Preview: Islanders at Bruins
Oct 14, 2022
THE STORY COMING IN
The Bridgeport Islanders, American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, begin their 22nd regular season with a pair of road games this weekend, starting with tonight’s 7:05 p.m. matchup against the Providence Bruins at Amica Mutual Pavilion. The Islanders will look for a strong start to the year against a Bruins’ team they swept out of the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs (first round), including a 2-1 overtime victory in their last trip to Rhode Island on May 2nd.
LISTEN LIVE: https://bit.ly/BridgeportIslanders
WATCH: AHLTV.com (Free to watch all weekend!)
GAME AT A GLANCE
Tonight’s game is the first of 12 meetings between the Islanders and Bruins this season, and the first of six in Providence. Bridgeport was 3-2-0-1 in Rhode Island during the 2021-22 regular season and both teams scored 19 goals in those games. This year, the division rivals will face each other twice in the first three games and seven times before Christmas. Three of the first four will be in Providence.
VIEW FROM PROVIDENCE
Head coach Ryan Mougenel’s team looks for revenge tonight after finishing third in the Atlantic Division last season but getting swept out of the first round of the playoffs by Bridgeport. Boston’s affiliate will play five of its first six games at home including two against the Islanders on consecutive Fridays. Providence lost each of its top two scorers from a year ago (Cameron Hughes, SEA; Steven Fogarty, MIN) but returns Oskar Steen and Jack Studnicka who both signed new deals with Boston. The Bruins also added goaltender Keith Kinkaid over the summer, who was 20-14-3 in 37 games with Hartford last year.
SEASON-OPENING ROSTER
Bridgeport’s initial roster for the 2022-23 season is comprised of 15 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders. Of the 25 players, 19 have previously appeared in at least one game with the team. The roster includes 17 players on an NHL contract with the New York Islanders and three former first-round draft picks: Cory Schneider (2004, VAN), Dennis Cholowski (2016, DET) and Simon Holmstrom (2019, NYI). There are 4,647 games of AHL experience and 1,090 games of NHL experience.
THOMPSON’S TENTH TERM
Brent Thompson enters the 2022-23 season as the longest-tenured head coach with his current club in the AHL. He is six wins away from 300 behind Bridgeport’s bench (294-256-42-23).
START OF SOMETHING GOOD
Four players can make their North American professional debuts tonight including 20-year-old forward William Dufour, who led the Saint John Sea Dogs with a career-high 56 goals (led all QMJHL players) and 116 points in 66 games last season. He was named QMJHL Player of the Year, QMJHL MVP and Memorial Cup MVP, winning the coveted trophy alongside defenseman Vincent Sevigny, who can also make his debut tonight. In addition, forwards Ruslan Iskhakov and Jimmy Lambert can make their AHL debuts if they are in the lineup tonight.
QUICK HITS
Bridgeport is returning each of its top five scorers from one year ago including Chris Terry, who led the club in goals (30) and points (61) in 2021-22... In fact, nine of the top 10 scorers from last season are expected to play tonight... Seth Helgeson returns for his sixth season with Bridgeport and will serve as team captain for the third straight year... With 305 career games played in a Bridgeport jersey, he is 64 away from breaking the franchise record - a mark currently held by Mark Wotton (2006-2011)... Arnaud Durandeau is expected to play his 100th AHL game tonight... Simon Holmstrom had a team-high nine points in 12 games against the Bruins last season (two goals, seven assists).
AFFILIATES
New York Islanders (0-1-0): Next: Tomorrow vs. ANA, 7:30 p.m. ET
Worcester Railers (0-0-0-0): Season opens on Saturday, Oct. 22nd vs. ME, 7 p.m. ET