The Bridgeport Report: Week 13

Otto Koivula added four more points to his stellar season in the American Hockey League last week as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (21-9-4-1), proud AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders, swept their second consecutive three-game series. Koivula scored two goals and added two assists, helping the Sound Tigers improve to 47 points in just 35 games - second-most in the league. The club has now won seven of its last nine contests.
It was one of Bridgeport's toughest weeks during its first-half schedule, as the Sound Tigers faced the Hartford Wolf Pack (15-15-2-2) and Springfield Thunderbirds (15-11-4-3) immediately following their four-day holiday hiatus. All three games came down to just one goal.

The club approaches the halfway mark of 2018-19 later this week, currently sitting second in the Atlantic Division, four points behind the league-leading Charlotte Checkers (51 points).

The Sound Tigers opened their post-holiday tripleheader with a 3-2 victory over Hartford at Webster Bank Arena on Thursday. Scott Eansorscored twice to push his goal-scoring streak to three games, while Kieffer Bellowsadded his eighth tally of the season to propel Bridgeport to its league-best 12th win at home. Between the pipes,Jeremy Smith (10-5-1) made 23 saves on 25 shots to earn his third straight win. Bridgeport also extended its unbeaten in regulation streak at Webster Bank Arena to 15 games (12-0-2-1, team record).
On Saturday, the Sound Tigers converted on both of their power plays and Koivula broke a third-period deadlock with his eighth goal of the year in a 4-3 victory against Springfield at the MassMutual Center on Friday. Mitch Vande Sompel, Parker Wotherspoonand Mike Sislo(first goal since Nov. 11) also found the back of the cage, while Michael Dal Colle led all players with three assists prior to his second NHL call-up this season. Christopher Gibson (10-4-4) backstopped the effort with 29 saves one day after his 26th birthday as the Sound Tigers opened a six-game road trip.

Bridgeport moved 12 games above .500 with its seven win beyond regulation on Saturday, topping the Wolf Pack in overtime, 3-2, at the XL Center. Travis St. Denis scored with less than 34 seconds left to lift the Sound Tigers to their third win in a row against the Wolf Pack as well. Bellows and Koivula also found the back of the cage, while Jeremy Smith made 31 saves, including several timely stops in the third period.
Bridgeport ventures outside of the Atlantic Division this week and opens 2019 with a tour of New York State. The Sound Tigers face the top two teams in the North Division - the Rochester Americans (20-11-2-0) on Wednesday and the Syracuse Crunch (20-8-2-0) on Friday - followed by a matchup against the Binghamton Devils (15-19-3-0) on Saturday. Bridgeport is 3-1-1-0 against North Division opponents so far this season.
Fans can follow all of the action online via the Sound Tigers Radio Network and AHLTV, beginning with the pre-game show 15 minutes before each listed start time.
News and Notes:
St. Denis Comes In Clutch: Third-year forward Travis St. Denis pushed the Sound Tigers above .500 on the road for the first time this season when he scored the overtime winner at the 4:26 mark on Saturday. It was his team-leading second OT winner this season and his third game-winner goal overall, tied with Chris Bourque and Steve Bernier. In addition, it was St. Denis' fourth career overtime-winning goal for Bridgeport, which is second-most in team history. The Quinnipiac University product is tied for ninth of the Sound Tigers in goals this season (nine) and tied for sixth in points (19).
Koivula Keeps Collecting:New York Islanders' 2016 fourth-round pick Otto Koivulahas showed no signs of slowing down in his first professional season in North America. The Nokia, Finland native chipped in his eighth and ninth goals of the season last week and is up to fifth on the team in scoring (21 points in 31 games). He is third on the team with seven multi-points games and the Sound Tigers are 7-1-0-0 when he scores a goal. Koivula, the Sound Tigers' youngest player at 20-years-old, also leads the team with a plus-14 rating and is fourth among all AHL rookies in that department.

Start Me Up: The Sound Tigers struck first in all three games last week and have now recorded the opening goal in 11 of their last 12 outings. In fact, Bridgeport has scored first 22 times this season (tied for second-most in the AHL) and continues to be one of the league's strongest teams early in games. The club's 41 first-period goals are tied for second in the AHL and the Sound Tigers are currently 18-2-1-1 when scoring first.
Quick Hits: Jeremy Smithwent 6-1-0 with a 2.12 goals-against-average during seven starts in December and is now 11th in the AHL with a 2.62 goals-against-average… Koivula is tied for 15th among league rookies with 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists)… Sebastian Aho is tied for fourth among AHL defensemen with 23 points (three goals, 20 assists)… Aho is third among blue-liners in assists…Steve Bernier is tied for third in the AHL with eight power-play goals and fourth in shooting percentage (27.9%)… Bridgeport is 14-0-0-0 when scoring at least four goals in a game… Michael Dal Colle notched his first NHL point with an assist in the Islanders' 4-0 win at Toronto on Saturday.
Team Leaders
Goals: Michael Dal Colle* (16)
Assists: Sebastian Aho, Josh Ho-Sang* (20)
Points:Michael Dal Colle (28)
Plus/Minus:Otto Koivula (+13)
Penalty Minutes:Travis St. Denis (62)
Power-play goals: Steve Bernier (8)
Shots: Kieffer Bellows (82)
Wins: Jeremy Smith (11)
*Currently playing with the New York Islanders (NHL)

The week ahead:
Wednesday, Jan. 2 at Rochester Americans (7:05 p.m.):The Sound Tigers look to ring in the New Year with their fourth straight victory. Bridgeport will battle Rochester for the third time this season and the first of two meetings at Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks won the first two matchups at Webster Bank Arena in October, including a 3-2 overtime win on Oct. 14. Rochester forward Victor Oloffson led all players with four points (two goals, two assists) on the weekend, helping him win CCM/AHL Player of the Week honors.
Friday, Jan. 4 at Syracuse Crunch (7 p.m.): Bridgeport and Syracuse line up head-to-head for the first of two matchups this season, and the only tilt at the Oncenter War Memorial Arena. The Sound Tigers went 0-2-0-0 against the Crunch in 2016-17, including a 4-1 setback in Upstate New York on Mar. 23.

Saturday, Jan. 5 at Binghamton Devils (7:05 p.m.): The Sound Tigers face the Devils for the second and final time this season and will attempt to sweep the two-game series. Bridgeport scored four power-play goals en route to a 7-3 victory at Webster Bank Arena on Nov. 7, in which Chris Bourque had three points (one goal, two assists) and Travis St. Denis scored a pair. The Sound Tigers suffered a loss in their only trip to Binghamton last season, 2-1 on Oct. 7, 2017.
Affiliate Report
The ECHL's Worcester Railers H.C. (13-14-3-2) completed 2018 with back-to-back losses and currently sit sixth in the North Division standings. Last time out, the Railers suffered a 3-1 setback to the Maine Mariners on Saturday, but former Sound Tiger Ryan MacKinnon had one assist and now boasts a five-game point streak entering 2019. Worcester opens a three-game, three-day road trip through the Palmetto State this Friday with a 7:05 p.m. matchup against the South Carolina Stingrays. The series shifts to Greenville on Saturday for a weekend doubleheader against the Swamp Rabbits.