Logan Pyett stopped the Bridgeport come back. He came up the ice on a 2-1 break into the Bridgeport zone. He squared up and rifled a shot past Sound Tiger goalie Kenny Reiter just a little over two minutes into the over time. The Whale had won their second win in a row over the Sound Tigers.
The Whale held a two goal advantage for most of the game. They had built a 2-0 lead and held it into the third period but the Sound Tigers battled back in the third. They were able to score the game tying goal with just 3:38 left in regulation.
Cam Talbot, who once again had to stop more shots than the opposing goalie, only let in two goals on 33 shots. He was named the games second star behind Pyett who was the first star with the game winner.
Pyett is third in team scoring with six goals and 24 assists. He is also second in +/ - with a +7. Mike Vernace currently leads the Whale team with a +8.
Pyett has currently tied his career high for points and with 19 games left in the season he will certainly break that.
The Whale currently is eighth in the Conference which is the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are two points ahead of Albany, but only two points behind Wilkes Barre/Scranton for seventh place and three points behind Hershey for sixth place.
The immediate problem for the Whale is if the playoffs started today the Whale would play the first place Springfield Falcons. The Falcons have outscored the Whale this year 30-17 in eight games. In those eight games the Whale has been outscored 20-7 at home. While on the road in Springfield they have been outscored 10-9.
If the Whale wants to jump ahead a few places in the standing they will have their work cut out for them in their remaining 19 games. They have four games left with Springfield, two games left with Providence, two games with Binghamton, and two games with Portland. All of these teams currently sit in the upper top half of the Eastern Conference, so at least half of the remaining schedule will be against very good playoff contenders.
It may not be that tall of an order considering the turn around they have had the second half of this season. They are 14-6-3-2 since January first. That’s 33 points in 25 games. The Whale have the third best record in the Eastern Conference since January 1, 2013. The only teams that have played better are Providence and Springfield.
The Whale’s schedule next has them playing host at home in Hartford to the Portland Pirates tomorrow night. The Whale will see former Whale/Wolf Pack goaltender Chad Johnson again. Johnson was on the Whale just last year.
After Tuesday, the Whale will play in Binghamton, Adirondack and Providence over the weekend. You can download the WCCC radio app to your phone to listen to the games.
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