Preview: Islanders vs. Rocket
Feb 28, 2024
THE STORY COMING IN
The Bridgeport Islanders (16-28-6-1) close out February and go for their first three-game winning streak at home, hosting the Laval Rocket (22-22-5-2) at 7 p.m. inside Total Mortgage Arena. The Islanders enter tonight’s action on a season-long, six-game point streak at home (4-0-1-1) following a 5-3 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds on Sunday. Ruslan Iskhakov scored twice, Sam Bolduc recorded the game winner late in the third period, and the Islanders fired 54 shots-on-goal – most in team history for a game that ended in regulation. Matt Maggio and Grant Hutton each added two assists, while Hudson Fasching and Tyce Thompson (first Bridgeport goal) also lit the lamp. Henrik Tikkanen (6-3-2) made 26 saves.
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ISLANDERS VS. ROCKET
Tonight’s game is the second of four meetings between the Islanders and Rocket this season, and the last of two in Connecticut. Bridgeport earned a 2-1 overtime win against Laval just 10 days ago at Total Mortgage Arena, led by Matt Maggio’s career-high two goals. Kyle MacLean, who remains on call-up with the New York Islanders, assisted by both tallies including the overtime winner at the 3:15 mark. The Rocket will host each of the next two meetings at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec (Mar. 13-15).
VIEW FROM LAVAL
The Rocket went 1-2-0-0 since they visited Bridgeport just 10 days ago, defeating the Hershey Bears in a shootout last Wednesday before suffering back-to-back losses against the Toronto Marlies over the weekend. Laval is coming off a 5-1 loss to Toronto on Saturday when Philippe Maillet scored his 13th goal of the season. The Rocket are sixth in the North Division, five points behind Rochester for a playoff spot, with 21 games remaining. However, Laval got a boost last Friday when leading scorer Brandon Gignac was returned from the Montreal Canadiens. Gignac played seven games with Montreal this season and scored his first NHL goal on Feb. 13th against Anaheim.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
Ruslan Iskhakov scored his team-leading 14th and 15th goals on Sunday afternoon, snapping a stretch of 13 straight games without one. Iskhakov, who played center in both games last weekend, also collected his team-leading 37th point and 11th multi-point performance on Sunday. The two-time AHL All-Star had a career-high seven shots including five in the second period. In addition to goals, points and multi-point games, Iskhakov leads Bridgeport in assists (22), power-play points (10), shots (123) and game-winning goals (4) during his second AHL campaign. He had three points (1g, 2a) against Laval last season.
MAGGIO MAKING IT HAPPEN
Matt Maggio’s only professional two-goal game and his first pro overtime winner came against Laval on Feb. 18th. In fact, after recording just eight points in his first 30 games of the season, Maggio has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his last 11 contests and seven points (four goals, three assists) in his last six. Maggio collected multiple points for the second consecutive Sunday when he assisted on both of Iskhakov’s tallies against the T-Birds this past weekend.
QUICK HITS
Karson Kuhlman has points in three straight games (one goal, two assists) for the first time this season... Bridgeport’s 54 shots-on-goal Sunday afternoon were a franchise record for a game ending in regulation, although the team had 57 shots in a 4-3 shootout win against Lowell on Dec. 1, 2007… Bridgeport is 4-4-1-1 during the month of February... The Islanders are 4-3-0-0 against North Division opponents this year... Rick Kowalsky is closing in on 300 career wins as an AHL head coach, currently at 297.
AFFILIATES
New York Islanders (24-20-14): Last: 3-2 OTW at Dallas, Monday -- Next: Tomorrow at Detroit, 7 p.m. ET
Worcester Railers (22-23-4-2): Last: 5-3 L at Florida, Saturday -- Next: Saturday vs. Trois Rivières, 7:05 p.m. ET