ABBOTSFORD, BC -- Trevor Smith had a goal and an assist and Nathan Lawson made 47 saves in goal as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers earned a 3-1 victory over the Abbotsford Heat Friday night at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. With the win, the Sound Tigers reach the .500 mark for the season, improving to 10-10-0-1.
 
Greg Mauldin put Bridgeport on the board just one minute into the game. As the Sound Tigers put pressure on in front of the Heat goal, Leland Irving turned aside Justin Dibenedetto’s first scoring opportunity. However, the rebound landed on Mauldin’s stick and he snapped a shot just under the cross-bar for his team leading eighth goal of the season.
 
Mark Flood made it 2-0 midway through the period, scoring his first goal as a Sound Tiger. As the Sound Tigers cycled the puck on the power-play, Flood took a pass from Smith and fired a blast through traffic from the blue line that beat a screened Irving and landed in the back of the net.
 
As the period came to a close, the Heat finally got some pressure on Lawson. With one second remaining, Matt Pelech poked the puck through Lawson’s legs during a scrum in front to cut the Sound Tigers lead to 2-1 after one period.
 
Smith, playing an hour south of where he grew up in Vancouver, scored the only goal of the second period. With 8:32 remaining, Sean Bentivoglio, who had two helpers on the night, picked up a loose puck at his own blue-line and raced up the ice with Smith. As the reached the crease, Bentivoglio slid a pass through the crease to Smith who re-directed the puck into the net, past a sliding Irving for his seventh goal of the year.
 
The third period was scoreless as the Heat finished the game with a 48-27 advantage in shots on goal. Irving made 24 saves in the loss for the Heat.
 
The Sound Tigers and Heat will close out their series Saturday night at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Center. Face-off is set for 9:00 pm EST. The Sound Tigers return home Wednesday, November 25 when they host the Manchester Monarchs at 7:00 pm. For more information and to order tickets, please call TicketMaster at 1-800-745-3000 or log on to www.soundtigers.com.
--SOUND TIGERS--
Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3 At Abbotsford Heat 1 - Status: Final
Nov 20, 2009 - Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre

Bridgeport 2 1 0 - 3
Abbotsford 1 0 0 - 1

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Mauldin 8 (DiBenedetto, Joensuu), 1:01. 2, Bridgeport, Flood 1 (Smith, Bentivoglio), 11:28 (pp). 3, Abbotsford, Pelech 2 (Sutter, Backlund), 19:59. Penalties-Pelech Abb (tripping), 3:34; Aulie Abb (tripping), 11:15; Vandermeer Abb (roughing), 12:01; Moore Bri (interference), 12:50.

2nd Period-4, Bridgeport, Smith 7 (Bentivoglio), 10:37. Penalties-Figren Bri (roughing), 3:06; Vandermeer Abb (roughing), 3:06; Smith Bri (roughing), 3:41; Sutter Abb (hooking), 5:27; Pelech Abb (cross-checking), 14:54; Martin Bri (tripping), 15:25.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Vandermeer Abb (boarding, high-sticking), 2:21; Vandermeer Abb (misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:01.

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 9-12-6-27. Abbotsford 17-25-6-48.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 1 of 7; Abbotsford 0 of 3.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Lawson 5-4-0 (48 shots-47 saves). Abbotsford, Irving 8-7-1 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-3,184
Referees-Frederic L'Ecuyer (48).
Linesmen-Trent Knorr (91), Nathan Vanoosten (96).

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