3-2 Loss at Bridgeport Ends Pack Win Streak
Dec 27, 2018(Photo courtesy of Bridgeport Sound Tigers)
Scott Eansor scored two goals, including the shorthanded game-winner, Thursday night at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT, to lift the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Wolf Pack, in the front half of a home-and-home set between the two teams.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Wolf Pack, who got goals from Ville Meskanen and Vinni Lettieri. Dustin Tokarski made 28 saves. It was the first game after the Christmas holiday for both clubs.
“I thought the first period had pretty good pace, especially for both teams coming out of Christmas break, and that we had good pressure for blocks of the game,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said. “But the mistakes we made, they capitalized on. Any time you’re coming out of a few days off, you have to make sure that you play in straight lines, you take care of the puck. And for the most part, we did, but the couple times we didn’t, it cost us.”
Bridgeport opened the scoring on its first shot of the game, Eansor’s first goal of the night, at 2:17. After the Wolf Pack lost control of the puck in center ice, Tanner Fritz moved into the Wolf Pack zone on a 2-on-1 with Eansor, Fritz passed the puck across the slot to Eansor on the left side, and his quick shot beat Tokarski.
The Wolf Pack equalized only 1:31 later, at 3:48, on Meskanen’s seventh goal of the year. Chris Bigras carried the puck over the Bridgeport line and stopped up at the right point, before snapping a shot at the net. The bid was deflected on goal, and Sound Tiger netminder Jeremy Smith (23 saves) made the stop but could not control the rebound, and Meskanen flicked it in.
Bridgeport grabbed the lead back in a 4-on-4 situation at 10:36. Kyle Burroughs stickhandled around the Wolf Pack net to the left side and fed a pass to Kieffer Bellows, whose quick shot from just below the top of the circles found the back of the net.
The two clubs traded goals in the second period, with Lettieri scoring for the Wolf Pack and Eansor netting his second of the game for Bridgeport.
Lettieri drew the Wolf Pack even at 13:20, off of a quick-developing 2-on-1 with Steven Fogarty. Fogarty handed the puck to Lettieri at the left side of the slot, and he gunned a quick bullet that went high into the net behind Smith.
Eansor stunned the Wolf Pack with a shorthanded goal, though, with only 22.9 seconds remaining in the second. He was able to work the puck away from John Gilmour in the Wolf Pack zone, and head in alone on Tokarski. Eansor faked a forehand shot and then slipped a backhander through Tokarski’s pads, for what would turn out to be the game-deciding goal.
“Just a bad hop and a turnover,” McCambridge said, “in a real tough area of the ice to turn the puck over, especially at that period of the game, end of the second.”
The Sound Tigers protected the lead throughout a scoreless third period, dropping the Wolf Pack’s record on the season to 14-15-1-2.
The Wolf Pack and Sound Tigers complete the home-and-home Saturday night at the XL Center. Faceoff is 7:00 PM, and the first 2,000 fans into the XL Center for that game will receive a free Wolf Pack team trading card set, presented by CM Concessions.
Tickets for all 2018-19 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499. Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $13 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase.
Season ticket information for the Wolf Pack’s 2018-19 AHL season can be found on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com. To speak with a representative about all of the Wolf Pack’s many attractive ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.
Hartford Wolf Pack 2 at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3
Thursday, December 27, 2018 - Webster Bank Arena
Hartford 1 1 0 - 2
Bridgeport 2 1 0 - 3
1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Eansor 4 (Fritz), 2:17. 2, Hartford, Meskanen 7 (Bigras, O'Gara), 3:48. 3, Bridgeport, Bellows 8 (Burroughs, Wotherspoon), 10:36. Penalties-Vande Sompel Bri (holding), 8:50; served by Gilmour Hfd (bench minor - too many men), 10:24; Hajek Hfd (cross-checking), 12:17.
2nd Period-4, Hartford, Lettieri 8 (Fogarty), 13:20. 5, Bridgeport, Eansor 5 19:37 (SH). Penalties-Wallin Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct - playing without helmet), 7:01; Fogarty Hfd (boarding), 10:52; Casto Bri (hooking), 18:48.
3rd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Schneider Hfd (instigating, fighting, game misconduct - instigator (last 5:00, game misconduct - aggressor), game misconduct - aggressor), 16:57; Jones Bri (roughing), 16:57.
Shots on Goal-Hartford 9-7-9-25. Bridgeport 10-10-11-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 2; Bridgeport 0 / 5.
Goalies-Hartford, Tokarski 7-4-1 (31 shots-28 saves). Bridgeport, Smith 10-5-1 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-5,098
Referees-Peter MacDougall (45), Olivier Gouin (54).
Linesmen-Bill Lyons (27), Brian Pincus (25).