Sound Tigers Squeeze Out 4-3 Win Over Thunderbirds

Bridgeport went perfect on the power play and Otto Koivula broke a
third-period deadlock with his eighth of the year in a 4-3 victory against
the Springfield Thunderbirds on Friday.

SPRINGFIELD—Otto Koivula broke a third-period deadlock with his eighth goal of the season to lead the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to a 4-3 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds before 6,023 fans at the Mass Mutual Center on Friday night. Mike Sislo, Mitch Vande Sompel and Parker Wotherspoon also found the back of the net for Bridgeport, while Michael Dal Colle chipped in with three assists. Bridgeport netminder Christopher Gibson, who turned 26 on Thursday, turned aside 29 shots and improved to 10-4-4.

BOX SCORE

Opening Shots

Sislo opened the scoring with a power-play tally just 4:44 into the contest, snapping a 17-game drought. Following a high-sticking penalty called on the T-Birds’ Sebastian Repo, the Sound Tigers set up in the offensive zone and Travis St. Denis guided a pass to Dal Colle. The third-year forward sent a pass to the left circle where Sislo pulled up below the face-off dot and blasted a one-timer past Springfield goaltender Samuel Montembeault. It was Sislo’s sixth goal of the season, and his second on the power play.

Springfield knotted the score at one apiece at the 15:28 mark when Dryden Hunt forced home a rebound with the Thunderbirds on a five-on-three. With Yannick Rathgeb (tripping) and Kyle Burroughs (boarding) both in the box serving minors, Ian McCoshen hammered a slap shot from the top of the left circle that Gibson stopped with a pad save. However, Matt Marcinew jammed away near the doorstep and Hunt finished the play by flipping the puck top shelf past Gibson’s glove. It was Hunt’s 12th goal of the season.

Joel Lowry gave the T-Birds a one-goal lead with another power-play strike at 9:22 of the second period. With Sislo in the box for hooking and Springfield operating on its fourth man-advantage shift, Jacob MacDonald sailed an initial shot from the blue line that Gibson deflected back, but Lawry dove to the rebound and scored his sixth goal of the season.

Bridgeport answered less than five minutes later to tie the game at 2-2 when Vande Sompel scored his fifth goal of the season, capping a stretch of four straight power-play tallies. With Springfield’s Harry Zolnierczyk in the box for interference, Vande Sompel received Sislo’s pass at the high slot, reached back, and rifled a shot past Montembeault’s glove at the 14:05 mark.

Thirty-five seconds later, Thomas Schemitsch made it 3-2 Springfield with a bank shot from in from in front of the net for his fourth goal of the season. MacDonald found Schemitsch moving through the left circle and the later fired a shot off of a Sound Tiger in front, which deflected past Gibson’s glove at 14:40.

A clutch goal from Wotherspoon with just 0.2 seconds left in the middle frame tied the game for a third time heading into the second intermission. It also changed the entire complexion of the contest. With time running out, Wotherspoon stepped into a lengthy shot from the left point and one-timed the puck through traffic and past Montembeault to make it 3-3. Koivula and Chris Bourque picked up helpers.

Koivula notched the eventual game-winner at 7:13 of the third period when he capitalized on an odd-man rush in transition. Dal Colle grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone and charged down ice to create a three-on-one rush across the Springfield blue line. Dal Colle centered a pass to Bourque who sent it to the right side for Koivula, whose one-timer beat Montembeault’s glove side.

The Sound Tigers are now 14-2-4-1 in one-goal games this season, and lead the AHL in that department. While Bridgeport was outshot by a significant margin (32-23), on a positive note, the Tigers went 2-for-4 on the penalty kill. Montembeault (11-6-2) turned aside 19 of the 23 shots the Sound Tigers took at him between the pipes for the T-Birds.

With the win, the Sound Tigers improve to 20-9-4-1, while the T-Birds fall to 15-11-2-3. The Sound Tigers continue a six-game road trip tomorrow night when they will challenge their in-state archrivals, the Hartford Wolf Pack, at the XL Center. First puck drops at 7 p.m., and the game can be followed online via the Sound Tigers Radio Network and AHLTV, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.

Power-Packed Promos

The Sound Tigers offer an extensive promotion schedule throughout the season, including popular themes like Military Appreciation (Jan. 12), Star Wars Night (Jan. 19), Hockey Weekend in Connecticut (Feb. 23-24), Hockey and Hops (Mar. 17), and Princess Night (Mar. 30). For a complete list of up 2018-19 Sound Tigers promotions click HERE.

For additional information, contact the visit the Sound Tigers’ web site by clicking HERE, or call (203) 345-2300, ext 7.

—Staff Reports