Sound Tigers Battle Wolf Pack at 1 p.m. Today
Apr 24, 2021The Bridgeport Islanders (5-13-1-0) make their penultimate trip to the XL Center for a 1 p.m. matchup against the Hartford Wolf Pack (11-7-1-0) this afternoon. It's the 10th of 12 meetings between the in-state rivals this season and the fifth of six games in Hartford. The Sound Tigers are searching for their third straight win today following back-to-back victories against the Wolf Pack and Providence Bruins. Bridgeport outscored its opponents 8-1 in those games, including a 4-0 shutout in Hartford last Saturday, in which Ken Appleby made 22 saves. Bridgeport hasn't won three in a row since Nov. 23, 2019 - Nov. 29, 2019 (four games).
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LAST TIME OUT
Samuel Bolduc scored a career-high two goals including his first professional game-winner in a 4-1 victory against the Providence Bruins at Webster Bank Arena on Tuesday. Dmytro Timashov (one goal, one assist) and Arnaud Durandeau (two assists) added two points each, while Jakub Skarek stopped 23 shots. Jeff Kubiak kicked off the scoring just 78 seconds into the contest with his first goal of the season in his 200th professional game. It was the quickest goal the Sound Tigers have scored to begin a game this year.
VIEW FROM HARTFORD
The Wolf Pack have won eight of their last nine games including a seven-game win streak from March 25th - April 15th that the Sound Tigers snapped last Saturday. Hartford responded with a 3-1 victory against Providence on Thursday, in which Morgan Barron scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season (power play) and Ty Ronning and Jonny Brodzinski also found the back of the net. Barron is tied for the league lead with six power-play goals this year and is tied for third among all AHL rookies with 10 goals overall. Goaltender Adam Huska is tied for sixth in the AHL with a 2.18 goals-against-average in nine appearances.
BOLDUC BOLSTER'S BRIDGEPORT
Samuel Bolduc continues to turn heads in his first professional season. The 20-year-old rookie earned his first career multi-goal game on Tuesday with a pair of tallies against Providence, including his first game-winner in the opening four minutes of the contest. In addition, Bolduc’s career-best plus-3 rating was the best rating for any Sound Tigers’ player this season (Grant Hutton also had a plus-3 rating on Tuesday). Bolduc leads the Sound Tigers in points (12) and shots (43) and is tied for the team lead in assists (six) and games played (19). He is one of six players to appear in every game for Bridgeport this season.
PICKING UP THE PACE
Arnaud Durandeau had just one assist in his first six games of the season, but the 22-year-old winger posted his second straight two-point effort on Tuesday and now has multiple points in three of his last four outings. Durandeau leads the Sound Tigers in points-per-game (0.70) and has six points (two goals, four assists) in his last four. He’s tied for fifth on the team in scoring (seven points in 10 games) and has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 31 AHL contests with Bridgeport over the last two seasons.
MacLEAN'S POINT STREAK
Kyle MacLean is on a career-best five-game point streak (one goal, four assists), which is the longest for any Bridgeport player this season. He also has one assist in each of his last four games, the longest assist streak for the team this year. MacLean is tied for fifth on the club in points (seven) and tied for sixth in assists (five) through 17 appearances. Both of his two professional goals have come against Providence.
QUICK HITS
Jakub Skarek didn’t allow a goal until 17:11 of the second period on Tuesday, ending Bridgeport’s shutout streak at 97:42, dating back to the third period on Apr. 15th… It’s the longest shutout streak for the Sound Tigers this season… Dmytro Timashov has scored in back-to-back games and has four points (two goals, two assists) in his last four outings… Timashov, Arnaud Durandeau, Cole Bardreau and Otto Koivula are tied for the team lead with three multi-point performances… All five of the Sound Tigers’ wins this season have come when they don’t allow a power-play goal... Bridgeport announced last week that their game against Providence on Saturday, May 8th has been moved up to Monday, May 3rd.