BOX SCORE

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Feb. 2, 2013) – Sound Tigers forward Brock Nelson recorded his first professional hat trick and Kevin Poulin made 26 saves as Bridgeport defeated the Norfolk Admirals 4-1 at Webster Bank Arena on Saturday night. With the win, the Sound Tigers improve to 21-19-2-3 overall. The Admirals fall to 18-23-2-1.

Nelson hadn’t scored since Dec. 14 at Norfolk when he suffered a jaw injury that kept him out of the lineup until Jan. 11. The rookie center had just three assists in eight games since returning from the injury, but scored twice on the power play and added an empty-netter on Saturday night to clinch the win for the Sound Tigers.

The Sound Tigers trailed 1-0 after Peter Holland scored on a 5-on-3 midway through the first period, but Nelson would respond with his own goal on the two-man advantage to even the score. Norfolk’s Brayden Irwin and Matt Smaby took successive penalties late in the opening frame to create a 5-on-3 that carried into the second period. 37 seconds into the middle stanza, Nelson found the rebound from Ty Wishart’s point shot and put it past Norfolk goaltender Igor Bobkov to tie the game at one.

Special teams dictated the game’s outcome, as the Sound Tigers went 2-for-6 on the man-advantage and were 6-for-7 on the penalty kill. That included a crucial two-man disadvantage in the second period, when both defensemen Jon Landry and Nathan McIver took penalties to give the Admirals nearly 3:30 of power play time. However, Poulin and the penalty kill held their ground to keep the game tied at one.

The score remained even until the 6:55 mark of the third period when Nelson netted his second power play goal of the evening. Bobkov ended up without his stick during the penalty kill, and Nelson took advantage by sending a quick shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle through Bobkov’s legs to put the Sound Tigers ahead 2-1.

Nino Niederreiter provided insurance with his 20th goal of the season just 2:19 later. Dallas Jackson fought to keep the puck in the Norfolk zone, and Mike Halmo sent the loose puck towards the Admirals net. Niederreiter battled to earn position in front of Bobkov and deflected the puck over Bobkov’s glove to push the Bridgeport lead to two.

Nelson finished off his first pro hat trick with an empty net goal with 45.5 seconds left in the game. Scott Campbell won a pivotal draw in the Sound Tigers zone, Nelson stole a Norfolk pass and skated the puck into the Admirals’ zone before buring the empty-netter to clinch a 4-1 victory.

Poulin earned his second straight victory in his third start in three nights, making 26 saves including 21 over the final two periods to earn his 14th win of the season.

The Sound Tigers return to action next Saturday night when they continue their homestand against the Portland Pirates. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.

NOTES: Niederreiter’s goal was his first point in five games … Nelson’s hat trick was the first this season for the Sound Tigers and the first since Micheal Haley’s hat trick in an 8-1 win over Springfield on Feb. 11, 2012 … Nathan McIver’s penalty gave him 200 PIMs on the season; the single-season record for penalty minutes is held by Eric Godard (295, 2004-05) … Ty Wishart has five points (2g, 3a) over his last three games … The Sound Tigers have scored a power play goal in 15 of their 20 home games … Kenny Reiter, who was recalled from Fort Wayne (ECHL) earlier in the morning, served as Kevin Poulin’s backup.

THREE STARS
1. BRI: Brock Nelson
2. BRI: Kevin Poulin
3. BRI: Sean Backman

Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Forwards
40 Mike Halmo – 29 Brock Nelson – 22 Nino Niederreiter
23 John Persson – 14 Matt Watkins (A) – 77 Kirill Kabanov
42 Brandon DeFazio – 4 Scott Campbell – 20 Blair Riley
18 Chad Costello – 5 Jack Combs – 16 Sean Backman

Defensemen
46 Matt Donovan – 6 Ty Wishart
27 Aaron Ness – 8 Nathan McIver (A)
2 Dallas Jackson – 7 Jon Landry (A)

Goaltenders
38 Kevin Poulin (starter)
30 Kenny Reiter

Norfolk Admirals
Forwards
38 Jay Rosehill – 19 Patrick Maroon – 17 Luca Caputi
24 John Mitchell – 22 Peter Holland – 23 Dan Sexton
13 Josh Brittain – 16 Rod Pelley – 18 Chris Wagner
12 John Kurtz – 29 Brayden Irwin – 27 Matt Kennedy

Defensemen
25 Matt Smaby – 5 Nate Guenin
10 Gabe Guentzel – 2 Mat Clark
3 Ryan Parent – 6 Jordan Hendry

Goaltenders
35 Igor Bobkov (starter)
43 Jeff Deslauriers