Scoring Touch Eludes Pack in loss to Bridgeport
Mar 31, 2018By Matt Morin
The Wolf Pack looked to bounce back Saturday night, after a disappointing overtime loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Friday night, as they welcomed the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to the XL Center.
The Wolf Pack outshot the Sound Tigers 33-25 in the game, but ended up on the short end of a 5-1 score.
“I look at that game and the chances that we generated compared to Bridgeport, and I thought we gave ourselves a real good chance to win that game,” said Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge. “There’s a lot that I liked about our game tonight, and I don’t think the score was a true indication of the way we played.”
Both offenses were on display in the first period. The Wolf Pack showcased their high-pressure attack, while Bridgeport proved to be quite the opportunists.
Only 2:55 into the game the Sound Tigers would jump out to an early lead. Casey Bailey moved the puck to Sebastian Aho, and his point shot was deflected into the net by Kyle Schempp for his third goal of the season.
The Wolf Pack were not discouraged, though, and would continue to keep the pressure on Bridgeport net minder Eamon McAdam. The pressure finally got to McAdam at the 10:03 mark on a Wolf Pack power play, when Scott Kosmachuk hit him in the bread basket with a wrist shot and Boo Nieves was there to scoop up the rebound and bury the puck in the net.
“I thought Boo had a real good game,” said McCambridge. “I think Boo has been playing some real good hockey. He had a strong game last night and again this evening. He was on the puck, generated some grade A scoring opportunities with his speed and he played a heavy game.”
A delay of game penalty called on Vinni Lettieri at the 16:22 mark would allow the Sound Tigers to yet again display their opportunism in the first period. The Wolf Pack would keep Bridgeport’s shots to a minimum, but with 20 seconds left on the penalty, Mitchell Vande Sompel fired a shot from the right side past Marek Mazanec at the 18:05 mark.
Despite the Wolf Pack trailing 2-1 going into the first intermission, the shot count was 15-5 in Hartford’s favor.
The only scoring action of the second period would be Connor Jones’ goal in the opening minute of the period that put Bridgeport up 3-1. Jones was assisted on the goal by Aho, and it came only 34 seconds into the period. The Wolf Pack would continue to generate scoring chances for the rest of the period, outshooting the Sound Tigers 12-9.
The period started eerily identical to the second, with Bridgeport beating Mazanec in the opening minute of play, this time for a shorthanded goal. Mazanec made a sharp save on a Connor Jones bid, but Ben Holmstrom was able shove the rebound in, to tally his tenth goal of the season and put the Sound Tigers up 4-1. The time of the goal was 0:28 of the third period.
The straw that broke the camel’s back came 3:27 later, at 3:55, when Steve Bernier scored his eighteenth goal of the year to move the score to 5-1 in favor of the Sound Tigers. With Bridgeport on a power play, Bailey fired a shot from the left circle that Mazanec stopped, but an unchecked Bernier was easily able to fire the rebound.
Mazanec was lifted at that point, after five goals-against on 18 shots, and Alexandar Georgiev played the rest of the third, stopping all seven shots he faced.
“I thought we played with speed, and the chances we created were some real grade A opportunities,” McCambridge said. “I thought their goaltender made some really good saves, and we weren’t able to execute that final pass and that final shot to get it in the back of the net.
“I don’t fault the energy. I thought the effort was there, the work ethic was there, and it was just one of those games you’re going to have in the season that is a little bit frustrating, where you get a lot of real good looks at the goaltender, you’re not able to finish on it, and the handful that they get it’s in the back of your net.”
The Wolf Pack are now off until this Friday night, April 6, when they travel to Providence to take on the Bruins. Faceoff is 7:05 PM, and all of the action can be heard live on News Radio 1410 WPOP, and on-line at www.newsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.
The next Wolf Pack home game is next Saturday night, April 7, a 7:00 PM game vs. the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Tickets for all Wolf Pack 2017-18 home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.
Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5 at Hartford Wolf Pack 1
Saturday, March 31, 2018 - XL Center
Bridgeport 2 1 2 - 5
Hartford 1 0 0 - 1
1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Schempp 3 (Aho, Bailey), 2:55. 2, Hartford, Nieves 7 (Kosmachuk, Bigras), 10:03 (PP). 3, Bridgeport, Vande Sompel 5 (Benoit, Hitchcock), 18:05 (PP). Penalties-Vande Sompel Bri (holding), 8:22; Lettieri Hfd (delay of game), 16:22.
2nd Period-4, Bridgeport, C. Jones 8 (Aho), 0:34. Penalties-McAdam Bri (tripping), 3:10; Beleskey Hfd (tripping), 14:31; Kosmachuk Hfd (tripping), 17:08; Benoit Bri (holding), 19:23.
3rd Period-5, Bridgeport, B. Holmstrom 10 (C. Jones), 0:28 (SH). 6, Bridgeport, Bernier 18 (Bailey, Aho), 3:55 (PP). Penalties-Kotyk Hfd (cross-checking), 3:02; Helgeson Bri (roughing), 4:32; Labrie Hfd (roughing), 4:32; C. Jones Bri (high-sticking), 9:46.
Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 5-9-11-25. Hartford 15-12-6-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 2 / 4; Hartford 1 / 4.
Goalies-Bridgeport, McAdam 4-1-0 (33 shots-32 saves). Hartford, Mazanec 9-6-1 (18 shots-13 saves); Georgiev 13-11-7 (7 shots-7 saves).
A-4,513
Referees-Brandon Schrader (24), Andrew Wilk (57).
Linesmen-Mike Baker (11), Nick Briganti (58).