Recap: Islanders 3, Wolf Pack 2
Nov 7, 2021Kyle MacLean scored his first goal of the season in the final 25 seconds of regulation on Sunday, propelling the Bridgeport Islanders (4-5-0-2), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, to a 3-2 win against the Hartford Wolf Pack (7-3-1-0) at Webster Bank Arena.
Arnaud Durandeau had a career-high three points and eight shots, including a goal and an assist on MacLean’s winner, while Otto Koivula also scored and now has 10 points in his last nine games.
Jakub Skarek (4-1-1) made 26 saves to help Bridgeport snap a three-game slide and end Hartford’s three-game winning streak.
Koivula opened the scoring for the Islanders just 3:31 into the game, calmly entering the offensive zone and placing a perfect wrist shot past netminder Keith Kinkaid’s glove for his second goal of the season. Koivula nearly had an assist a few minutes later when he found Anatolii Golyshev on the rush, but Golyshev’s one-timer rang off the post.
Cristiano DiGiacinto tied the game at 18:15 of the first period when he swept home a rebound following Tanner Fritz’s wrist shot. His second goal of the season made it 1-1 entering the first intermission.
Durandeau wasted no time giving the Islanders a 2-1 advantage early in the middle frame, receiving a pass from MacLean just inside the blue line and skating in alone on Kinkaid. Durandeau ripped a shot into the far side of the net from the right circle for his second goal of the season and second point of the afternoon at 1:56.
Hartford nearly tied the contest with less than three minutes left in the second period on a seemingly harmless shot on the rush from Johnny Brodzinski. The Wolf Pack captain beat Skarek on the glove side, but not the post which kept the puck out. Hartford kept pressuring and eventually tied the game late in regulation on Lauri Pajuniemi’s blast, capitalizing on a loose puck in the offensive zone.
Sunday’s game seemed destined for overtime, but with 24.8 seconds left, Durandeau attempted to stuff the puck under Kinkaid from close range and when he failed to do so, MacLean skated to a loose puck and buried it for his first goal of the season.
The Islanders ended the afternoon 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. Kinkaid (5-1-1) made 29 saves in his first regulation loss of the season.
Bridgeport improved to 1-3-0-0 against the Wolf Pack in 2021-22.
Next Time Out: The Islanders open a season-long five-game road trip on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. matchup against the Syracuse Crunch in New York. Fans can follow the action all season long via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network and AHLTV, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 p.m.