|
SOUND TIGERS NOTCH THIRD STRAIGHT 40 WIN SEASON
Colley, Bekar, Collins & Stirling power 6-0 home rout of Albany
Listen to the game replay
BRIDGEPORT, CT - The American Hockey League's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, top affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, notched their third 40-win season in as many years of play with a 6-0 home-ice win over the Albany River Rats Sunday as Kevin Colley and Rob Collins tied single-game franchise records with four points and three assists respectively. Derek Bekar also had two goals and an assist, and Goaltender Scott Stirling made 21 saves for a shutout in his first appearance of the year with the team. The Sound Tigers are now 40-23-10-4 on the season with 20 wins both at home and on the road.
Colley opened the scoring with his AHL-career-best 11th goal of the season with 22.9 seconds left in the first period off assists from Bekar and Collins.
The Sound Tigers took complete control of the game with a three-goal second period. Cail MacLean doubled the lead to 2-0 with his sixth goal of the season off assists from Jay Leach and Colley at the 9:02 mark, Bekar made it 3-0 with his 23rd of the year off assists from Colley and Collins 1:32 later, and Martin Kariya upped the advantage to 4-0 with his second goal in as many games and seventh of the season off an assist from Blaine Down with 2:05 left in the middle frame. Kariya is now on a two-game goal and point streak while Down is on a two-game assist and point streak.
Jeff Hamilton scored his League-leading 42nd goal of the season, his franchise-career-record 66th as a Sound Tiger, off an assist from Ryan Kraft 10:13 into the third period, and Bekar closed out the scoring with his second marker of the game and 24th of the year, on the power play, off assists from Colley and Collins. Hamilton is now on a four-game goal and point streak.
Colley was the first star of the game, Bekar was the second, and Stirling, whose only other AHL appearance of the season was a shutout win while on loan to the Portland Pirates, was the third. The Sound Tigers were 1 for 4 on the power play, 4 for 4 on the penalty kill and had a 32-21 shots on goal advantage. Albany's Ari Ahonen made 26 saves in a losing effort.
The Sound Tigers will host the Norfolk Admirals this Thursday at 7:05 p.m. and the Philadelphia Phantoms in a potential showdown for the East Division Championship this coming Saturday in their final two home games of the regular season before finishing the schedule on the road versus the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a possible East Division Semifinal preview next Sunday at 5 p.m. All Sound Tigers games are web cast live at www.soundtigers.com.
The Sound Tigers have already earned a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs and clinched home-ice advantage through at least the East Division Semifinals. If the Sound Tigers catch Philadelphia and finish the regular season in first place in the East Division, they will host games one and two of the East Division Semifinals on Wednesday, April 21st and Friday, April 23rd. If the Sound Tigers finish the regular season in second place in the East Division, they will host games one and two of the East Division Semifinals on Thursday, April 15th and Saturday, April 17th.
|
