Sound Tigers Squeak Past T-Birds



Former Minnesota Gopher star scored the game-winning goal for the

Sound Tigers in just his third game as a professional.

                                                            (courtesy Puck Stopper Photography)

By Bob Phillips
Editorial Director, InsideCTSports

BRIDGEPORT – Goaltender Eamon McAdam turned aside 19 of the 20 shots he faced, and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers edged the Springfield Thunderbirds, 2-1, before 7,012 fans at the Webster Bank Arena on Tuesday.  It was the seventh “Spring Fun 102,” an annual promotion that brings throngs of school kids in from Greenwich to Stonington—and everywhere in between.

The Sound Tigers drew first blood 11:20 into the contest when, with Springfield’s Ed Witchow in the penalty box for interference, Josh Winquist took a feed from Ryan Pulock at the high center slot and fired a laser beam  past Springfield goalie Sam Brittain’s  glove. The power play goal was Winquist’s 15th of the season, with Pulock and Tim Wallace picking up assists.

Twenty seconds later, Bridgeport’s Ross Johnston and Springfield’s Tony Turgeon did the two-fisted tango, which brought the youthful crowd to its feet. Turgeon was called for interference, while Johnston was tagged for roughing and also picked up a game misconduct for continuing an altercation for good measure. The T-Birds promptly capitalized on the situation when defenseman Thomas Schemitsch fired a wrister that beat a screened-out McAdam at the 11:36 mark. It was the first goal of the season for the five-year pro, who has split the season between the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL, and the T-Birds—the top two minor-league affiliates of the Florida Panthers.

The Sound Tigers broke the tie 12:40 into the second period when Patrick Cullity fed Jake Bischoff just inside the blue line near the right boards and rifled a slap shot that hit the left post and slipped past Brittain to put Bridgeport in the lead, 2-1. Cullity and Ben Holstrom got helpers on Bischoff’s second goal of the season in just three pro games since signing with the New York Islanders, the Sound Tigers’ parent organization. It would ultimately prove to be the game winner.

“Every game’s important,” said Bischoff, the former University of Minnesota star who was named the game’s No. 1 star. “There aren’t many games left, so we have to go into every game with the mindset that we’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

Playoffs In Sight

Truer words were never spoken. The win, the Sound Tigers have five games remaining in the regular season, and need a total of eight points to assure themselves of a postseason appearance. Bridgeport has qualified for the playoffs just once—last season—in the past four years, and has not won a postseason series since the 2002-03 season.

Next up for the Sound Tigers, who currently own the fourth and final playoff slot in the AHL’s Atlantic Division, will be a home-and-home series with the third-place Providence Bruins, whom they trail by a mere point. Bridgeport trails the second-place Lehigh Valley Phantoms by one point, and lead the fifth-place Hershey Bears by four. (The Sound Tigers own a game in-hand with both Providence and Lehigh Valley, while Hershey has a game-in hand over Bridgeport.)

Bridgeport will conclude the regular season next weekend with a two-game road trip—Friday night to Springfield, for a re-match with the Thunderbirds, before heading to Pennsylvania for a season-ending match-up with the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. All Sound Tiger games are streamed online at www.ahllive.com.

—with staff reports