BRIDGEPORT, CONN. – The Providence Bruins headed to Bridgeport, Connecticut on February 13 to take on the Sound Tigers, and left Webster Bank Arena with a 4–3 victory.
The Sound Tigers, who got off to an 0–2 start to the season, headed into the game looking to put a crooked number in the win column, and this desire led to an early goal from center Robert Carpenter. Carpenter scored the dirty goal by crashing the net and tipping a shot from defenseman Grant Hutton to give Bridgeport the early lead.
The teams battled back and forth for a bit, but a Hutton penalty led to a goal for Providence when a wrist shot from defenseman Cooper Zech squeaked by Sound Tigers goaltender Jakub Skarek to tie the score at one.
The rest of the opening frame was scoreless, but a string of penalties led to all of the period’s goals. The Sound Tigers were penalized five times and the Bruins were sent to the box twice, but all of the offense occurred when the Providence had a man advantage. The Sound Tigers broke the tie when a misplayed puck from Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman led to an easy shorthanded goal for center Cole Bardreau.
On the next power play opportunity for Providence, right winger Robert Lantosi potted a goal when he cut to the middle and fired a low shot that soared past Skarek for the tying goal. The tie score would not last long, however, as several minutes and penalties later, a Bruins defensive breakdown led to a shorthanded two-man breakaway for the Sound Tigers, where a slick passing play between forwards Kyle MacLean and A.J. Greer led to MacLean’s first American Hockey League goal.
The Sound Tigers took this 3-2 lead into the third period. The advantage was short-lived as a pass from center Oskar Steen led to a tying goal from left winger Jakub Lauko within the first 30 seconds of the third period. Then, the tie was quickly broken with a Greer penalty leading to a power-play goal from left winger Cameron Hughes. Hughes received the puck on the goal line, and a quick flip of the wrist led to a backhand goal and the first lead of the game for Providence.
The 4-3 lead for Providence is one they would never relinquish, as penalties for both sides didn’t result in any offense and a late empty-net goal for left winger Joona Koppanen gave the game a final score of 5–3 in favor of the Bruins.
The Sound Tigers were notably penalized eight times in the game, and this was a contributing factor to the Providence victory. With the win, the P-Bruins improve to 2–1 on the season while the Sound Tigers fall to 0–3.
The Providence Bruins’ next contest is on Friday, February 19 when they travel back to Bridgeport to take on the Sound Tigers again. The puck will drop at 1 p.m. E.T.
