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A day after the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins gave new head coach Mike Sullivan his first win – a 2-1 overtime thriller in Providence, they handed him his first frustrating loss.

In their second road game in as many nights, the Penguins lost to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4-1, thanks to the stellar goaltending of opposing netminder Christopher Gibson.

Gibson stopped 26 of 27 shots on the night, but the Sound Tigers benefited from a Penguins’ miscue in the first period to get on the board.

With the Penguins on a power play, defenseman David Warsofsky couldn’t contain the puck at the blueline and Bridgeport’s Bracken Kearns raced in on a breakaway and beat Matt Murray for a shorthanded goal and a 1-0 lead.

The Penguins fared better on a later power play in the second period when defenseman Will O’Neill put home a rebound from a Bryan Rust shot in front to make it 1-1. O’Neill placed a shot into the top corner over Gibson, but the tie was short-lived.

A minute later, Bridgeport’s Jesse Graham connected for a one-timer to give the Sound Tigers a 2-1 lead.

The Penguins had an opportunity to tie things up again early in the third period when they went on the power play for the fifth time, but couldn’t connect.

Despite playing from behind, the Penguins only managed six shots in the final frame and it was Bridgeport that found the back of the net two more times.

With less than four minutes to play, another miscue came back to bite the Penguins again. This time it was Rust who turned the puck over after skating out toward the side of the crease. Joe Whitney pounced on the loose puck and ripped a backhand shot past Murray to make it 3-1.

The Sound Tigers iced the game after Sullivan pulled Murray and Taylor Beck sent a shot into the empty net for the 4-1 win.

Murray, who was making back-to-back starts, stopped 24 of 27 shots on the night. The Penguins power play was 1 for 5 and two players – Warsofsky and Rust, were a minus-3.

With a 1-1 record to start the season, the Penguins are off for the next six days before hosting Lehigh Valley on Saturday for the home opener.

Times Leader

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