Preview: Islanders at Senators
Mar 24, 2023THE STORY COMING IN
Chris Terry, Andy Andreoff and Erik Brown return to their home province of Ontario this evening as the Bridgeport Islanders (29-25-7-1) continue a four-game road trip against the Belleville Senators (27-28-6-1) at 7 p.m. inside CAA Arena. Less than 48 hours ago, the Islanders made their lone trip to Quebec this season and defeated the Laval Rocket, 5-3, to sweep the two-game series. Montreal native Arnaud Durandeau scored twice and was named the AHL’s Second Star of the Night, while Andreoff, Kyle MacLean and Paul Thompson each scored once and added an assist. Cory Schneider (18-8-3) made a season-high 42 saves. The Islanders closed to within two points of Lehigh Valley for fifth place in the Atlantic Division and now sit three points ahead of seventh-place Hartford.
LISTEN: https://bit.ly/BridgeportIslanders
WATCH: AHLTV.com
GAME AT A GLANCE
Tonight’s tilt is the second and final meeting between the Islanders and Senators this season, and the only matchup in Ontario. Bridgeport won the first game 5-1 on Feb. 23rd, when William Dufour scored twice and Reece Newkirk’s first AHL goal stood as the game winner. Twelve different Islanders had at least one point, including Andy Andreoff and Dennis Cholowski who earned two assists each. Grant Hutton and Ruslan Iskhakov added goals and Cory Schneider made 32 saves. Tonight marks the Islanders’ final contest against a North Division team this season.
VIEW FROM BELLEVILLE
The Senators hold the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division, one point ahead of Laval and just two points better than Cleveland. However, Belleville is just two points behind fourth-place Rochester in the tight playoff race. The Senators have been off since Sunday when they fell to Cleveland 5-3 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Roby Jarventie, Cole Reinhardt and Jacob Larsson each scored, while Antoine Bibeau made 31 saves. Belleville opens a two-game homestand tonight, entering the contest on a three-game win streak at CAA Arena.
HELGESON TIES TEAM RECORD
Seth Helgeson is expected to play his 368th game with the organization tonight, tying Mark Wotton’s franchise record from 2006-11. Wotton was Bridgeport’s captain during each of those five seasons and no one had come close to his 368 games played until now. Tonight marks Helgeson’s 586th career AHL game between Bridgeport and the Albany Devils. He is one of two players to appear in all 62 games so far this season (along with Jeff Kubiak). Helgeson made his Bridgeport debut on Oct. 7, 2017 and has 93 points (15g, 78a) since then.
ANDREOFF HITS 30
Pickering, Ontario native Andy Andreoff has six goals in his last five games including his AHL-leading 30th goal of the season on Wednesday. It was also his team-leading 12th goal on the power play, which gave Bridgeport the lead in a game they never trailed. Andreoff is one goal ahead of Texas’ Riley Barber, Rockford’s Rocco Grimaldi and Calgary’s Matthew Phillips for most in the league. Only Charles Hudon (Colorado) and Michael Carcone (Tucson) have more power-play goals. He is second on the Islanders with 53 points (30g, 23a) in 59 games, trailing only Brampton, Ontario native Chris Terry. Terry has 10 points (2g, 8a) in his last eight games and is eighth in the AHL’s scoring race (61 points).
QUICK HITS
Collin Adams is on a team-best and AHL career-high four-game point streak (2g, 2a)... Ruslan Iskhakov has five points (2g, 3a) in his last seven games and continues to lead all AHL rookies in scoring (48 points)... Arnaud Durandeau has four goals and seven points in his last eight games.
AFFILIATES
New York Islanders (37-27-8): Last 7-2 W vs. Toronto, Tuesday -- Next: Tonight at Columbus, 7 p.m. ET
Worcester Railers (32-28-3-0): Last: 3-1 L vs. Adirondack, Wednesday -- Next: Tonight at Adirondack, 7 p.m. ET