Recap: Comets 4, Islanders 2
Feb 22, 2025Dennis Cholowski potted a goal in his AHL season debut and Chris Terry notched his second straight multi-point performance (1g, 1a), but the Bridgeport Islanders (12-33-3-2), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, suffered a 4-2 loss to the Utica Comets (19-24-4-2) at Total Mortgage Arena on Saturday.
Xavier Parent recorded the game-winning goal early in the third period and added an assist for a two-point night. He’s tallied five points (1g, 4a) in the last five games. Nathan Legare also logged a goal and an assist for Utica, while Isaac Poulter (11-9-5) made 23 saves.
Terry's two-point effort gives him a team-leading 48 points and moves him into a tie for second place among all AHL scorers. It’s the 14th time this season that Terry has registered two or more points in a game. Henrik Tikkanen (4-13-1) turned aside 22 shots in his fourth straight appearance.
Brian Halonen put the Comets ahead just 1:43 into the game. Parent floated a backhand shot past Tikkanen that rang off the left post and rolled out to Halonen, stationed directly at the crease.
At the 13:42 mark, the Islanders turned the puck over in their zone and Joe Gambardella received Legare’s pass near the goal line. He found Max Willman on the left side, who fired a backdoor shot behind Tikkanen to make it 2-0.
The Islanders struck back in the second period, tallying two goals in a 3:09 span. At 8:39, Brian Pinho tried to find Terry near the goal, however, the pass was just out of Terry’s reach and went off the back wall. Terry quickly gathered it and sent a pass out to Cholowski, who sniped a shot into the top left corner of the cage. It was his first game in the AHL this season after he was assigned to Bridgeport by the New York Islanders this morning.
Shortly after, Terry received Gemel Smith’s pass in the slot, drifted to the left circle, and sent a wrist shot over Poulter’s shoulder for his 16th goal of the season, which knotted the contest at 2-2.
Utica took the lead for good early in the third period when Tikkanen moved outside the crease to play the puck and attempted to pass it out to Sam Bolduc. However, Parent intercepted the pass and launched a quick shot into the wide-open net to put Utica back on top, 3-2, at the 1:44 mark.
Legare secured the 4-2 final with a shorthanded, empty-net goal with 1:06 left to play. It came while Tikkanen was on the bench for an extra attacker.
Bridgeport's power play was unable to convert on its loan man advantage, but the penalty kill prevented Utica from capitalizing on its only advantage. The Comets led in shots, 26-25.
The Islanders ended their season series 0-2-0-0 against the Comets.
Next Time Out: The Islanders host the Springfield Thunderbirds at 3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. The game can be heard for free via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network or seen live on AHLTV on FloHockey, beginning with the Connecticut Lottery Pregame Countdown at 2:45 p.m.