Greg Moore scored in the second period, then clinched the shootout with a quick snap shot past Wade Dubielewicz, who had made 30 saves in regulation and overtime. The Sound Tigers struggled through two periods before tying the game on Rick Berry's goal, and had already been short-handed seven times on the way to 12. Moore scored on the seventh after a bad-bounce turnover. "We were tight in our own building," Bridgeport coach Dan Marshall said. "Penalties are killing us. The maturity in the first two periods showed, from the (young) forwards. There was no puck poise, very little composure."
Attendance was 5,091 for the sixth-season home opener. After a fast-paced video presentation before the game, player introductions were cut short when the fire alarm sounded three times, cutting out the public-address system. Misfortune continued in the game when the puck appeared to hop on Jeff Tambellini at the Bridgeport blue line, setting up Moore's second-chance goal with 3.0 seconds left in the second period. The flip side of the penalties was that the Sound Tigers' penalty kill went 11-for-12, killing off an overtime power play — Dubielewicz's 30th and final save was a nifty shoulder stop on Jarkko Immonen — and an 84-second five-on-three in the second period, featuring blocked
Bridgeport has given opponents six, nine, nine and 12 power plays in its first four games. "We don't have to practice the PK for about a month," Marshall said. "The past couple of games, we've practiced it for 40 minutes a game."
Berry had tied the game exactly five minutes into the third. The right-point shot sneaked through traffic in front; Frans Nielsen was right in front of Stephen Valiquette.
"There were a bunch of guys there," Berry said. "I just threw it on net."
After each team failed on the power play in overtime, Immonen and Dwight Helminen also tallied in the bonus round for Hartford. Sergei Ogorodnikov had Bridgeport's only shootout score. Peter Ferraro, Luch Aquino and Johan Halvardsson were scratched, along with injured Ryan Caldwell and Brandon Cullen, who have both been practicing.




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