Recap: Wolf Pack 3, Islanders 2
Apr 25, 2022Austin Czarnik scored a power-play goal for the second consecutive night, but the Bridgeport Islanders (31-30-7-4, .507), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, completed their regular-season schedule with a 3-2 setback to the Hartford Wolf Pack (32-32-6-2, .500) at Total Mortgage Arena on Saturday.
Andy Andreoff also converted an even-strength goal, while Chris Terry recorded his team-leading 17th multi-point game of the season with two assists. Jakub Skarek (16-15-4) made 25 saves in front of 5,147 fans.
Bridgeport opened the scoring at 15:15 of the first period when Simon Holmstrom entered the zone and dished a pass to Terry, who then found Andreoff with a cross-ice feed to set up a short-side wrist shot. It was Andreoff’s 18th goal of the season.
The Wolf Pack answered at 18:09 of the first with a Matt Lorito one timer from the slot. Hartford nearly took the lead less than a minute later, but Skarek shut down Anthony Greco’s breakaway chance and the rivals went into the intermission tied at 1-1.
Hartford earned its first lead of the night just 30 seconds into the middle frame when Alex Whelan stole the puck in the offensive zone and wired a shot over Skarek’s glove.
Both teams traded a goal in the third period to cap the 3-2 final. The Wolf Pack pushed their lead to a pair at the 13:05 mark when Ty Ronning roofed a rebound on his backhand directly in front of Skarek. That was ultimately the difference.
Czarnik got one back with 2:45 remaining, his 14th goal of the season on a nearly identical tally to his game-winner on Friday. He launched a one timer on the power play from just inside the circle to capitalize on Terry’s setup.
The Islanders finished the game 1-for-4 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. Bridgeport led in shots on goal, 29-28, and ended the 10-game season series 3-7-0-0 against the Wolf Pack.
Bridgeport will finish the regular season in sixth place in the Atlantic Division standings. They clinched a playoff berth on Friday.