Wolf Pack Come Back, but Lose in OT
Feb 7, 2015Third-period goals by Danny Kristo and Conor Allen earned the Wolf Pack a standings point Saturday night at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, but Chris Langkow’s goal at 4:04 of overtime gave the Bridgeport Sound Tigers a 3-2 win.
Kristo and Allen both also had assists for the Wolf Pack, who outshot Bridgeport 38-20 in the game. Scooter Vaughn and Harry Zolnierczyk scored the other Sound Tiger goals, and Griffin Reinhart had two assists.
“This whole season we’ve played well being down in the third,” Allen said. “For the most part, we felt that we were playing pretty well, outplaying them a little bit. We earned our point, too bad we didn’t get two though.”
Bridgeport took a 2-0 lead into the third period, but Kristo ended Sound Tiger goaltender Kevin Poulin’s shutout bid at the 4:59 mark. Poulin (36 saves) made an excellent glove stop on a backhand try by Marek Hrivik, but Kristo tracked down the rebound between the hash marks and fired it into the net.
The Sound Tigers held the lead all the way to the 18:09 mark, when Allen’s eighth goal of the year tied the score. Kristo passed the puck out of the right-wing corner and it hit Justin Vaive’s skates, deflecting to Allen, who was behind Vaive. With Vaive distracting Poulin, Allen lifted the puck under the crossbar and into the net.
The Wolf Pack had strong pressure throughout much of the overtime, but after a Ryan Bourque wraparound bid was stopped by Poulin, the Sound Tigers broke two-on-one. Reinhart unloaded a shot from the left side that squeezed under the catching glove of Wolf Pack netminder Yann Danis and in behind him. Langkow, trailing the play, poked the puck into the net for the winning goal.
The first period was a stalemate until a late Bridgeport power play, created by a hooking penalty to Michael Kostka at 17:43.
The Sound Tigers’ league-leading man-advantage unit capitalized at 18:26, on Vaughn’s ninth goal of the season. Alan Quine worked the puck off the right-wing boards to Vaughn at the middle of the blue line, and his long snap shot went through a Colin McDonald screen and got by Danis on the glove side.
The Wolf Pack controlled most of the play in the second period, outshooting Bridgeport 14-6, but again the Sound Tigers came up with a late goal, this time at even strength.
Jack MacLellan carried across the middle in the offensive zone, from left to right, and then dropped off to Reinhart, who carried up the slot. He fed to C.J. Stretch at the right-wing side of the goalmouth, and Danis slid to stop Stretch’s bid but could not control the puck. Harry Zolnierczyk jammed the rebound into the net at 19:30.
The Wolf Pack are next in action this Tuesday, February 10, when they take on the St. John’s IceCaps in the first of back-to-back games in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Faceoff is 6:00 PM, and all of the action can be heard live on Fox Sports Radio 1410, and on-line at www.foxsportsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.
The next home game for the Wolf Pack is Saturday, February 14, a 7:30 PM game at the XL Center against the Albany Devils. Tickets for all 2014-15 Wolf Pack home games are now on sale at the XL Center ticket office, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499. Wolf Pack tickets start as low as $12 for youth 12 years old or younger.
To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.
Hartford Wolf Pack 2 at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3 (OT)
Saturday, February 7, 2015 - Webster Bank Arena
Hartford 0 0 2 0 - 2
Bridgeport 1 1 0 1 - 3
1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Vaughan 9 (Quine, Ness), 18:26 (PP). Penalties-Pelech Bri (slashing), 3:43; Lindberg Hfd (slashing), 4:27; Bourque Hfd (roughing), 11:34; Stretch Bri (roughing), 11:34; Kostka Hfd (hooking), 17:43; Tarnasky Hfd (holding), 19:58.
2nd Period-2, Bridgeport, Zolnierczyk 14 (Stretch, Reinhart), 19:30. Penalties-Langkow Bri (hooking), 4:27; Quine Bri (hooking), 12:13; Courtnall Bri (cross-checking), 15:49.
3rd Period-3, Hartford, Kristo 13 (Hrivik, Allen), 4:59. 4, Hartford, Allen 8 (Kristo, Vaive), 18:09. Penalties-Mueller Hfd (roughing), 3:26; Mouillierat Bri (roughing), 3:26; Allen Hfd (elbowing), 10:13.
OT Period-5, Bridgeport, Langkow 6 (Reinhart), 4:04. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Hartford 9-14-13-2-38. Bridgeport 7-6-4-3-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 4; Bridgeport 1 / 4.
Goalies-Hartford, Danis 9-8-0 (20 shots-17 saves). Bridgeport, Poulin 14-10-1 (38 shots-36 saves).
A-5,286
Referees-Evgeny Romasko (6), Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Paul Simeon (66), Luke Galvin (2).