Recap: Islanders 2, Bears 0
Jan 29, 2023Jakub Skarek stopped all 39 shots he faced, including several tremendous pad saves from close range, as the Bridgeport Islanders (19-17-6-1), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, earned a 2-0 win against the Hershey Bears (29-9-4-1) at Giant Center on Sunday.
It was Skarek’s first shutout of the season and the third of his professional career. It was also Bridgeport’s second clean sheet as a team this season.
Arnaud Durandeau scored both goals for the Islanders, with each coming on the power play. Bridgeport went 2-for-3 on the man advantage and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Durandeau opened the scoring at 14:19 of the first period on a rebound between the circles. Chris Terry rifled a shot towards the net that Andy Andreoff tipped off the pads of goaltender Hunter Shepard before Durandeau deposited the rebound.
His second of the contest came at 3:02 of the middle frame when he turned at the bottom of the right circle and lifted a miraculous shot over Shepard’s shoulder into the top right corner of the net. Terry and Dennis Cholowski had the helpers.
The Bears outshot the Islanders 18-6 in the second period and 12-5 in the third, but Skarek (6-10-3) was lights out. The game ended prematurely with 5.4 seconds remaining when a frustrated Hershey fanbase began throwing stuffed animals onto the ice before they were supposed to. Sunday was Hershey’s annual Teddy Bear Toss promotion.