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| The Sound Tigers outshot Toronto, but ultimately fell to the Marlies in OT. |
BRIDGEPORT—One of
the coolest things about having an American Hockey League franchise in town is
when teams representing true major league cities come to town. And so it was on
Wednesday night when the Toronto Marlies came to town and delivered a 2-1 overtime
loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers before an announced crowd of 4,888 fans at
the Webster Bank Arena.
After a scoreless first period, the Sound Tigers fired the opening
salvo when Sebastian Aho netted his seventh goal of the season just 1:09 into
the middle frame. After taking a feed from Otto Koivula at the blue line, creating a 2-on-1 opportunity for the Sound
Tigers, Aho and Steve Bernier skated into the zone and executed a give-and-go
in the slot which ultimately resulted in a tap-in for Aho. It was his 39th
point of the season, moving him into a tie for ninth place among AHL
defensemen.The second period ended on a positive note when, after Bridgeport’s Kyle Burroughs was called for hooking with just 1:53 remaining in the middle frame, the Sound Tigers survived a scare on a penalty shot attempt when Toronto’s Tanner MacMaster, who hit the post.
Bridgeport held
on to its one-goal advantage until early in the third period when the Marlies, skating
on a 5-on-3, knotted the score when Dmytro Timashov buried a wrister that beat
Sound Tigers netminder Jeremy Smith on the power play just 2:01 into the frame.
The rest of the period was scoreless, but the Marlies had a great scoring
opportunity foiled when, with Kyle Burroughs in the pen for hooking, former
Quinnipiac star Kyle Burroughs hit the post at the 18:03 mark.
Bridgeport’s
Chris Bourque, son of Bruins’ legend Ray Bourque, was whistled off for hooking
as time expired in the second period, and when Chris Casto was called for
cross-checking just 1:30 into the third, Toronto found itself with a 5-on-3
advantage. Timashov promptly knotted the score when,, after Jeremy Bracco and
Brooks passed the puck up along the left wall, Bracco found Timashov who buried
a wrister past Smith two minutes into the third stanza. Bracco picked up an
assist on Timashov’s 12th marker of the campaign, extending his scoring streak
to six games. Bracco, a 27-year-old right wing from Freeport, Long Island, leads
the AHL in assists with 52 helpers, and is second in the league in scoring with
70 points.
The teams remained
deadlocked through regulation. The contest was ultimately decided in the extra
stanza when Toronto’s Adam Brooks won the puck in the slot, eluded Smith’s poke
check, and buried the winner—his 19th tally of the season—2:38 in.
For the game,
Bridgeport outshot Toronto 31-27. The Marlies were 1-for-2 on the power play,
while the Sound Tigers were blanked (0-for-5) on the man advantage. Smith
(19-10-4) stopped 25 of 27 shots between the pipes for Bridgeport while Toronto’s
Michael Hutchinson (15-6-5) turned aside 30 shots, earning his 15th win of the
season. Despite the setback, the Sound Tigers earned at least a point at home
for the eighth straight game, and reduced its magic number to clinch a playoff
spot to 13.
With the win,
Toronto improves to 35-21-6-4, while Bridgeport, which picked up a point, falls
to 37-20-6-2.
The Sound Tigers now continue
their eight-game homestand on Saturday night when they entertain the Bellville (Ontario)
Senators. It will be Make-A-Wish Night with the Sound Tigers donating a portion
of proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut. In addition, the
first 2,000 fans through the turnstiles will receive a free set of Sound Tigers
trading cards from the 2018-19 season. First puck drops at 7:30 p.m., and the
contest will be available on the Sound
Tigers Radio Network and via AHLTV.
Pre-game coverage will begin at 7:15 p.m.
—with staff reports
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