Islanders Defeat Bears 4-1 for Seventh Straight Home Win

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – As the Bridgeport Islanders took the ice for their final School Day game of the season, the energy inside Total Mortgage Arena was noticeable not only because of the packed crowd, but also because of the importance of the contest as they faced the Hershey Bears with fourth place in the Atlantic Division on the line. After allowing the game's opening goal, the Islanders scored four unanswered to skate away with a 4-1 victory and their seventh straight home win.

In a tightly contested first period, each team had prime opportunities to open the scoring but failed to do so as both Henrik Tikkanen and Mitch Gibson held their opposition scoreless.

The game would remain scoreless until 10:42 into the second period. At the expiration of a 5-on-3 advantage, Ilya Protas slid the puck to Sonny Milano, whose one-timer beat Tikkanen glove side for his fifth of the season and gave Hershey a 1-0 advantage.

The Islanders didn't take long to respond. Cole Eiserman entered the zone and found Cam Thiesing streaking down the slot, who snuck a back-hander past Gibson 11:56 into the middle frame to tie the score. Just two minutes later, Bridgeport took its first lead of the morning thanks to Liam Foudy, who fired home his 24th goal of the campaign after Victor Eklund recovered a rebound and found him alone in the slot.

Bridgeport added to its advantage 2:09 into the third period, as Eklund found a streaking Adam Beckman along the slot, who buried his 27th goal of the season to give the Islanders a 3-1 lead.

In the winding seconds of the third period, Daylan Kuefler deflected home a power play goal for the insurance tally Bridgeport needed to secure the victory.

The Islanders held Hershey off the board in the third period thanks to a plethora of blocked shots and Tikkanen, who made 31 of 32 saves in the matinee.

The Islanders return to play on Friday, April 3, as they host the Hartford Wolf Pack at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at bridgeportislanders.com.

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