Phantom save denies Sound Tigers a win

PHANTOMS 3 SOUND TIGERS 2

BRIDGEPORT— This was going to be amemorable Saturday night for Bridgeport Sound Tigers defenseman Parker Wotherspoon oneway or the other. A little frustration crept in on the special occasion.

Playing against his older brother for the first time, Wotherspoon had a chance to tie the game with 5: 15 left in the third period. Onetime Bridgeport goalie J. F. Berube got across to stop him and preserve the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ 32win at Webster Bank Arena.

“Yeah, he got it. I didn’t get it up, so I just shot it into his pad,” Wotherspoon said. “I had towatch it. Itwas hard to look at.”

Kieffer Bellows’ initial shot had hit a post through traffic and sat to the left side of the net for Wotherspoon, coming in from the left point.

Wotherspoon’s became one of 28 shots for the Sound Tigers, who outshot an opponent for the first time in the first 11 games of their season. They had a 21 lead in the second period on goals by Matt Lorito and, with his first goal in North America, 2019NewYork Islanders firstround draft pick Simon Holmstrom.

Two Phantoms deflections put them back on top. Wotherspoon’s brother, Tyler, took the shot that NicAube Kubel tipped past Christopher Gibson for the winner almost midway through the third, dropping Bridgeport to 1721.

“We outplayed them in the second and third. We controlled most of that game,” Parker Wotherspoon said. “We had opportunities. That’s why it hurts, having that chance to tie it up.”

The teams meet again Sunday at Webster Bank Arena at 5 p. m.

The Islanders sent veteran forward Andrew Ladd to Bridgeport in the morning. Ladd is rehabbing a torn ACL he suffered in March, about a month after another rehab stint he spent with the Sound Tigers.

“For me, my knee felt good, and that was what I wanted to feel today,” Ladd said. “Just try to touch the puck again, play with the puck again. That comfort level will come with more time. Itwas a little choppy. The hands weren’t quite there yet.”

The hands were there to find a seam to set up Holmstrom on a power play. Holmstrom received the pass at the top of the left circle, waited out a sliding defender, dragged the puck to a better angle in the middle to beat Berube.

Attendance was 2,420.