Recap: Bruins 5, Islanders 2

Jan 4, 2023

The Bridgeport Islanders (14-12-5-1), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, took a 2-2 deadlock into the second intermission on Wednesday but allowed three goals in the third period and suffered a 5-2 loss to the Providence Bruins (18-6-5-2) at Total Mortgage Arena.

 

Chris Terry and Kyle MacLean each scored, while Jakub Skarek (4-8-3) made 25 saves.

 

BOX SCORE

 

Boston’s affiliate started the scoring on a goal from Joey Abate just 2:52 into the opening period, his third of the season. Abate snuck a low shot past Skarek who had stopped two previous attempts early on.

 

Bridgeport fired chance after chance on Bruins’ goaltender Brandon Bussi after going without a shot on target through the opening minutes. They finally knotted the score at 1-1 on Terry’s ninth goal of the season from the left circle at 17:21. Andy Andreoff and Ruslan Iskhakov had the assists, with Iskhakov guiding a pass to Terry from the left-corner wall.

 

Georgii Merkulov gave Providence a 2-1 lead at 11:05 of the second, corralling a deflected pass from the point and sending home his seventh goal of the season.

 

The Islanders bounced back and evened the score at 2-2 with 4:35 remaining in the period just as a power play expired. MacLean found a second-chance opportunity and buried it past a sprawled-out Bussi for his fifth goal of the year. Paul Thompson and Will Dufour were credited with the assists.

 

Providence regained its advantage 12:57 into the third period and never looked back. Oskar Steen tipped a shot over Skarek’s right shoulder for the eventual game-winner and Jakub Lauko followed up with his fifth goal of the season just 13 seconds later.

 

Joona Koppanen added an empty-net tally at 18:35.

 

The Islanders went 0-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill. Providence outshot Bridgeport 30-26.

 

Next Time Out: The Islanders face the Springfield Thunderbirds at 7:05 p.m. on Friday at MassMutual Center, their first road game of 2023. Fans can watch all of the action online via AHLTV.