Recap: Islanders 3, Thunderbirds 2

Oct 15, 2022

The Bridgeport Islanders (1-1-0-0), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, capitalized on several turnovers to build a three-goal lead and held on late to earn a 3-2 victory against the Springfield Thunderbirds (0-1-0-0) at MassMutual Center on Saturday.

 

Chris Terry, Ruslan Iskhakov and Otto Koivula each scored for the first time this year, while Cory Schneider (1-0-0) made 20 saves in his season debut. Schneider and the Islanders’ penalty kill buckled down in the closing minutes to survive a two-man advantage and secure the win.

 

BOX SCORE

 

Bridgeport scored twice on 10 shots in the opening period including Iskhakov’s first AHL goal to build a 2-0 lead. The Islanders’ second-round pick from 2018 stole the puck in the offensive zone, moved to the slot, and fired a sharp wrister off the post and past Joel Hofer at 16:32. Less than five minutes prior, Hudson Fasching created a takeaway and found Koivula near the hash marks at the 12:06 mark.

 

Terry made it 3-0 just 16 seconds into the middle frame when he intercepted a pass in the right circle and beat Hofer’s blocker with a quick snap shot. It held up as the game-winning goal and was Bridgeport’s second unassisted tally on the night.

 

The Thunderbirds made a push to get back to within one, led by Matthew Highmore and Mathias Laferriere in the second period. Nikita Alexandrov set up both goals, the second of which came on the power play at 12:06.

 

The Islanders finished the game 4-for-5 on the penalty kill and 0-for-4 on the power play. They outshot Springfield 31-22.

 

Next Time Out: The Islanders complete their season-opening road trip next Friday with a 7:05 p.m. tilt against the Providence Bruins at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Catch all of the action via AHLTV, or listen to the game live on the free Mixlr app at www.bit.ly/IslesRadio.