Recap: Islanders 3, Bruins 0
Mar 13, 2022Cole Bardreau scored two goals and Cory Schneider earned his 13th career AHL shutout on Sunday, leading the Bridgeport Islanders (23-25-5-4, .482), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, to a 3-0 win against the Providence Bruins (28-17-3-3, .608) at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Chris Terry added his team-leading 20th goal of the season and Jeff Kubiak recorded two assists to help the Islanders keep pace behind the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (25-23-4-4, .518) for the Atlantic Division’s final playoff spot.
It was Bridgeport’s second straight win against the Bruins this weekend and its third in their last four meetings. The Islanders outscored Providence 10-4 in two games over the weekend and are now 5-3-0-2 in the season series.
The Islanders never looked back after Bardreau and Terry each beat goaltender Kyle Keyser late in the first period with a pair of goals just 1:45 apart. Bardreau’s first of two in the contest came shorthanded at the 15:18 mark when he cleaned up a scramble in front of the crease created by himself and Kubiak. It was Bardreau’s team-leading third shorthanded goal of the season and his second in the last four games.
Andy Andreoff followed up with a sequence of nifty moves in transition, dancing around a pair of Bruins, to create a 2-on-1 rush that Terry converted with a one-timer from the right side. Terry became an eight-time 20-goal scorer in the AHL with the finish and passed Trent Whitfield (who is now an assistant coach with Providence) for 50th place on the AHL’s all-time scoring list (596 points). Simon Holmstrom had the secondary assist, giving him three helpers on the weekend.
Following a scoreless middle frame, Kubiak created a turnover in the Islanders’ zone and launched Bardreau the other way, leading to the game’s final goal at 7:57 of the third. Bardreau turned on the jets and raced in alone before scoring his 12th goal of the season and fourth in the last five games.
Schneider (8-10-2) did the rest, making nine saves in the third period to lock down his first shutout with Bridgeport and his first in the AHL in nearly 12 years (March 21, 2010 with Manitoba). All three goaltenders who have played with Bridgeport this season have recorded one shutout (Skarek, Nov. 20th and Appleby, Feb. 20th).
The Islanders went 0-for-1 on the power play, but 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. Providence outshot Bridgeport 33-26.
Brent Thompson earned the win in his 600th regular-season game as an AHL head coach (all with Bridgeport).
Next Time Out: The Islanders conclude a three-game road trip on Wednesday with a 7:05 p.m. matchup against the Springfield Thunderbirds at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. The game can be heard online through the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network, or seen via AHLTV, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.