Recap: Islanders 5, Bruins 4 (OT)
Oct 21, 2022William Dufour scored his first two professional goals on Friday including the game-winner in overtime to lift the Bridgeport Islanders (2-1-0-0), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, to a 5-4 victory against the Providence Bruins (2-0-1-0) at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Dufour bookended the game with his first pro goal just 92 seconds into the contest and the exclamation point at 2:11 of overtime. Samuel Bolduc, Hudson Fasching and Andy Andreoff also scored, while Cory Schneider (2-0-0) earned his second straight win with 25 saves.
Two of Bridgeport’s goals came on the power play (2-for-4) and the kill went 5-for-6 in a physical, penalty-riddled game.
Dufour opened the scoring at 1:32 with a heavy wrist shot from the left circle on a rush. He beat Keith Kinkaid with Bridgeport’s first shot of the game, just one week after Kinkaid made 42 saves on 43 chances against the Islanders. Seth Helgeson recorded the only assist.
Georgii Merkulov had two goals for the Bruins, with the first coming less than five minutes later to make it 1-1. The deadlock lasted through the final minute of the period before Bolduc’s slap shot from the deep slot beat Kinkaid’s blocker on the power play. It was the Islanders’ first power-play goal of the season, assisted by Ruslan Iskhakov and Arnaud Durandeau.
The division rivals traded goals in the middle frame to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. Fasching’s first goal with Bridgeport came between the circles on an Otto Koivula feed at 9:20. Former New York Islander Chris Wagner cut the Bruins’ deficit back to one at 19:14 with his second goal in three games.
A wild third period featured two power-play goals and a furious pace, with Providence scoring twice to force overtime. Merkulov’s second goal of the night came just 1:14 into the period and Luke Toporowski’s second tally of the season made it 4-4 at the 11:06 mark. Andreoff tipped a Chris Terry one-timer on the power play at 7:50 for his first goal of the season. Bolduc earned the secondary assist to post a multi-point effort – his first since Apr. 20, 2021 (also against Providence).
During the extra session, Schneider stoned a Bruins’ breakaway and then sprung Aatu Raty the opposite direction for the eventual winner. Raty led a two-on-one rush in transition before feeding Dufour in the right circle for a one-time finish.
With the victory, Bridgeport is above .500 on the road for the first time since 2018-19.
Total Party: The Islanders return to Total Mortgage Arena tomorrow night to celebrate their 22nd home opener at 7 p.m. against the Laval Rocket. Tickets are on sale now! Kick off the party with Isles Fan Fest from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. on the plaza, located directly outside the main entrance, where food trucks, street hockey, and the duo, “The Hooch,” will entertained fans. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the first 2,500 fans will receive a 2022-23 magnet schedule. The game also features the inaugural series of Bridgeport Islanders Mystery Pucks, where a limited number of replica pucks, signed by various players, will be available for purchase.
Broadcast Info: All games this season can be heard live online through the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network, or seen via AHLTV, beginning with the pre-game show 20 minutes before puck drop.
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