Recap: Rocket 3, Islanders 1
Mar 15, 2024Ruslan Iskhakov scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season at Place Bell on Friday night, but the Bridgeport Islanders (20-32-6-1), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, continued a five-game road trip with a 3-1 loss to the Laval Rocket (27-24-6-2).
Robin Salo and Tyce Thompson collected the assists, while Jakub Skarek (6-19-5) made 23 saves.
A run-and-gun opening two minutes resulted in each team scoring a goal. Tobie Bisson put Laval ahead just 1:03 into the game with a one-time shot past Skarek’s blocker while closing in from the right circle. Justin Barron missed the net with a blast from the point before Lias Andersson wrapped behind the cage and centered a pass for Bisson.
The Islanders answered just 54 seconds later with Iskhakov’s equalizer. Salo let a wrist shot fly from the blue line that Iskhakov altered between the circles, which beat Jakub Dobes (19-13-6) 1:57 into the contest. It was Iskhakov’s first goal since Feb. 25th and his team-leading 42nd point overall. Thompson recorded the secondary assist.
Laval finished the game with another tally in the first period, and the only goal of the second. Neither team scored in a quiet third.
Riley Kidney notched the eventual game winner at 5:16 of the first period and Phillipe Maillet added a power-play goal 17:13 into the second, stepping into a snap shot above the left circle for his 17th goal of the season.
Skarek was lifted for the extra attacker with 1:19 remaining, but the Islanders couldn’t solve Dobes again, who allowed three regulation goals total in four starts against Bridgeport. Laval won the series 3-0-1-0.
The Islanders went 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill. Bridgeport led in shots, 30-26.
Next Time Out: The Islanders face the Belleville Senators at 7 p.m. tomorrow night, finishing their two-game season series with their only trip to CAA Arena. 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.