Bridgeport’s Kieffer Bellows crunches Laval defenseman

Xavier Ouellet in the corner on Sunday.

By Bob Phillips





BRIDGEPORT—It’s been a challenging season for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to say the least.









Laval, meanwhile, entered the contest having won five of its last six games, and owned an overall record of 20-15-13-2. With 47 points (16 more than the Sound Tigers), the Rocket were tied for second place with the Rochester Americans in the North Division, just one point behind the pace-setting Utica Comets. Not exactly a recipe for success, right?





Well, as they say, that’s why they play the game





Behind Otto Koivula’s first AHL hat trick, the Sound Tigers raced out to a 3-0 lead midway through the first periods and held on for a 6-4 victory over the Rocket before 4,105 fans at Webster Bank Arena on Sunday. Ryan Bourque, Kieffer Bellows and Nick Schilkey also found the back of the net for Bridgeport. It was the second, and final time the two teams will meet this season.





As the final score would indicate, it was very much a shootout at the O.K. Corral on Sunday. The Sound Tigers raced out to a 3-0 lead by the halfway point of the opening period with one shorthanded goal, one power play goal, and one goal at even strength. Bourque opened the flurry with a shorthanded goal just 2:03 into the contest. With Bellows in the box after being whistled off for boarding, Jeff Kubiak started the rush when he took the puck into to the neutral zone and handed it off to Bourque on the left side. Bourque promptly sent a wrister that eluded Laval rookie netminder Cayden Primeau’s glove. It was the second goal in two nights for Bourque, son of former NHL great Ray Bourque.





Less than four minutes later, Koivula scored for the first time with Bridgeport on the man advantage. Bellows, son of Brian Bellows, the No. 2 overall pick in the 1982 draft by the Minnesota North Stars, guided the puck to Koivula down the right-wing wall and the second-year forward did the rest. He waited and looked before shooting a bank-shot off the back of a Laval skater in front for his fourth of the season. Sebastian Aho also had an assist on the power play goal at the 5:57 mark.





Koivula’s second marker of the period came at 9:37 on a partial break that resulted in a third straight tally. Schilkey sprung Koivula with a lead pass into Laval territory and Koivula raced onto it and deposited a backhanded shot under Primeau’s pads, which chased him from the game. Keith Kinkaid entered the contest in relief after Primeau made just two saves on five shots.





Alexandre Alain got one back for the Rocket on a Bridgeport turnover at 13:01 of the first period. A pass ahead was stolen by Alain and the Laval forward skated between the circles before collecting his ninth goal of the season. It came on a wrist shot past Coreau’s blocker.





The visitors came out firing in the middle frame, outshooting the Sound Tigers 9-1 in the opening four minutes and making it 3-2 at the 3:35 mark. Robert Carpenter failed to clear the zone and Phil Varone moved to the crease, where he was denied on an outstanding pad save by Coreau. The rebound returned to the front of the net and Riley Barber finished it off for his eighth goal of the season.





Koivula capped his first career hat trick at 9:09 of the second period on a nifty centering pass from Bellows. Schley sent a feed to Bellows on the right wing and the latter moved down the wall and appeared to skate behind the net. At the last second, he slipped a pass to the doorstep for Koivula, who buried a one-timer for his sixth goal of the season.





Bellows pushed the Sound Tigers’ lead back to three with his team-leading 15th goal of the season at 11:53 of the second. Immediately following Carpenter’s faceoff win in the right circle, Bellows received the puck and curled in the high slot before snapping a shot past Kinkaid’s glove to make it 5-2.





Laval continued to stay close as the back half wore on. Laurent Dauphin made it 5-3 with a long wrist shot from the point that was deflected by a screen in front and past Coreau at 12:52 of the second. In the third, Varone’s first goal of the season pulled the Rocket to within one at 13:43. Seth Helgeson applied a healthy check to the back of Xavier Ouellet behind the cage, but the puck squirted out to the high slot where Varone launched a forehander past Coreau’s blocker.





A stressful third period included a few more premium chances for the Rocket, but the Sound Tigers earned some insurance and capped the scoring with Schilkey’s empty-netter in the final minute. It was his eighth goal of the season at 19:09.





Bridgeport finished the game 1-for-3 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. The Sound Tigers finished the two-game season series with Laval 9-for-9 on the kill, and with a 1-1-0-0 record. The two teams will not meet again in the regular season.





The Sound Tigers grabbed all three spots on the three-stars list. Koivula, with the hat trick, was named the game’s first star, while Keifer was the game’s second star, and Bourque No. 3.





“It’s been my dream for a long time,” said Koivula, on being tabbed No. 1 after the game on being named the game’s No. 1 star. “I’m happy to get it. We’ll just have to take the positives from this game and move on.”









The Sound Tigers now head to the Ocean State on Friday night where they will challenge the Providence Bruins. Face-off at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center is slated for 7:05 p.m., and fans can follow the action pm the Sound Tigers Radio Network and AHLTV , beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. The two teams will then head back down i-95 for a date at the Webster Bank Arena on Saturday night. Faceoff is at 7 p.m., and fans unable to attend can catch the contest on the Sound Tigers Radio or on AHLTV. Tickets are available at the Webster Bank Arena box office or by clicking HERE

—with staff reports

#soundtigers / @TheSoundTigers / #AHL / @TheAHL / @soundtigers / @RocketLaval

Coming into Sunday’s game with the Laval (Que.) Rocket, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Montreal, Canadiens, the Sound Tigers were riding a seven-game losing streak (0-6-1-0). With an overall 13-22-4-1 record, Bridgeport sat in last place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division. Its 31 points were the second-fewest in the league. Only San Jose had fewer (26). Throw in the fact that the Sound Tigers, the top minor league affiliate of the New York Islanders, were wrapping up a three-in-three (three games in three days—a signature weekend in the AHL). They had dropped the first two games, 4-0 in Springfield on Friday, and 5-2 at home vs. the defending champion Charlotte Checkers on Saturday.