Recap: Phantoms 4, Islanders 3
Apr 3, 2022The Bridgeport Islanders (27-27-6-4, .500), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, bounced back from three different one-goal deficits but came up short in a 4-3 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (25-27-7-4) in front of 5,275 fans at Total Mortgage Arena on Sunday.
Chris Terry scored his team-leading 24th goal of the season and hit the 50-point mark for the ninth time in his career, while Collin Adams and Mitch Vande Sompel also beat veteran goaltender Pat Nagle. Three of the Phantoms’ four goals came on the power play, including two from Isaac Ratcliffe, who redirected home the game-winner with just four minutes to play.
With the loss, the Islanders fell to 2-1-1-0 in four meetings against the Phantoms this season. The division rivals will rematch in Bridgeport next Sunday.
Vande Sompel (one goal, one assist) and Parker Wotherspoon (two assists) both had a multi-point game, but the Islanders never led after consistently falling behind. Adam Johnson gave Lehigh Valley a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the second period after a scoreless opening frame that saw Bridgeport outshot the Phantoms 16-5. Johnson tipped Adam Clendening’s slap shot on the power play to beat Jakub Skarek (16-13-4).
Adams tied the game just over four minutes later when he crashed the net and put in a rebound off Wotherspoon’s high-rising shot. It was Adams’ fifth goal of the season, which came at even strength at the 11:19 mark.
Ratcliffe restored Lehigh Valley’s advantage with another redirection on the power play, this time in the final three minutes of the frame on Brennan Menell’s slapshot. Menell stepped into a one-timer near the deep slot and Ratcliffe changed its path to make it 2-1 at the 17:11 mark.
Bridgeport answered for a second time at 8:41 of the third period when Wotherspoon’s point shot was tipped by Otto Koivula and saved, but Vande Sompel cleaned up the rebound for this second goal in five games. The Phantoms responded even quicker courtesy of Logan Day just 20 seconds later, who made it 3-2 with a blast above the right circle.
Terry pulled the Islanders even for a third time in the final nine minutes of regulation, scoring his team-leading seventh power-play goal on a diagonal pass from Vande Sompel. The 3-3 deadlock lasted a little more than four minutes before Ratcliffe deflected home Cal O’Reilly’s slapshot on the power play for the 4-3 final.
The Islanders finished the game 1-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Skarek made 31 saves on 35 shots.
Next Time Out: The Islanders host the Hershey Bears this Tuesday morning in their second and final morning game of the season. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at Total Mortgage Arena. The game can be heard online through the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network, or seen via AHLTV, beginning with the pre-game show at 10:15 a.m.