Islanders Continue Opening Weekend in Providence

Oct 16, 2021

The Bridgeport Islanders continue their busy opening weekend with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop against the Providence Bruins at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center tonight. Less than 24 hours ago, the Islanders suffered a 2-1 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack in their season opener at the XL Center, despite outshooting their in-state rival 31-18. Chris Terry scored his 234th career AHL goal in his Bridgeport debut, while Jakub Skarek made 16 saves. Arnaud Durandeau and Andy Andreoff each logged an assist.

 

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SERIES AT A GLANCE

Tonight’s game is the first of 12 meetings between the Islanders and Bruins this season, and the first of six in Rhode Island. Bridgeport also faced Providence 12 times last year, going 4-7-1-0.

 

VIEW FROM PROVIDENCE

Former assistant coach Ryan Mougenel was promoted to Providence Bruins head coach on Aug. 13th and leads his team for the first time tonight as the Bruins open their season at home. Providence won the Atlantic Division in 2020-21 with a record of 15-6-2-2 (34 points) in 25 games. Top scorer Cameron Hughes returns to the lineup this season after scoring 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 25 games, while Samuel Asselin is the top returning goal scorer (eight).

 

NEWKIRK, THE NEW GUY

Twenty-year-old forward Reece Newkirk made his professional debut last night in Hartford, the only Bridgeport player to do so. Newkirk was selected by the New York Islanders in the fifth round (#147 overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft and spent each of the last four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He collected 162 points (69 goals, 93 assists) in 205 career WHL games.

 

TERRY TIME

Five-time AHL All-Star Chris Terry, who signed an AHL deal with the Islanders on Aug. 3rd, made his Bridgeport debut last night and scored the team’s only goal at 9:00 of the first period. A veteran of 12 professional seasons, Terry has played 627 AHL games with Grand Rapids, Laval, St. John’s, Charlotte and Albany, recording 234 goals and 553 points. He won the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL scoring champion (71 points) in 2017-18 with Laval.

 

GOLYSHEV’S DEBUT

Following eight seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), New York Islanders prospect Anatolii Golyshev could make his North American debut tonight. Golyshev is a two-time KHL All-Star with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg and played 366 career KHL games, producing 208 points (103 goals, 105 assists). He was drafted by the New York Islanders in the fourth round (#95 overall) in 2016.

 

QUICK HITS

Seth Helgeson was named team captain for the second straight season, while Andy Andreoff and Cole Bardreau were selected as alternates... Bridgeport begins the season with four straight road games and 10 of its first 15 will be away from Webster Bank Arena... Islanders second-round draft pick (#46 overall) Robin Salo made his AHL debut last night in Hartford.

 

ACROSS THE SOUND

New York Islanders (0-1-0): Last: 6-3 L at Carolina, Thursday -- Next: Tonight at Florida, 6 p.m. ET

Worcester Railers (0-0-0-0): Season opener is Friday, Oct. 22 at Maine