Ty Wishart scored the game-winning goal as the Norfolk Admirals won a 13 round shootout, 5-4, to post a 2-1 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Sunday afternoon at the Arena at Harbor Yard. The shootout was the longest in Sound Tigers franchise history.
The game was tied 1-1 after regulation and a scoreless overtime session. Blair Jones gave Norfolk the lead in the third round of the shootout, snapping a shot off the goalpost and into the net. Trevor Smith answered right back, sending a shot under Dustin Tokarski's left arm to even the score.
Greg Mauldin put Bridgeport ahead 2-1 in the fifth found, lifting a backhand shot into the top of the goal. Needing to score to keep the Admirals in the game, Mitch Fadden ripped a shot over Scott Munroe's shoulder to send the shootout to sudden death.
Juraj Simek put a backhand shot top shelf in round number eight to put Norfolk on the doorstep of victory. However, Greg Moore used a nice deke move to get a backhand shot past Tokarski to tie the score again. Ryan Cruthers' shot in the 10th round went off the post and in, again putting the Admirals one save away. Bridgeport responded again, as Tyler Haskins faked out Tokarski, switching to his backhand to slip the puck past the sprawled out goaltender and into the net.
Wishart snapped a shot under Munroe's glove to start the 13th round. Down to their final forward, the Sound Tigers turned to Pascal Morency. However, Morency's shot went wide and Norfolk clinched the victory.
"We've been struggling to score," Sound Tigers forward Micheal Haley said. "The bounces haven't been going our way. All we can do is keep our heads up."
Matt Fornataro gave Norfolk the lead with 5:02 left in the first period. With his team on the power-play, Fornataro took a pass from Wishart and drove a shot from the left point that beat a screened Munroe on the glove side. It was Fornataro's fifth goal of the year.
Haley tied the game with 3:49 left in the second period. Haley snapped a shot on goal that Tokarski stopped. The rebound came right back to Haley who sent another shot over Tokarski's shoulder into the top of the net. Jake Gannon assisted on the goal, tallying his first AHL point.
Norfolk outshot Bridgeport 40-37. Munroe made 38 saves on the day while Tokarski stopped 36 shots. Munroe's night included a sprawling glove save on Mitch Fadden and a pad stop on Paul Szczechura in the first period. He also made a nice glove save on a break by Justin Keller in overtime.
Tokarski made two impressive saves in the first period, one early and one late. He stopped Justin DiBenedetto's scoring attempt early on and then made a pad save on Jesse Joensuu's shot from the slot in the final minutes of the frame. Late in the second period, Tokarski stopped Smith's beakaway which Munroe started with a long outlet pass. Tokarski had to withstand Bridgeport's pressure in overtime which included a Smith breakaway shot that landed on top of the net and a Mauldin shot that rang off the post.
The Sound Tigers are back in action Friday night when they visit the Springfield Falcons at 7:30 pm at the MassMutual Center. Bridgeport returns home Saturday as the Sound Tigers host the Manchester Monarchs at 7:00 pm. The game will feature a food drive to benefit Souper Bowl of Caring. For tickets, please call 203-334-GOAL.
