Recap: Phantoms 4, Islanders 3
Mar 10, 2024Dennis Cholowski assisted on two of three goals Sunday afternoon at Total Mortgage Arena, but the Bridgeport Islanders (20-30-6-1), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, suffered a 4-3 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (25-23-5-2) to complete their busy weekend.
Jeff Kubiak, Tyce Thompson and Daylan Kuefler all scored for the Islanders, while Brian Pinho added an assist to extend his point streak to four games.
Henrik Tikkanen (7-4-2) made 30 saves, as the Phantoms outshot the Islanders 34-32.
Lehigh Valley came out firing, recording two quick goals in the first period. The Phantoms scored just 2:28 into the game with Adam Karashik’s first career AHL goal. Matthew Brown connected with Karashik, who fired a one-timer through the legs of Tikkanen from the left circle. Evan Polei was credited with the secondary assist.
The Phantoms extended their lead just 2:19 later, converting on their first power play of the game. Emil Andrae’s shot from the point produced a rebound at the doorstep for Rhett Gardner, who cleaned it up on the backhand, going five-hole once again. Samu Tuomaala recorded the secondary helper.
The Islanders refused to go away, battling back to tie the game before the first period expired. Bridgeport got on the board at the 11:17 mark, responding with Kubiak’s eighth goal of the season. The Bridgeport assistant captain created a moving screen in front of Cal Peterson, while deflecting Cole Bardreau’s wrist shot from the top of the right circle. Paul LaDue also helped set up the play, receiving the secondary assist.
With just 53 seconds left in the period, Thompson fired home the equalizer, snapping a shot from the right circle past the glove of Peterson to make it 2-2. Pinho and Cholowski each recorded an assist.
Lehigh Valley regained its lead 4:27 into the second period with a seeing-eye shot from Louie Belpedio on a set play. The Phantoms defenseman lined up at the left point and hammered a shot towards Tikkanen that deflected off an Islander in front. Gardner won the faceoff back to Belpedio, receiving an assist.
The Phantoms stretched their lead just 2:47 later after an unintentional centering pass found Gardner in the slot, who fired a shot past Tikkanen to make it 4-2. It was Gardner’s second goal and third point on the night, which stood as the game winner.
Kuefler got the Islanders close with three minutes remaining in regulation, corralling a rebound and tapping home a backhand shot. Cholowski took the initial shot which resulted in the rebound tally. It was the 100th assist of his AHL career.
Bridgeport finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.