Recap: Rocket 5, Islanders 1
Mar 13, 2024The Bridgeport Islanders (20-31-6-1), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, dropped the first round of their five-game road trip, 5-1, to the Laval Rocket (26-24-6-2) at Place Bell on Wednesday.
Quebec native Julien Gauthier scored a power-play goal midway through the second period. It snapped Bridgeport’s season-long three-game winning streak on the road.
Tobie Bisson recorded the first of two goals in the opening period, and the first of five straight Laval tallies to put the game out of reach. He crossed over with Gabriel Bourque in the slot and fired a shot past the glove of starting goaltender Ken Appleby (7-9-0), who was eventually replaced by Henrik Tikkanen (no decision). Bourque received the only assist at the 17:57 mark.
Just 56 seconds later, Olivier Galipeau made it 2-0 with a blast from the point that changed directions on its way towards the net. It beat Appleby’s blocker at 18:53.
Brandon Gignac, Lias Andersson, and Sean Farrell all scored within the first 7:43 of the second period to make it 5-0 and chase Appleby from the crease. Tikkanen took over and made 15 saves in the final 32:17.
The Islanders went 1-for-3 on the power play and produced their only goal at 5-on-4, when Gauthier scored his second goal with Bridgeport at 11:09 of the second. Dennis Cholowski floated a shot at Laval goaltender Jakub Dobes (18-13-6) that Gauthier deflected in front for his first goal since Feb. 9th. Ruslan Iskhakov tallied the secondary assist for his team-leading 26th helper and 41st point.
Cholowski now has four assists in his last five games.
William Dufour nearly got Bridgeport a second tally on a 3-on-2 rush in the third period but was denied by a highlight-reel glove save from Dobes to keep it 5-1. The Islanders outshot the Rocket 11-8 in the third.
Next Time Out: The Islanders and Rocket square off for the second time in three days with a 7 p.m. rematch at Place Bell on Friday. 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.