Baby B's smoke Bridgeport 6-1

Verhaeghe scores lone goal for Bridgeport

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring, but the Providence Bruins defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 6-1 on Friday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

Bridgeport wasted no time getting on the board, with Verhaeghe putting home the game’s first goal just 1:14 into the game. Taylor Beck put the puck towards the net where Verhaeghe was waiting for it and slammed home his third goal of the year. It was Verhaeghe’s first point since returning to the lineup after missing five games due to an injury.

The Bruins responded with a pair of quick strikes of their own. First it was Ben Youds sending a shot towards the net that was deflected in front by Brandon DeFazio and beat Christopher Gibson, then Colin Miller did the same thing, beating Gibson from the blue line to make it 2-1 just 4:05 into the game. Alexander Khokhlachev assisted on both goals, which was all the scoring the first would see.

Both teams had a power play in the first period, but neither could score with the man advantage. Alan Quine was robbed by the glove of Jeremy Smith soon after the Bruins made it 2-1, while Sebastian Collberg rang a shot off the crossbar.

Despite the shots favoring Bridgeport 11-10 in the second period, the Bruins scored both goals in the middle frame. Miller got his second of the contest, assisted again by Khokhlachev who found him in front with a sneaky pass. Miller’s second came just 2:28 into the second period.

The Sound Tigers looked like they’d get out of the period only down two, but one of the league’s most dangerous scorers made them pay late in the period. Khokhlachev made a deft drop pass to Frank Vatrano, who fired home his 24th goal of the season in just his 23rd game. The goal came with 44 seconds left in the period, with Khokhlachev getting his fourth assist of the game on the play.

The Bruins piled it on in the third, with Vatrano getting a power play goal with five and a half minutes remaining. Khokhlachev got his fifth and final assist on the play while Miller earned his third point of the night.

Chris Casto finished off the scoring late in the third period with a goal of his own, giving Providence two goals in each period. The Sound Tigers’ power play went 0-for-5 while the Bruins went 1-for-3.

The Sound Tigers face the Bruins again tomorrow night, with the game shifting to Bridgeport and Webster Bank Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.