The Bridgeport Sound Tigers came into their game on Thursday riding a three-game losing streak. Brent Thompson decided to change things around for his lineup as Yannick Turcotte made his first appearance of the season, while Ken Appleby got his first action of the year. It helped the Sound Tigers as they got their first overtime win of the season.

Changes on Both Ends

The Sound Tigers brought Bode Wilde back in the lineup, along with Cole Coskey, Yannick Turcotte and Ken Appleby. While for Hartford, it was more of a change behind the bench.

With Kris Knoblauch, Gord Murphy, and Chris Drury up with the Rangers replacing David Quinn’s staff while they are on COVID-19 Protocol, longtime Wolf Pack Assistant General Manager and former Assistant Coach Pat Boller was the Wolf Pack’s Acting Head Coach. Former Yale Star and Wolf Pack netminder Jeff Malcolm, captain Vincent LoVerde and Skills Coach Brock Ballard all joined Boller on the Wolf Pack bench.

The Game

The first period was a slow one, but when the second began, Hartford scored two quick goals in the first from Ty Ronning and Mike O’Leary. Simon Holmstrom cut the lead in half as he picked up a rebound and beat Tyler Wall. Near the end of the period, the Sound Tigers scored another power-play goal which has been red hot as Cole Coskey ripped a one-timer into the net. The game was tied at two heading to the third.

The Sound Tigers grabbed the lead early in the third period as Samuel Bolduc scored his third goal of the season, all against Hartford, on a weird point shot. The lead didn’t last long as Ty Ronning tipped home a shot for his second goal of the game.

For Ronning, son of former Islander Cliff Ronning, it was his third goal of the year for the Wolf Pack. The game remained close and for the first time this season, the Sound Tigers went to overtime.

The Sound Tigers began overtime with Dmytro Timashov, Otto Koivula and Mitchell Vande Sompel. Bridgeport got the puck down low, when Otto Koivula collided with Wolf Pack defenseman Anthony Bitetto making him wide open. Vande Sompel streaked down low to get one across for Koivula to win the game for the Sound Tigers. The Sound Tigers got their third win of the season on an overtime tally by Koivula and moved to 3-7 on the season.

For Bridgeport, they will be off for nine days, which is tied for the second-longest layoff of all-time in team history.

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.