RSS
Home
Wolf Pack stop Sound Tigers in first meeting of season between arch-rivals
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Whenever the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Hartford Wolf Pack play each other, it’s much more than “just a hockey game.” For starters, there is the intense rivalry between the teams’ parent clubs, the New York Islanders (Bridgeport) and the New York Rangers (Hartford). Then, there’s the in-state thing: The Sound Tigers and Wolf Pack, separated by just 60 miles of highway, represent the highest level of minor league competition in any sport played in the Nutmeg state . Players from both teams routinely go up and down from the AHL to the NHL every year, and the parent teams’ rosters are both chock full of former Hartford and Bridgeport players.
This year “The Rivalry” took on a new dimension when the AHL powers that be finally recognized Bridgeport as part of New England and moved the Sound Tigers into a division entirely made up of New England foes—the Atlantic Division. On Saturday night, the Wolf Pack drew first blood as Corey Locke, Bobby Sanguinetti and Evgeny Grachev each scored a goal and added an assist, and Chad Johnson made 28 saves, to lead Hartford to a 4-1 win over its in-state arch-rival before 5,007 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Saturday night.
Hartford drew first blood when Mathieu Dandenault registered his first goal as a member of the Wolf Pack—indeed, is first point in the AHL—when he attacked the net to bank home a nice feed from Adres Ambuhl from the top of the left circle past Bridgeport goalie Nathan Lawson for a 1-0 lead 15:05 into the game. Two minutes later, Hartford doubled the lead when, skating on a 4-on-3 power play, P.A. Parenteau slid a pass across the crease to Corey Locke at the right circle, and Locke converted for his ninth goal of the season as the Wolf Pack took a 2-0 lead into the locker room at the first intermission.
In the second period, Hartford doubled down on its lead with when Evgeny Grachev and Bobby Sanguinetti each picked up their fifth marker of the season—Grachev’s at the 8:26 mark, and Sanguinetti’s on a 5-on-3 power play at 15:33—to give the Wolf Pack a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the third frame.
The second period included a penalty shot by Parenteau when a Sound Tiger was whistled for covering up a loose puck in the crease at the 6:58 mark, but Lawson turned it away. Bridgeport’s Dustin Kohn broke up the shutout with the Sound Tigers on a 4-on-3 advantage 6:30 into the third, but it was far too little, far too late, as Hartford walked away with a 4-1 victory.
As has been the case for most of the season, a key factor in the game’s ultimate outcome was the disproportionate amount of time the Sound Tigers spent in the penalty box vis-à-vis their opponents. On Saturday, Bridgeport committed 16 penalties—including two majors and two game misconducts—for a total of 78 minutes in the penalty box, while Hartford was called for 12 infractions for a total of 32 minutes in the pen.
“Yeah, there were some penalties, but on both sides,” said a bemused Bridgeport head coach Jack Capuano after the game. “There were games prior to this where the penalties were evident. Tonight I saw a couple of stick infractions, but I’ll have to go back and look at the tape before I comment on it.”
As the season approaches the 1/8th-mile pole, Connecticut’s two teams are headed in opposite directions. Saturday’s game was the Wolf Pack’s fourth straight victory, and their sixth in seven games. Meanwhile, the Sound Tigers, who opened the season with four straight wins, have now lost four straight, and have one just three in their last 10 contests.
“They’re a young team, and they’re learning,” continued Capuano. “We can’t fault the effort. That’s a good team we played—obviously very dangerous on the power play.”
The Wolf Pack’s power play unit is tops in the AHL.
Still, Capuano saw some things he liked, especially in the third period.
“We had constant motion,” he said. “That’s the way we played early in the year, and that’s the way we’ve got to get back to playing.”
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
