For a team with high hopes coming this season, this is not the start that Brent Thompson and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers wanted. In the first month of the season, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers have gone 1-5-3 to open the season, including five straight losses to close out the month. This is the worst start in franchise history. What is going on in Bridgeport? Why is a team with so much upside not doing that well?

Goaltending

A major piece to the struggles for Bridgeport has been the goaltending. While Chris Gibson has been strong, he got hurt following the loss during the home opener against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Jared Correau has struggled to start the year. In five games played, Correau has a goals against of 4.19, a save percentage of .875% and 21 goals allowed, which is second worse in the AHL as of Oct. 31.
The Sound Tigers called up Jakub Skarek from Worcester who was strong to start with the Railers, but when he started in Hartford, he gave up four goals, including three goals on three straight shots. The Sound Tigers have given up the most goals in the AHL with 35.

Injuries

Another struggle for the Sound Tigers has been injuries and call ups. Of course, Oliver Wahlstrom and Cole Bardreau were both called up.
Bridgeport has also been without Thomas Hickey, Tanner Fritz, Mitch Vande Sompel and the aforementioned Chris Gibson. Otto Koivula and Steve Bernier have both missed time with injuries as well.
A major disappointment to start has been Sebastian Aho, who has not been playing to the best of his ability. Aho and Parker Wotherspoon both have a +/- of -8. The Sound Tigers as a whole only have two players with a +/- over 0, which include Jeff Kubiak and Cole Bardreau, both with +1.

Scoring

Another struggle for this team has been scoring. The Sound Tigers have only scored 17 goals, which is third to last in the AHL. Matt Lorito and Sebastian Aho lead the team each with only four points which is a major concern. Keep in mind, Joshua Ho-Sang is still on a holdout with the organization.
Will Bridgeport rebound? Will call-ups and injuries hurt this team? Only time will tell.
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Christian Gardecki

A Native of Danbury, CT. Christian is one of the longest tenured Drive4Five writers, Christian Gardecki began writing for Drive4five In May of 2017. Christian covers Minor League Hockey and the Bridgeport Islanders for Drive4Five. Outside of Drive4Five, Christian was the captain of his High School Hockey team and currently attends Hofstra University with a major in journalism. Christian was the play by play broadcaster for the Danbury Westerners summer collegiate baseball team during their 2021 NECBL Championship. Christian also was the Public Address Announcer for the Danbury Hat Tricks Minor Pro Hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and NAHL Junior team from 2019-21.