Recap: Islanders 5, Checkers 1
Feb 8, 2025Hunter Miska made 28 saves, and his teammates scored five unanswered goals ahead of him on Saturday, as the Bridgeport Islanders (11-31-2-2), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, dominated the Charlotte Checkers (25-14-3-2) in a 5-1 victory at Total Mortgage Arena.
Liam Foudy, Cam Thiesing, and Sam Bolduc each scored once and added an assist, while Chris Terry collected two helpers. Miska (1-4-0) was perfect in the second and third periods to backstop his first win as an Islander and his first AHL victory since Apr. 23, 2022.
With the win, the Islanders snapped a five-game skid and picked up their second straight victory against the Checkers.
After the contest remained scoreless for nearly the entire first period, Kyle Criscuolo got Charlotte on the board with an even-strength goal at 18:50. Justin Sourdif brought the puck into the Islanders' zone and skated down the left side before dumping a backhand pass to the front of the net. Criscuolo was there at the crease, where he jammed a quick shot under Miska’s pads to give Charlotte a 1-0 advantage.
The Islanders responded with a three-goal middle frame, despite Charlotte allowing the fewest second-period goals of any team entering the night (29). Maggio tied the score 1-1 at the 2:19 mark when he carried the puck in down the left side and attempted to find Thiesing across the slot. Thiesing’s initial shot deflected off a skate, hit goalie Chris Driedger's (9-6-3) pad, and bounced back to Maggio for a quick finish. It was his fifth goal of the season and second in the last four games.
Bridgeport jumped ahead with two goals in a 32-second span to end the period. At 10:31, Bolduc hammered a shot from the blue line that fell behind Driedger in the crease, allowing Foudy to brush the puck across the goal line for his 17th tally of the season. That goal also stood as his team-leading fourth game winner.
Just over a half-minute later, Cole Bardreau’s shot from the right circle was blocked by Trevor Carrick, but the second effort came to Thiesing who launched home a wrist shot for his second pro goal. It marked his first pro multi-point game.
Bridgeport added insurance in the third with two final goals in a 42-second span. At the 14:39 mark, after receiving a pass from Terry, Tyce Thompson raced along the right-wing boards and sniped a brilliant shot into the top-left corner for a 4-1 lead. At 15:18, Oliver Okuliar was sent to the box for roughing and the Islanders capitalized three seconds later when Bolduc blasted a slap shot from distance off Brian Pinho’s faceoff win.
A frustrated Okuliar remained physical and dropped the glove with William Dufour shortly after, but found himself on the wrong end of a couple heavy right fists from Dufour, which sent Okuliar down to the ice.
The Islanders' man advantage went 1-for-6 in the game, converting for the eighth time in their last 10. The penalty kill was 2-for-2 against the second-best power play in the AHL.
Next Time Out: The Islanders face the Hartford Wolf Pack at the XL Center on Wednesday night. Puck drop is 7 p.m. 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 6:45 p.m.