Recap: Bruins 5, Islanders 3
Apr 15, 2023
Arnaud Durandeau scored twice for the second straight night and Andy Andreoff recorded his AHL-leading 37th goal of the season on Saturday, as the Bridgeport Islanders (34-30-7-1), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, ended their season with a 5-3 loss to the Providence Bruins (43-18-8-2) at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Chris Terry added two assists to set the franchise record for most points in a single season (78), passing Jeff Tambellini’s previous mark (76 in 2007-08). Both of Durandeau’s goals came on the power play, tying Andreoff for the team lead with 13 tallies on the man advantage. Durandeau ended the season on a career-best eight-game point streak (five goals, eight assists).
The Islanders finished the season with a road record of 17-12-6-1 and were 6-6-0-0 against the Bruins.
BOX SCORE
Andreoff put the Islanders out front just 38 seconds into the first period with a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Brandon Bussi high, blocker side, for his league-leading 37th goal and his 13th in the last 15 games. Matthew Maggio guided the puck to Terry on the right side where he entered the Bruins’ zone and found Andreoff on a diagonal pass within the first minute.
Bridgeport carried its 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Shane Bowers evened the score at 3:01 of the second period with an even-strength goal, his eighth of the season. Anton Stralman dropped the puck to Bowers along the right wing and Bowers stepped to the faceoff dot before beating Jakub Skarek’s blocker.
Durandeau and the Islanders bounced back with consecutive power-play goals less than six minutes apart to open up a 3-1 lead, which they carried into the closing minutes of the second. Terry found Durandeau across the Providence blue line for the first at 7:33, capped by an impressive forehand-to-backhand move ahead of the Bruins’ crease. Durandeau’s second of the night and 24th of the season came unassisted at 13:25 in front of a diving Bussi from the doorstep.
Providence ended the contest with four unanswered goals beginning with Luke Toporowski’s power-play goal at 16:33 of the second. Vinni Lettieri slammed home his 22nd of the year just 32 seconds into the third period and Eddie Tralmaks had the eventual game-winner at 6:46 of the third.
Fabian Lysell deposited an empty-netter with 17 seconds left. The Bruins earned their league-leading 11th win when trailing at the second intermission.
The Islanders ended the night 2-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. Providence outshot Bridgeport 27-18, while Skarek (15-16-3) made 22 saves.