Recap: Islanders 5, Bruins 2
Apr 1, 2023
The Bridgeport Islanders (31-26-7-1), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, earned their fourth straight victory at Amica Mutual Pavilion on Saturday with a 5-2 win against the first-place Providence Bruins (40-16-8-2).
The Islanders finished their four-game road trip 3-1-0-0.
Chris Terry and Paul Thompson both scored twice, while Terry added an assist for a three-point effort and a team-leading 65 points on the season. Andy Andreoff recorded his team-best 32nd goal of the season, while Jakub Skarek made 21 saves.
BOX SCORE
Terry put the Islanders ahead just 19 seconds into the first period with an opening-shift goal for his 20th of the season. Dennis Cholowski floated a long shot to the front of the net that Terry altered past Brandon Bussi from the doorstep. Bussi entered the night ranked second among all AHL goaltenders in save percentage.
Justin Brazeau drew the Bruins back even less than a minute later, scoring a power-play goal at the 1:07 mark, but the Islanders didn’t blink and scored two more times 44 seconds apart. Andreoff crossed in with Terry on a two-on-two rush before beating Bussi from the left circle for his 32nd goal at 9:25. Thompson followed at the 10:09 mark with his 10th of the year, from Paul LaDue and Arnaud Durandeau.
It was LaDue’s first game since Mar. 4th as the veteran defenseman returned from injury. Skarek was busy in net early on, making 14 saves on 15 first-period shots.
Providence had the only goal of the second period when John Beecher beat Skarek at even strength, but the Bruins only mustered up eight shots-on-goal in the final two periods combined. Terry earned a power-play tally with a one-timer from the right circle at 4:06 of the third, and Thompson followed with a redirection on Grant Hutton’s slap shot at 14:24.
It was Thompson’s first two-goal performance of the season.
Both teams went 1-for-3 on the power play. Bridgeport outshot Providence 28-23.
Jake Pivonka made his professional debut, wearing #37 for the Islanders.
Next Time Out: The Bridgeport Islanders return to Total Mortgage Arena tomorrow afternoon for a 3 p.m. matchup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The first 2,000 fans will receive an exclusive New York Islanders t-shirt when doors open at 2 p.m. Fans can watch all of the action via AHLTV or listen to the broadcast through the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network.