P-BRUINS FALL TO SOUND TIGERS
Providence Records Season-High 47 Shots
Providence,
RI - The Providence Bruins fell to the Bridgeport
Sound Tigers 4-1 this evening at the Dunkin'
Donuts Center. Kyle MacKinnon scored
the single goal for Providence, assisted by Jamie Arniel and Kirk
MacDonald.
Looking for their second consecutive win against the Sound Tigers, the Providence
Bruins opened the frame with a power play at 1:41. Rapid yet deft playing
persisted without reward for either team for the majority of the period. The
stalemate was finally interrupted by the Sound Tigers at 15:06 after seven prior
attempts on goal. P-Bruins goalie Michael
Hutchinson let the eighth one in, giving Rhett Rakhshani his 19th goal of the season. The
P-Bruins needed to win this particular meeting to gain necessary points in the
final push for a playoff spot. Thus, tensions were understandably high as the
Sound Tigers were granted their first power-play of the game after a fight was
incited by Andrew Bodnarchuk with a
minute left in the frame. Despite a breakaway by Calle Ridderwall, goalie Kevin
Poulin remained solid between the posts blocking all 14 shots on goals by
the P-Bruins. Unable to answer the Sound Tiger's lone point, the P-Bruins
entered the first intermission down by one.
The P-Bruins came out swinging at the start of the second frame. Fans were teased at 3:58 when the
P-Bruins appeared to have posted their first goal of the night. However, the
tally was withdrawn after officials declared Kyle MacKinnon to have crossed the goal line. The game adopted a
hard-hitting pace that resulted in a roughing call on the Sound Tiger's Jeremy Colliton with less than nine
minutes left. Tommy Cross made his
professional debut and consequently received his first pro penalty for tripping
at 15:30. Cross, fresh from Boston College signed his entry-level contract to
the P-Bruins earlier this week. The penalty kill proved detrimental to the
P-Bruins defense because at 16:17 the Sound Tigers' Tony Romano collected his 12th goal of the season. Bridgeport
went into the second intermission with a 2-0 lead.
The third frame brought
three goals to the scoreboard. The P-Bruins cut the Sound Tiger's lead in half
at the 5:40 mark. MacKinnon netted his 8th goal of the season with
the help of MacDonald and Arniel. The smooth up-close corner shot snuck by
Bridgeport goalie Poulin. However,
the momentum was short lived. An away team power play at 10:24 had Josh Hennessy in the penalty box for
high-sticking. Soon after, Bridgeport's Kael
Mouillierat was charged with roughing at 14:18. Upon reentering the ice,
Mouillierat assisted Ty Wishart at
17:07 for his 5th goal of the season, giving Bridgeport a 3-1
lead. The P-Bruins responded to
the point by pulling Hutchinson from the goal. The Sound Tiger's Aaron Ness seized the opportunity of an
open net to claim his 5th goal of the season and was assisted by Jordie Johnston and Rhett Rakhshani. Hutchinson was then restored to goal
for the remaining minutes of play. Unable to carry their Easter-Sunday win
against the Sound Tigers over to tonight, the Providence Bruins ended their
74th regular season game with a 4-1 loss, despite recording a season-high 47
shots. The win secured the Sound Tigers the Northeast
Division Title.
The P-Bruins travel to Albany tomorrow and will return to The Dunk on Sunday, April 15 for their final game of the 2011-12 regular season
versus the Portland Pirates. The
puck drops at 4:05 p.m. for Team Poster Night. The first 1,000 fans
will receive free posters courtesy of Vintage Graphic Solutions and University
Orthopedics. To purchase our special ticket offers or for more information,
call the Providence Bruins ticket office at (401) 273-5000 or log on to the team website at www.providencebruins.com.
