Michael Haley scored a hat trick and Ty Wishart added two goals for the Sound Tigers.
Springfield's Maksim Mayorovgets keeps his eye on the puck Friday against the Connecticut Whale at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. By MIKE FORNABAIO
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Until about an hour before Saturday’s game at Webster Bank Arena, the Springfield Falcons and Bridgeport Sound Tigers were in danger of being postponed.
The Falcons doubtlessly wish that water main had remained broken.
The Sound Tigers scored three goals in the first period and three in the second to win 8-1, the Falcons’ worst loss in almost four years.
“We’ve got to move on. That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Springfield coach Rob Riley said. “It happened. It’s over. We had a good effort (Friday) night.”
The pain of that overtime loss on Friday was replaced by a tough night all around Saturday.
“We’ve got to throw it away,” defenseman Patrick Cullity said. “We’ve got another game in less than 24 hours. It’s a quick turnaround.”
Bridgeport staff arrived at the arena early Saturday to discover a pond in back of the building. Crews from the local water company worked to repair the water-main break, completing the job and restoring water service a little more than an hour before the 7 p.m. start.
The Falcons had their chances early. Bridgeport received four minor penalties in the first period alone. But the Falcons did nothing with them.
Trailing 4-1 after Alexandre Giroux got them on the board, the Falcons had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:50. Bridgeport limited them to three shots.
“Just nothing worked,” Riley said. “Special teams, five-on-five – we didn’t have it.”
Bridgeport’s Michael Haley recorded his first AHL hat trick. Defenseman Ty Wishart, who came in with two goals in 46 games, scored two more.
The Sound Tigers’ first six goals came against Manny Legace, who made 22 saves. Paul Dainton replaced him to start the third and allowed Haley’s and Wishart’s last goals, 52 seconds apart.
“They’ve been dealing with injuries, too,” Riley said. “We don’t have many alternatives right now. (Curtis) Sanford is out (with parent Columbus). We’ve got to figure it out.”
Bridgeport took a lead 55 seconds into the game on Matt Donovan’s wraparound. Haley’s first goal increased the lead with 2:47 left in the period, and former Falcons forward Trevor Frischmon made it 3-0 on a breakaway.
Springfield hadn’t given up eight goals since Feb. 3, 2010, in an 8-4 loss to Worcester, and hadn’t lost by a margin wider than six since a10-1 loss at Hartford on March 29, 2008. The eight goals was a team record for Bridgeport in its 11th season.
Maybe a tiny bright spot for Springfield was getting two forwards back from injury. Chris D’Alvise made his AHL season debut; he hadn’t played since suffering a concussion in training camp. D’Alvise had a goal and four assists in four games with Stockton (ECHL).
Cody Bass also returned after missing 11 games with a shoulder injury
“We’ll see how they’re doing, how ready they are to keep playing,” Riley said.
Theo Ruth returned from a two-game league suspension, so Springfield scratched defenseman Brett Motherwell, who played for the Sound Tigers last season and part of the year before.