Sound Tigers Earn First Win of the Season Against Hartford
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers got their first win of the season as they defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack by a score of 5-3 at the Webster Bank Arena on Wednesday afternoon. For the Sound Tigers, it was a much-needed victory after losing their first three games of the season.
First Period:
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers’ penalty troubles continued as they took three penalties in the period. Jakub Skarek stole the show making nine saves, a lot throughout the period. Bridgeport was dominated in the period as they only took two shots against rookie goaltender Tyler Wall in his first professional game for the Wolf Pack. With under a minute left to go in the period. Austin Rueschhoff scored his first professional goal. The Wolf Pack led 1-0 after one outshooting the Sound Tigers big time.
Second Period:
Bridgeport had some life at the beginning of the period, given they did not take a penalty throughout the period. Six minutes into the period, Seth Helgeson scored his first goal of the season. Minutes later, Jonny Brodzinski gave the Wolf Pack the lead, but it wasn’t for long as Simon Holmstrom scored his first of the season tying the game at two. The Sound Tigers played better in the second period, with Jakub Skarek making 13 saves. Bridgeport took 10 shots in the second period.
Third Period:
Early in the period, Patrick Newell scored to give the Wolf Pack the lead. Six minutes later, Tanner Fritz found Samuel Bolduc who ripped it past Tyler Wall to tie the game back up at three. It was Fritz’s 131st point, putting him past Justin Mapletoft for 10th all-time in Sound Tiger history. At the six-minute mark, Sam Bolduc found Cole Bardreau with a sweet pass where Bardreau tipped it in past Wall to give the Sound Tigers their first lead of the game. Dmytro Timashov iced the game as he scored an empty-netter with 23 seconds left to boost the Sound Tigers to their first win of the 2020-21 season.
Takeaways:
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers got key contributions from their veterans in their first win of the season. Tom Kuhnhackl, Tanner Fritz, and Cole Bardreau all contributed to the victory. Samuel Bolduc showed why he is touted very highly by Barry Trotz. Bridgeport stayed out of the penalty box from the second period on. One problem remains to be the Power Play which was 0/5 this afternoon. Jakub Skarek also finally got defensive help and made some big saves when he needed to.
The Sound Tigers were able to finally get their first win and will look for another win on Friday when they host Providence.
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.
