No goals, no glory at home

BRIDGEPORT — Robert Nilsson looked at the scoresheet in wonder Sunday night. His line had taken 14 shots. His Bridgeport Sound Tigers' team got shut out. Springfield goalie Karri Ramo, a rookie from Finland, made 34 saves to lead the Falcons to a 3-0 victory at the Arena at Harbor Yard. "We had a lot of decent opportunities today, and they didn't go in," said Nilsson, who took seven shots. "The first shift, we could have had three goals. If we just score one goal, it's a different kind of game."

Before the game was eight minutes old, Jeff Tambellini had three great chances on the way to five first-period shots; Ramo robbed all three. The last was a picture-perfect rush involving the entire line, Nilsson up to Frans Nielsen to Tambellini on the right, and Ramo got across for a left-pad beauty.

The Falcons didn't score until the second period, the first of veteran Norm Milley's two goals, but they had survived an early onslaught when that line had appeared way too quick for them. "The save in the first period on the two-on-one might have been the turning point in the game, as silly as it may sound, that early," said Springfield coach Steve Stirling, the former Bridgeport coach. "They get one there, they get excited, and we've been struggling."

Ramo later got a shoulder on a Jeremy Colliton shot that then hit the crossbar. Attendance was 3,512 as Ramo, 20, earned his first victory in North America and the Falcons snapped a four-game losing streak.

Bridgeport

has scored one goal in two home games. Coach Dan Marshall worried his young forwards might be nervous at Harbor Yard, "holding their sticks too tight," lacking confidence under the home pressure. "You see it on the road, they're a lot looser," Marshall said. Nilsson didn't feel that tension, and the way his line opened the game, who could blame him? "The first, second periods, I think we were way better than them," Nilsson said. "They scored the goals we gave them. We've got to do better in our home barn. It's still our rink. This is where we're supposed to win."

The Sound Tigers failed on a 100-second five-on-three in the second period while the game remained scoreless, part of an 0-for-7 power-play night. "Guys are not bearing down, getting a guy in front, paying the price," Marshall said. "The goalie was seeing everything."

Ramo then stopped Blake Comeau when the rookie skated around a defenseman and was one-on-one with the goalie. Milley scored on a diving redirect 45 seconds later. Zdenek Blatny made it 2-0 at 2:01 of the third off Jared Aulin's home-run pass, getting Sound Tigers' goalie Wade Dubielewicz to commit early and skating around him. Milley finished it on a breakaway.

Springfield 0 1 2 — 3

Bridgeport

0 0 0 — 0

First Period — No scoring. Penalties — Wotton, Bpt (boarding), 9:14; Halvardsson, Bpt (hooking), 14:54; Spina, Spr (hooking), 16:56; Dufresne, Spr (holding), 19:00.

Second Period — 1, Springfield, Milley 2 (Jones, Healey), 15:05. Penalties — Rogers, Spr (tripping), 1:29; Mitchell, Bpt (high-sticking), 4:48; Wotton, Bpt (goaltender interference), 6:43; Fritz, Spr (tripping), 10:16; Cavanaugh, Spr (goaltender interference), 10:35; Kvapil, Spr (hooking), 19:07.

Third Period — 2, Springfield, Blatny 4 (Aulin, Kvapil), 2:01. 3, Springfield, Milley 3 (Healey), 13:44. Penalties — Nilsson, Bpt (tripping), 6:55; Colliton, Bpt (hooking), 7:07; Jones, Spr (unsportsmanlike conduct-diving), 12:53; Regier, Bpt (interference), 12:53; Berry, Bpt (hooking), 15:15; O'Brien, Spr (slashing), 16:20; Fata, Bpt (interference), 18:18.

Shots on goal — Springfield 8-9-10 — 27. Bridgeport 15-12-7 — 34.

Power play opportunities — Springfield 0 of 8, Bridgeport 0 of 7.

Goaltenders — Springfield, Ramo 1-2-0 (34 shots-34 saves). Bridgeport, Dubielewicz 2-1-1 (27-24). Attendance — 3,512. Referee — J. Koharski. Linesmen — Cooke, Spannaus.