Preview: Islanders at Thunderbirds
Oct 15, 2022
THE STORY COMING IN
The Bridgeport Islanders (0-1-0-0) look to even up their record tonight when they face the reigning Eastern Conference champion Springfield Thunderbirds (0-0-0-0) at 7:05 p.m. inside MassMutual Center. Less than 24 hours ago, the Islanders suffered an opening-night setback to the Providence Bruins, 3-1, in Rhode Island. Jeff Kubiak scored Bridgeport’s lone goal at 4:17 of the second period, the only one of 43 shots to get past goaltender Keith Kinkaid. Jakub Skarek (0-1-0) made 28 saves and the Islanders’ penalty kill was 6-for-6 in the season opener.
LISTEN LIVE: https://bit.ly/BridgeportIslanders
WATCH: AHLTV.com (Watch free this weekend!)
GAME AT A GLANCE
Tonight’s game is the first of 12 meetings between the Islanders and T-Birds this season, and the first of six in Massachusetts. Bridgeport went 3-7-1-1 against Springfield in 2021-22 and was 0-4-1-1 in those games on the road. The first two meetings will take place in Springfield, while each of the final three will be at Total Mortgage Arena.
VIEW FROM SPRINGFIELD
The Thunderbirds celebrate their 2022-23 season opener tonight, looking to build on the momentum from their trip to the Calder Cup Finals in June. Springfield got past Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Charlotte, and Laval before falling to the Chicago Wolves in five games. Head coach Drew Bannister’s team features the return of forwards Matthew Peca (60 points in 68 games) and Hugh McGing (34 points in 67 games) as well as goaltender Joel Hofer. The St. Louis Blues affiliate won more games within the Atlantic Division than anyone last season (37-18-5-2) and won a league-best 26 games at home (26-10-2-0).
KUBIAK CASHES IN
Jeff Kubiak signed his first NHL contract with the New York Islanders this summer, agreeing to terms on a one-year, two-way deal in July. He quickly showed why he was rewarded, crashing the net and scoring a rebound goal in the second period for Bridgeport’s lone tally last night. He also had five shots. Kubiak set AHL career highs in goals (8), assists (16) and points (24) in 56 games last season. Tonight, he is expected to play his 200th AHL game.
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.
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 306 career games played in a Bridgeport jersey, he is 63 away from breaking the franchise record - a mark currently held by Mark Wotton (2006-2011)... William Dufour made his pro debut last night in Providence, while Ruslan Iskhakov played his first AHL game.
AFFILIATES
New York Islanders (0-1-0); Last: 3-1 L vs. FLA, Thursday -- Next: Tonight 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