Preview: Islanders at Thunderbirds
Jan 6, 2023THE STORY COMING IN
The Bridgeport Islanders (14-21-5-1) visit MassMutual Center for the second straight Friday, gearing up for a 7:05 p.m. tilt against the Springfield Thunderbirds (14-13-1-4) tonight. The Islanders are looking to shake an eight-game losing streak (0-6-1-1) and five-game slide on the road (0-4-0-1), which has knocked them back to fifth place in the Atlantic Division. Last time out, the Islanders suffered a 5-2 loss to the Providence Bruins at home on Wednesday. Chris Terry and Kyle MacLean each scored and Jakub Skarek (4-8-3) made 25 saves. Bridgeport is 0-8-2-0 when scoring two goals or fewer, but 14-4-3-1 with three or more.
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WATCH: AHLTV.com
GAME AT A GLANCE
Tonight’s game is the seventh of 12 meetings between the Islanders and Thunderbirds this season, and the fourth of six in Massachusetts. Bridgeport earned points in each of the first three meetings, but has lost three in a row including a 6-3 setback on the road last Friday. The Islanders scored twice on the power play and nearly tied the contest in the final three minutes when Paul Thompson hit the post. Cole Bardreau collected his second shorthanded goal, and Arnaud Durandeau and Otto Koivula each converted on the man advantage, while Ken Appleby (0-1-1) made 28 saves to close out 2022.
VIEW FROM SPRINGFIELD
The Thunderbirds ended 2022 on a three-game win streak capped by a 2-1 shootout victory against the Hartford Wolf Pack on New Year’s Eve. Will Bitten, who was named Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week on Tuesday (two goals, four assists in two games), scored his 10th goal of the season at 11:19 of the first period and Jake Neighbours ended the game in the three-round shootout. Joel Hofer made 30 saves and went 3-for-3 in the shootout. Hofer is second in the AHL in minutes played (1,333) and saves (625), sixth in save percentage (.922) and seventh in goals-against-average (2.39).
BATTLING THE BIRDS
Dennis Cholowski leads all Islanders players with seven points (seven assists) in six games against the Thunderbirds. In fact, half of his 14 points this season have come in this series. Cholowski has two assists in his last three games and is tied for fourth on the team in that category. He is still looking for his first goal with Bridgeport.
GOING STREAKING
Chris Terry is on a six-game point streak with three goals and five assists during that span. He leads the Islanders in assists (22) and points (31), which are tied for ninth and 16th in the AHL, respectively. Terry has scored a goal in three of the last four games including his ninth of the season on Wednesday. He is 35th on the AHL’s all-time scoring list with 644 career points and 30th on the all-time goals list (272), one behind Don Biggs (1984-93) for 29th.
DU-SCORE
William Dufour is on a four-game point streak with one goal and three assists during that span. He also has six points (2g, 4a) in his last six games overall. Dufour enters the weekend tied for fifth among AHL rookies with 11 goals in 31 games and tied for 12th in scoring (20 points). He also shares fourth among rookies in power-play points (11).
QUICK HITS
Andy Andreoff has points in five of his last six games with four goals during that span... He is tied for fifth in the AHL with a team-leading 17 goals this season... Bridgeport has five power-play goals in its last six games and ranks fourth in the league on the man advantage (25.0%)… Springfield is sixth in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Islanders.
AFFILIATES
New York Islanders (22-16-2): Last: 4-2 L at Edmonton, last night -- Next: Tonight at Calgary, 9 p.m. ET
Worcester Railers (19-12-1-0): Last: 4-3 SOW at Maine, Sunday -- Next: Tonight vs. Reading, 7:05 p.m. ET