scored the only goal for the Wolf Pack in the first period.  Danis was the game’s first star, turning aside 45 of the 46 shots he faced.  Miika Wiikman, returning from a brief stint on the IR, made 21 saves.  The win improves the Sound Tigers record to 15-4-0-2, giving them 32 points this season. 

 

Anisimov opened the scoring for Hartford with about seven minutes remaining in the first period.  Mike Ouellete started the play in the corner when he threw a puck on net that Danis stopped.  The rebound bounced off his pad, right to Anisimov who wristed the puck over Danis’ glove for the 1-0 lead. Vladimir Denisov also had an assist on the tally. 

 

Both net-minders were tested in the second period but neither would surrender a goal, keeping the score at 1-0.  Danis was pressured for most of the frame as he stopped all 17 attempts.  His best came on a back-door one-timer from Tommy Pyatt.  The Sound Tigers were unable to solve Wiikmann as he had eight saves in the period. 

 

For the fourth time this season, the Sound Tigers used the final period of regulation to come-from behind, and steal a victory from their opponent.  Walter got the ball rolling when he scored his fourth goal of the season, extending his point-scoring streak to five games. The second year center grabbed a loose puck at the right post and chipped the puck over Wiikmann’s left shoulder to tie the score at 1-1. Haskins and Dustin Kohn recorded the assists on the goal. 

Just over five minutes later, Smith would take the first lead of the game for the Sound Tigers on his seventh tally this season. With the team on the power-play, Walter dug the puck out of the near corner and fired it on net. Wiikmann made the first save but Smith was there as the puck bounced towards the left corner.  Smith batted the puck out of mid-air, over Wiikmann’s right pad to give the Sound Tigers the 2-1 lead.  Mike Iggulden also assisted on the goal.  Sillinger, playing in his second game with the Sound Tigers, would increase the team’s lead to 3-1 only 19 seconds later while the team was on the man-advantage.  Kohn settled the play behind the Sound Tigers’ net and left the puck for Blake Comeau to pick up and skate out of the zone. Comeau came into the Hartford zone and drew both defensemen to him where he dropped the puck to Sillinger at the top of the right circle. The Islander veteran quickly cradled the puck and snapped it past Wiikmann’s blocker for his first goal of the season, giving the Sound Tigers the 3-1 lead. 

Haskins would complete the scoring for the Sound Tigers at the 15:54 mark of the final period. With the team shorthanded, Haskins stole the puck from Michael Sauer in the neutral zone and came in alone on the Wolf Pack goalie. Haskins made a quick fake and back-handed the puck over Wiikmann’s pad for his fourth goal of the season to give the Sound Tigers the 4-1 lead. 

 

The Sound Tigers were 2-for-4 on the power-play and a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty-kill.