Recap: Islanders 5, Rocket 2
Mar 12, 2025Chris Terry and Brian Pinho each had three points to open a three-game Canadian road trip on Wednesday, leading the Bridgeport Islanders (13-38-4-3), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, to a 5-2 win against the Laval Rocket (37-16-2-1) at Place Bell.
The Islanders ended Laval’s five-game winning streak and handed the Rocket only their seventh regulation loss at home this season. Laval entered the night as the AHL’s top team with 77 points.
Terry scored two goals 59 seconds apart in the third period and added one assist for his team-leading 18th multi-point game. Terry recorded his team-best 57th point and closed to within four points of the League lead. Pinho recorded one goal and two assists, pacing the Islanders with 22 goals this season and hitting the 40-point mark for the first time in his career.
Alex Jefferies and Cam Thiesing also beat goaltender Connor Hughes (13-10-3), while Henrik Tikkanen (5-15-3) made 26 saves for Bridgeport.
The Islanders jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Jefferies beat Hughes with a glove-side wrist shot 14:45 into the game. Pinho settled the puck on the right side and centered a pass for Jefferies, who got loose at the hash marks and whistled a quick shot across the grain for his 10th goal of the season. Liam Foudy earned the secondary assist.
Alex Barre-Boulet scored both goals for the Rocket, each coming on the power play, including his 17th of the season at 7:38 of the second. With Jack Randl in the box for hooking, Sean Farrell sent a cross-ice pass to the right circle where Barre-Boulet hammered a one-timer past Tikkanen to tie the game.
Pinho answered with a highlight-reel move in the final 36 seconds of the period. After Sam Bolduc cut off Laval’s long stretch pass, Terry sprung Pinho over the blue line and Pinho did the rest. The AHL All-Star darted straight ahead, between a pair of defensemen, and lifted a backhand shot over Hughes for his 22nd goal of the season to make it 2-1. Terry and Bolduc each extended their point streaks to three games.
Thiesing converted a timely insurance marker to make it 3-1 early in the third. Jack Randl centered a pass to Daylan Kuefler just before taking a hard hit in the right corner, but it was enough for Kuefler to find Thiesing at the doorstep for his fourth goal of the season. Kuefler and Randl logged the assists at the 2:39 mark.
Barre-Boulet’s second power-play goal came on another right-circle blast, moving Laval back to within striking distance at 15:04. However, Terry shot the puck 170-feet down the ice and into an empty net just 1:34 later to restore Bridgeport’s two-goal advantage.
Terry capitalized 59 seconds later with a one-time slap shot from the left circle, taking Pinho’s pass from the half wall and finishing for his 18th goal of the season.
The Islanders went 1-for-6 on the power play and scored on the man advantage for the fifth straight game. The penalty kill was 1-for-3. Laval led in shots 28-27.
Bridgeport finished its season series against the Rocket 1-1-0-0.
Next Time Out: The Islanders continue their three-game road trip on Friday with a 7 p.m. matchup against the Belleville Senators at CAA Arena. 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.