Sound Tigers foil Phantoms in OT

The Sound Tigers ended their three-in-three weekend on a positive note,
stopping the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 4-3.

By Bob Phillips

BRIDGEPORT—Powered by a two goal outburst from Steve Bernier, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers concluded a successful three-in-three weekend with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms before 3,888 fans at the Webster Bank Arena on Sunday. Bridgeport previously split a home-and-home series with the Providence Bruins, winning 4-3 at the WBA on Friday, and dropping a 5-2 decision at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Saturday.

On Sunday, the Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the first turn with two early power play tallies. David Kase scored just 2:53 into the contest, finishing the play after the Phantoms dug the puck on in the corner. German Rubstov and Phil Verone picked up assists on Kase’s second goal of the season.

Lehigh Valley doubled the lead when Valone jammed the puck past Bridgeport netminder Christopher Gibson (2-2-0, 29 saves) at the right post with left than a minute remaining in the first frame. Greg Carey and T.J. Brennan picked up helpers on Valone’s third goal of the young season.

Devon Toews opened the floodgates for Bridgeport and cut its deficit in half midway through the second period. Ben Holmstrom entered the zone and fed Toews along the left wing, and in one motion, he both caught and snapped a quick shot below Hart’s blocker to make it 2-1 at the 10:03 mark.

Toews’ goal was his first of the season and is his sixth point in as many games, dating back to Oct. 7 at Hershey. Jeff Kubiak, who was recalled to the Sound Tigers from Worcester today, also picked the secondary assist on the play.

The Sound Tigers followed that up less than six minutes later and tied the game at 2-2 in the closing seconds of another power play. Bernier was on the receiving end of some puck luck after Josh Ho-Sang centered a pass from the left side that hit a Phantoms defenseman. The puck landed in the crease, right in front of Bernier, who made no mistake banging home his third of the season at 15:53.

Bernier broke the stalemate at 17:15 of the third period to give Bridgeport its first lead of the afternoon. Kieffer Bellows took a shot that was blocked by a Phantoms defenseman, but he regathered the puck in the slot and fired another quick snapshot that hit Bernier and bounced past Hart.

However, 38 seconds later, the Phantoms sucked the life out of the building when Brennan wired home a one-timer off a D-to-D pass from the point - his team-leading 10th point of the season.

For the third time in four games Bridgeport went to overtime, but this time the Sound Tigers had to kill off a penalty after Bourque was called for slashing. Despite heavy pressure from Lehigh Valley, Gibson stood tall and stopped every opportunity thrown his way to take the game into a shootout.

In the Sound Tigers’ first shootout this season, Bourque scored the only goal with a nifty shot over Hart’s glove, off the bar and in. On the other end, Gibson was a perfect 3-for-3 against Phantoms shooters and denied Kase to seal the win for Bridgeport.

The Sound Tigers went 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill.

“I was really happy with the work ethic,” Sound Tigers’ head coach Brent Thompson told Michael Fornabaio of The Connecticut Post. “That’s the hardest thing—the second effort, the third effort, the willingness to engage physically. It didn’t seem like a three-in-three game. It was intense; physical. [It was] a hard fought two points.”

Wang Passes

It was announced before the game that Charles Wang, the Sound Tigers’ co-owner, had passed away. Wang, who purchased the Islanders in 2000—the year before the Sound Tigers came into existence—was 74. He was honored in a pre-game ceremony.

—with staff reports