By: Chris Nosek

On Saturday, December 6th, the American Hockey League saw the Bridgeport Islanders host the Hartford Wolf Pack. The two teams are battling for 6th place in the Atlantic Division and are separated by only two standings points. This match up had two young goaltenders. They are both trying to prove to their organization they should stay part of the team’s future.

For the visiting Wolf Pack, it was 22-year-old Callum Tung getting the starters crease. Meanwhile, the home team countered with their 25-year-old from Finland, Henrik Tikkanen. Tung signed this past offseason after his season with the UConn Huskies of the NCAA ended. Meanwhile, Tikkanen was drafted by the Islanders in the 7th round back in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. This was the second start in Bridgeport for Tikkanen this season. He started the year in Worcester with the Railers in the ECHL. Last season was a shaky one for Tikkanen as he started 30 games for Bridgeport and posted a .865 save percentage and a 4.12 goals against average.

Tikkanen was solid for the Islanders in this one. He only surrendered two goals while facing a total of 20 shots. Both goals he allowed came during the second period. The first goal came 24 seconds into the frame. The second followed just under five minutes later. Justin Dowling scored the first goal with a shot from the slot. He beat Tikkanen on his glove side. This shot will need more looks. The replays available show that the puck might have been deflected right as the shot was occurring. This could explain why the puck appears to dip late in its trajectory. This contributes to its “change-up” like movement, throwing off Tikkanen’s ability to make the save.

The second goal for Hartford was bit more worrisome for Tikkanen to allow. However, the goal game during a 4-on-3 powerplay for Hartford and was off the stick of Brennan Othmann. Othmann has been fighting for an NHL roster spot all season. He played with the Rangers for 22 games last season. As seen in the diagram below, Tikkanen gets very low in his crouch. He leaves a large part of the net open above his right shoulder. Shooters at the NHL level will frequently find this spot.

The performance from Callum Tung was much more worrying for the Wolf Pack. Tung would allow three goals on just seven shots in the first period. Concern began prior to puck drop. Tung appeared to struggle to find a way to settle in during pregame warmups. He appeared antsy, preoccupied, and never really seemed to fit confidence in his angles.

The first goal came just shy of three minutes into the game. Adam Beckman took the shot for the goal. He received the puck on a great drop pass from Liam Foudy. The shot beat Tung on his glove side. This was also the short side. Tung wasn’t properly in line with his post. He reacted significantly late to the shot. Additionally, he was too deep in his crease given where the shot was taken from. There was a slight screen, but not enough that he shouldn’t have been able to make the save.

The second goal was scored by Cam Thiesing. It came from a shot that beat Tung on the short side. This time, it was over his blocker. Tung had a clean look at the shot from the slot. He was just off his angle enough to allow the shot to beat him. This goal, plus the third goal he allowed, highlight his struggles to read the play at the AHL level. The third goal was another shot from the slot. The major concern on this shot was how much goal he left exposed. As seen in the image below, when the puck is shot, Tung covers only a small portion of the goal. There is significant shooting space for Foudy to take advantage of, because Tung is deep in his crease. He proceeds to react to the shot after the puck is already behind him.

SUMMARY:

The Bridgeport Islanders saw a great game from Henrik Tikkanen. He showed that the AHL is the proper spot for him to continue his development. There are still some minor concerns to his game. This is something I would expect for a lot of players from the 2020 draft. His 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons saw him play a total of 29 games for four different teams. These teams were spread out between Finland and Sweden, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I’d expect him to get a lot more run in the AHL this season. He should earn himself a chance to compete to back up Ilya Sorokin next season in the NHL.

At the time he left UConn this past offseason, I was concerned he left the NCAA too soon. He only played 15 games in Hockey East before signing his professional contract. He is still adapting to a faster-paced game with higher quality shots. His demotion to the Bloomington Bison, of the ECHL, came on Monday afternoon, but was not a shock. The Rangers have solid depth in their crease being provided by Spencer Martin. Garand extends the conversation about the Rangers goaltending, which is something we’ll dive into further sometime in the future.