Rakhshani gets lone goal as Sound Tigers fall 2-1

The Sound Tigers played their second game in two nights tonight against the Hartford Wolf Pack. In a very physical game, the Sound Tigers still could not find the offensive fire power they have been looking for in the last couple games and it showed on the scoreboard as they would lose there third straight 2-1 to the Wolf Pack.

The first period was by far the most physical period played so far this season. With no goals scored in the first period, both teams were battling to take control of the game. Kohn got the first roughing minor of the game when he hit a Hartford player along the boards at 3:44. This would start the long run of penalties in the first. Later as Robin Figren was entering onto the Sound Tigers bench through the door, Hartford's Dane Byers pulled Figren out of the door way and proceeded to jump him. Figren's teammate, Tomas Marcinko, came into stand up for him. Marcinko would receive 2 minutes for roughing and Byers would receive 4 minutes for roughing. With the Sound Tigers on the power play, Rhett Rakhshani went into the defensive end where he was hit hard from behind by Hartford's Kris Newbury, which sparked a skirmish which elevated into a fight between Newbury and Sound Tigers assistant captain, Dylan Reese. Both players would get 5 minute majors and Newbury would get an additional 2 minutes for boarding. Four minutes later Travis Hamonic "dropped 'em" with Hartford's Justin Soryal. Both traded blows behind the Sound Tigers net. The first period saw twelve penalties for the two teams combined. Shots in the first period were for Bridgeport, 10 and for Hartford, 7.

The second period saw the Wolf Pack take control of the game, as they dominated the play through out the period. Rakhshani took an early penalty just .35 seconds into the second period, which led to the first goal of the night. Nigel Williams was able to tip Wade Redden's shot from the point to give the Wolf Pack a power play goal and put them up 1-0. The Sound Tigers managed to kill off the other two penalties they took in the period to keep the score at 1-0. There was very little scoring for Bridgeport in the second as Hartford continued to shut the Tigers down. Bridgeport had 7 shots in the period while Hartford had 10.

In the third, the Sound Tigers picked up their play as they started to generate more scoring chances and picking up the hitting again. At 7:17 after a great play by Klementyev, Rakhshani tapped one past Hartford goalie Chad Johnson. This made the score 1-1. But the lead wouldn't last long as Hartford's Evgeny Grachev found Mats Zuccarello open in the slot who beat Bridgeport goalie Mikko Koskinen high over the glove to give Hartford the lead again at 2-1. The Sound Tigers would get a couple of good chances left in the closing minutes of the game but it was not meant to be as time expired and the horn sounded. The Sound Tigers fell to the Wolf Pack 2-1. Hartford had 10 shots in the third to the Sound Tigers 5.

Poll Results: Justin DiBenedetto won the poll as voted on by the fans for the most likely to score first against Hartford, He did not as Rhett Rakhshani did so.

3 Stars:

#1. Chad Johnson- HAR - 21 Saves against the Sound Tigers.

#2. Rhett Rakhshani- BST - Only goal scored for the Sound Tigers Tonight.

#3. Mats Zuccarello- HAR - Scored game winning goal.

Honorable Mention- Tomas Marcinko- BST - Good job sticking up for Figren when he got in trouble.

Shots:

Bridgeport:22

Hartford:27

Starting Line-ups:

Bridgeport/Hartford

#1-Mikko Koskinen-G/#29-Chad Johnson-G

#2-Dylan Reese-D/#8-Jyuri Nemei-D

#3-Travis Hamonic-D/#6-Wade Redden-D

#6-Jesse Joensuu-LW/#34-Dane Byers-LW

#17-Matt Martin-RW/#18-Jeremy Williams-RW

#24-David Ullstrom-C/#11-Kris Newbury-C