Recap: Penguins 5, Islanders 2
Apr 12, 2024The Bridgeport Islanders (24-37-6-2), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, came up short in a 5-2 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (37-22-8-1) at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza on Friday.
Brian Pinho and Ruslan Iskhakov each scored a rebound goal, while Jack Randl (pictured) made his professional debut. Jakub Skarek (7-22-5) made 15 saves.
The result snapped Bridgeport’s three-game winning streak on the road. The Penguins won their sixth consecutive contest and finished the season series 4-0-0-0.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton raced out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals from Avery Hayes and Beau Jelsma 1:41 apart in the first period. Hayes, who scored twice in the contest, made it 1-0 at the 8:51 mark when he executed a nifty toe-drag through the right circle and beat Skarek’s glove on the power play. The Penguins went 1-for-1 on both the power play and penalty kill, in a game that was largely played at five-on-five.
Jelsma capitalized in the first period of his pro debut to double the Penguins’ lead at the 10:32 mark. Xavier Ouellet stepped into a slap shot above the left circle and Jelsma tipped the puck out front to make it 2-0.
Pinho answered at 16:57 of the first period with a rebound tally following Dennis Cholowski’s shot from range that goaltender Joel Blomqvist (25-10-6) kicked back with the left pad. It was Pinho’s seventh goal of the season and first since Mar. 9th.
The Penguins responded less than two minutes later and capped a three-goal first period courtesy of Sam Poulin’s 14th of the season, which went to video review. But again, the Islanders rallied back to keep it close when Iskhakov jammed home Alex Jefferies’ rebound late in the second period. Iskhakov recorded his team-leading 18th goal and 49th point of the season and set a new AHL career high for goals.
Bridgeport outshot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 19-5 in the second and 10-6 in the third, but the Penguins pulled away with Austin Rueschoff’s 14th goal of the year 9:58 into the third, and Hayes’ empty-netter in the final nine seconds.
Next Time Out: The Islanders play their 36th and final road game of the season on Saturday, facing the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at 7:05 p.m. inside PPL Center. The game can be seen live on AHLTV.com or heard for free via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network, beginning with the Connecticut Lottery Pregame Countdown at 6:45 p.m.