Recap: Bears 3, Islanders 2 (OT)

Oct 22, 2023

Tanner Fritz scored his first goal back with the organization to help the Bridgeport Islanders (2-2-1-0) earn one point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Hershey Bears (4-1-0-0) at Total Mortgage Arena on Sunday.

 

Matthew Maggio also scored his second goal in as many days to help Bridgeport bounce back from a 2-0 deficit. Jakub Skarek (2-1-1) made 19 saves to cap his third consecutive start in net.

 

BOX SCORE
 

The defending Calder Cup champs took the lead 7:33 into the game when Ivan Miroshnichenko found himself alone in front of the Skarek, putting a rebound five-hole following Pierrick Dubé’s feed from behind the net.

 

Alex Limoges extended Hershey’s lead 2:47 into the second period with a quick shot off the rush, taking advantage of a nice pass from Joe Snively to make it 2-0.

 

The Islanders started their comeback with a power-play goal in the final two minutes of the second period. Maggio snapped a shot past goaltender Mitch Gibson, in his pro debut, on Bridgeport’s second man advantage to cut the Bears’ lead in half. Ruslan Iskhakov and Dennis Cholowski were credited with the assists on the tally. 

 

Bridgeport then pushed hard in the third period, outshooting Hershey 13-6 and scoring the lone goal to level the score at 2-2. Fritz tapped home the tying goal 10:21 into the frame, as he converted a terrific cross-ice pass from William Dufour down low, ultimately sending the game to overtime. 

 

With 1:28 left in overtime, Hershey forward Mike Sgarbossa rifled a shot from the blue line that trickled past Skarek and in.

 

The Islanders went 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

 

Next Time Out: The Islanders return to the road for their next contest on Friday night, facing the Charlotte Checkers at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The puck drops at 7 pm and the game can be seen live on AHLTV.com or heard via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network.