Joey Mormina had a goal and two assists and Jon Matsumoto added a goal and an assist as the Adirondack Phantoms scored three unanswered goals in the third period en route to a 4-2 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the annual Cool Fun 101 game Wednesday morning at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Greg Mauldin scored two goals for Bridgeport.
Special teams proved to be the difference in the game as the Phantoms scored three goals in nine power-play chances while the Sound Tigers were held scoreless in seven chances with the man advantage.
Adirondack led 1-0 after a hard-hitting first period on the strength of a Matsumoto power-play goal. After the Sound Tigers turned over a clearing attempt in their own zone, Joonas Lehtivouri pounced on the puck and fed it to Matsumoto who snapped a quick shot into the goal for his fifth tally of the season.
With 4:49 left in the second period, Mauldin was awarded a penalty shot after being hauled down as he drove to the net on a breakaway. On the penalty shot, he deked Phantoms goaltender Johan Backlund and fired a backhand shot high into the net for the goal.
Mauldin struck again with 11:30 left in the third period on a nice individual effort. After taking a pass from Jesse Joensuu, Mauldin worked his way through two Phantom defenders, switching to his backhand in time to fire a shot top-shelf to make it 3-2 Sound Tigers. The lead was short-lived, however, as Stefan Legin scored just 10 seconds later to tie it up again. After Mormina led a break up the ice, Patrick Maroon put a shot on net that Nathan Lawson turned aside. Legein was trailing the play and fired home the loose rebound.
After Legein tied it, Andreas Nodl scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 4:52 left, snapping a wrist-shot from the blue-line on the power-play. Mormina scored his first goal of the year in another power-play situation with 1:19 left to complete the scoring.
The Sound Tigers held a 31-26 advantage in shots on goal. Backlund made 29 saves to earn the victory for the Phantoms while Lawson stopped 22 shots in a losing effort.
The Sound Tigers are back in action Friday night when they visit the Springfield Falcons at 7:30 pm. The Sound Tigers will be on home ice again Saturday night at 7:00 pm for their first meeting of the year with the Hartford Wolf Pack. For tickets, please call TicketMaster at 1-800-745-3000.
