Sound Tigers Open Two-Game Road Trip at 1 p.m.
Feb 25, 2021
The Bridgeport Islanders (1-4-0-0) face the Providence Bruins (4-1-0-0) for the fourth time this season and their second of three straight meetings at 1 p.m. this afternoon. It's also Bridgeport's second of six trips to the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Mass., where they suffered a 4-1 loss in the season opener on Feb. 5th. Providence has won each of the first three matchups, including a 1-0 victory at Webster Bank Arena last Friday. Bobo Carpenter leads the Sound Tigers in the season series with two goals.
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LAST TIME OUT
Jakub Skarek backstopped perhaps his best game in the AHL with a career-high 36 saves on 37 shots, but Bridgeport’s offense was held quiet in a 1-0 loss to Providence last Friday. The game remained scoreless for more than 54 minutes before Zach Senyshyn netted the only goal on the Bruins’ 35th shot more than halfway through the third period. Samuel Bolduc recorded a team-high four shots-on-goal for Bridgeport, while Dan Vladar made 24 saves to deny the Sound Tigers their second straight win.
VIEW FROM PROVIDENCE
Head coach Jay Leach's club has won three straight games and 16 of its last 17 dating back to Feb. 14, 2020. On Sunday, Providence defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-2 at XL Center with the help of two points from Brady Lyle (one goal, one assist), Paul Carey (two assists) and Sam Asselin (two assists). Between the pipes, Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves on 36 shots to earn his third straight win to begin his pro career. Swayman is currently 13th among all AHL goalies with a 2.00 goals-against-average, while colleague Dan Vladar is seventh with a 1.03 goals-against-average in two starts.
GO-TO GOALIE
Jakub Skarek is the only goaltender to play for the Sound Tigers this season. In fact, no Sound Tigers goalie had even started two straight games to begin a season since Anders Nilsson was on the ice for three in a row in 2013-14. Skarek is currently eighth among all AHL netminders in both minutes played (295:46) and saves (137). He’s a third-round draft pick of the New York Islanders (#72 overall) in 2018.
BOLDUC'S BIG START
Islanders prospect Samuel Bolduc has five points (two goals, three assists) in his last four games and carried a three-game point streak into last Friday’s matchup against Providence. Bolduc earned a career-high three points last Wednesday and scored his second goal in as many games against Hartford with a perfectly placed wrist shot at 6:23 of the third period. A native of Laval, Que., Bolduc currently leads the Sound Tigers in points (five) and assists (three), and is tied for the team lead in goals (two) and shots (nine). His five points are also tied for fifth among all AHL defensemen.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
Tanner Fritz collected his first two points of the season last week with a pair of assists in a 5-3 win against Hartford on Wednesday. The sixth-year forward now has 88 total assists and 131 total points in his Sound Tigers/AHL career - both of which rank inside the top 10 in team history. Fritz is tied with Mark Wotton (2006-11) for fifth place on the team's all-time assists list [one behind Steve Regier (2004-08)] and sits ninth on the all-time points list, five behind Trent Hunter (2001-03).
QUICK HITS
Bridgeport is nine for its last nine on the penalty kill… Seth Helgeson scored his first goal of the season last Wednesday, which was just his second since October, 2018 (both have come in his last eight games)... Helgeson has played 218 games with the Sound Tigers, five behind Scott Mayfield for 11th place on the team’s all-time list… Dmytro Timashov had one goal and one assist last Wednesday, his first two points with the Sound Tigers… Bridgeport’s two shorthanded goals scored at home are second most in the AHL (Chicago, three).