Recap: Thunderbirds 4, Islanders 1
Nov 6, 2021The Bridgeport Islanders (3-5-0-2), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, suffered a 4-1 loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds (7-0-2-0) at Webster Bank Arena on Saturday.
The Islanders never recovered after allowing two goals in the opening 62 seconds and dropped their third straight contest. Andy Andreoff scored for Bridgeport and Cory Schneider (0-3-0) made 28 saves.
Colton Ellis (1-0-0) stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced to win his AHL debut for the T-Birds.
Springfield not only scored twice in the first 1:02, but also three times in the first 4:29. Alexey Toropchenko opening the scoring just 42 seconds into the game with a shot in tight that bounced off the post and across the goal line. While initially waved off and play continued, it was later determined to be a good goal upon video review.
Twenty-seconds later, Logan Brown doubled the Thunderbirds’ lead by converting on a turnover with a backhand shot between the circles.
Keean Washkurak redirected Nick Albano’s point shot to make it 3-0 at the 4:29 mark, his third goal in five games.
Andreoff pulled one back before the end of the first period, receiving a stretch pass from Otto Koivula and then beating Ellis short side with a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot. It was Andreoff’s third goal of the season (16:26 mark), while Koivula now has eight points in his last eight games.
Springfield made it 4-1 at 13:42 of the second period following an incredible keep-in from Scott Perunovich on the power play, which enabled him to find Matthew Peca at the right circle. Peca fired a wrist shot that beat Schneider’s glove for his team-leading sixth goal of the year.
Bridgeport nearly got a second goal with about four minutes left in the period when a loose puck came to Kyle MacLean in front, however, MacLean got too much air under the shot and put it over the net.
The Thunderbirds outshot Bridgeport 11-10 in the third period, but the contest remained 4-1.
Bridgeport finished the night 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-4 on the power play.
Weekend Finale: The Bridgeport Islanders host the Hartford Wolf Pack tomorrow in a 3 p.m. matinee at Webster Bank Arena to close out the weekend. Sunday is Kid’s Day all season long, featuring $10 tickets for kids 12 and younger! Tickets for Sunday’s weekend finale are on sale now!
Fans can follow the action all season long via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network and AHLTV, beginning with the pre-game show 20 minutes prior to puck drop.