Sound Tigers Fall To Hartford in Overtime
Apr 27, 2021The Bridgeport Islanders (6-13-2-0), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, battled back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to force overtime on Tuesday, but the Hartford Wolf Pack (12-8-1-0) prevailed in a 3-2 final at Webster Bank Arena.
Dmytro Timashov and Cole Bardreau scored 28 seconds apart in the final nine minutes of regulation to pull the Sound Tigers back even, while Tim Gettinger’s eighth goal of the season and sixth on the power play ended the afternoon at 3:32 of overtime.
Jakub Skarek (2-8-1) made 35 saves in his sixth appearance against the Wolf Pack this season. He faced an AHL career-high 38 shots on target.
Tuesday’s game was the first time in five outings that the Sound Tigers allowed the opening goal. Jonny Brodzinski made it 1-0 at the 13:58 mark when he received Morgan Barron’s pass from the corner and beat Skarek’s reaching glove from the left circle for his sixth of the season. Barron collected the only assist on the even-strength tally.
Tarmo Reunanen doubled Hartford’s lead with its first of two power-play goals at 17:04 of the second period. Austin Rueschhoff directed a pass to the blue line where Reunanen floated a shot through traffic and past Skarek’s blocker for his first goal since Mar. 27th. The Wolf Pack carried their two-goal advantage past the midway mark of the third.
Timashov’s third tally in four games cut the deficit to one when he cleaned up Bobo Carpenter’s rebound at the doorstep at the 11:41 mark. Carpenter swept a shot on net from up against the right half-wall and goaltender Tyler Wall turned it aside but left the net open for Timashov’s fifth of the year.
Less than a half-minute later, Bardreau tied the game at 2-2 with his team-leading ninth goal of the season. Tom Kuhnhackl twisted the puck behind Hartford’s net and around the boards, where Blade Jenkins settled it on the right wing and immediately threw a pass to the crease. Bardreau deflected it past Wall’s blocker at 12:09.
A successful Bridgeport penalty kill late in the game helped force overtime, but Parker Wotherspoon was called for holding just two minutes in and Gettinger capitalized on a rebound 1:32 later to end the Sound Tigers’ three-game winning streak.
Bridgeport finished the afternoon 0-for-1 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the kill. Hartford led in shots, 38-27.
Next Time Out: The Sound Tigers make their final trip to the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Mass. on Thursday, where they’ll square off against the Providence Bruins at 1 p.m. Fans can follow all of the live action via AHLTV or the Sound Tigers Radio Network, beginning with the pre-game show at 12:45 p.m.