Sound Tigers fall apart in second, lose 5-3 to Portland

The Sound Tigers lost their second straight game last night, falling to the Portland Pirates 5-3. The game was even until the second, where the Sound Tigers came out flat and left goaltender Mikko Koskinen out to dry for the rest of the game.

The first period had one of the best fights of the season so far as Micheal Haley dropped the gloves with Portland's Corey Tropp. Both combatants threw some pretty good shots, with Haley getting the take down as Tropp lost an edge. As Haley skated away he was bleeding from the left side of his face and it covered the shoulder of his jersey, The only goal in the first came from Sound Tiger defenseman Marc Katic. Katic caught a pass from Brandon Svendsen and fired one towards the net that went past a screened Enroth and into the net to make it 1-0. Shots were 9 to 8 in the period in favor of Portland.

Portland took total control of the game as the second period wore on. With Mark Wotton in the box for goaltender interference, Portland's Paul Byron found the lose puck in front of the net after a blocked shot by Wes O'Neill and put it past a splitting Koskinen and the game was tied 1-1. About a minute later Maxime Legault took a shot using a Sound Tiger defenseman as a screen that beat Koskinen to make it 2-1 Portland. Just about two minutes Svendsen intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and was off to the races. On a breakaway Svendsen was stopped but with Enroth laid out in the crease, Svendsen found the lose puck and put it in to make it 2-2. Another screen gave Portland the lead again, as Justin Bowers put one past a screened Koskinen to make it 3-2. The Sound Tigers were out played in all aspects in the second except on the scoreboard. Portland out shot the Sound Tigers 19 to 12.

In the third period, the Sound Tigers came out with good offensive pressure but still were no where to be found in their own zone. Portland came out and midway through the third, scored two goals in a four minute span. Portland's T.J. Brennan found himself all alone in front of the net as he caught a pass and put it past Koskinen to make it 4-2. Then, Mark Mancari on the power play fired one through four players and into the net, 5-2. Koskinen never had a chance on the shot. From where I sit, even with Koskinen standing at 6'7 you couldn't even see him through the maze of players. Koskinen was pulled from the game and in came Joel Martin for his first appearance with the Sound Tigers. The Sound Tigers had a last ditch effort to come back as Mark Wotton threw one to the the net from behind the goal line and hit off of Enroth's skate and in to make it 5-3, but thats as close as it would get. The Sound Tigers out shot Portland 15-13 in the third.