Preview: Islanders vs. Phantoms
Jan 11, 2023
THE STORY COMING IN
The Bridgeport Islanders (14-13-6-1) begin a home-and-home series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (15-13-2-2) tonight, taking on the Philadelphia Flyers’ affiliate at 7 p.m. inside Total Mortgage Arena. Bridgeport hasn’t played since a 6-3 loss to the Providence Bruins on Saturday at home, where Cole Bardreau (pictured) potted two goals and Chris Terry scored for the third straight game. Jakub Skarek (4-9-3) made 25 saves. The Islanders are hoping to snap a 10-game slide overall (0-7-2-1) and seven-game skid at home (0-6-1-0) this evening.
TICKETS: Available here!
LISTEN LIVE: https://bit.ly/BridgeportIslanders
WATCH: AHLTV.com
GAME AT A GLANCE
Tonight’s game is the third of eight meetings between the Islanders and Phantoms this season, and the first of four at Total Mortgage Arena. Bridgeport skated to a 6-3 win in Allentown on Oct. 29th and got one point in a 6-5 shootout loss on Dec. 28th. Andy Andreoff has three points in both matchups against the Phantoms this season including one goal and two assists (his most recent goal) two weeks ago. Andreoff, a former Phantom, leads all players in the series with two goals and four assists.
VIEW FROM ALLENTOWN
Ian Laperriere’s club finishes a three-game road trip this evening that began with back-to-back games in Rochester and Toronto over the weekend. The Phantoms defeated Rochester on Friday, 3-2, led by Jackson Cates’ winning goal at 6:00 of the third period, before falling to the Marlies in a shootout, 5-4. Artem Anisimov (two goals, one assist) and Olle Lycksell (one goal, two assists) each had three points in Toronto. Anisimov has 12 goals and 18 points in 17 AHL games this season and Lycksell leads the group in scoring with 22 points (6g, 16a). Lehigh Valley is seventh in the Atlantic Division.
EIGHT IS GREAT
Chris Terry is on an eight-game point streak, the longest stretch for any Bridgeport player this season. He has five goals and five assists over that span, and has also scored a goal in three straight games. Terry leads the Islanders in assists (22) and points (33), which are tied for 12th and 16th in the AHL, respectively. Terry has scored a goal in five of the last six games including his 11th of the season on Saturday. He is 35th on the AHL’s all-time scoring list with 646 career points and 29th on the all-time goals list (274), passing Don Biggs (1984-93) last weekend.
DU-SCORE
William Dufour is on a six-game point streak with two goals and four assists during that span. He also has eight points (3g, 5a) in his last eight games overall. Dufour enters the contest tied for fourth among AHL rookies with 12 goals in 33 games and tied for ninth in scoring (22 points). He also shares fourth among rookies in power-play points (11). Dufour ranks second on the Islanders in goals behind Andy Andreoff and is fifth in points.
QUICK HITS
Collin Adams was reassigned to the Worcester Railers (ECHL) on Tuesday... Ruslan Iskhakov shares fourth place among all AHL rookies with 25 points (8g, 17a)... Samuel Bolduc shares sixth among AHL defensemen in points (23), tied for fifth in power-play assists (11) and ranks fifth in shots (88)... Bridgeport has six power-play goals in its last eight games and ranks fourth in the league on the man advantage (24.2%)... The Islanders are 13-11-5-1 against Atlantic Division teams... Cole Bardreau’s two-goal performance on Saturday was the ninth of his AHL career (no hat tricks).
AFFILIATES
New York Islanders (22-17-3): Last: 2-1 SOL vs. Dallas, last night -- Next: Tomorrow vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m. ET
Worcester Railers (19-13-2-0): Last: 2-1 L at Reading, Saturday -- Next: Tonight at Newfoundland, 5:30 p.m. ET