Recap: Wolf Pack 5, Islanders 1
Jan 5, 2025The Bridgeport Islanders (7-21-2-2), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, fell to the Hartford Wolf Pack (15-14-2-1), 5-1, in front of 5,177 fans at Total Mortgage Arena on Sunday.
Brian Pinho scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season and fifth on the power play, while Jakub Skarek (4-10-1) made 28 saves. Riley Piercey (pictured) made his AHL debut.
Benoit-Oliver Groulx led Hartford’s offense, potting two goals in the contest including the game winner. Alex Belize and Dylan Roobroeck both had two helpers. Dylan Garand (10-4-4) put in a strong performance between the pipes, stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faced.
Pinho, who is tied with Chris Terry for the team lead in points (25), is now four goals shy of his career high (20), which he set back in 2019-20 as a member of the Hershey Bears.
The Wolf Pack broke a scoreless deadlock with 26 seconds remaining in the first. After Belize retrieved the puck off the end boards, he passed it out front to Groulx in the middle of the Islanders’ zone. Groulx snapped a quick shot from the left circle behind Skarek for his first of two consecutive goals.
The Wolf Pack carried their momentum into the second, scoring two goals in a span of 1:05 to open up a 3-0 lead. Three minutes into the period, Cole Bardreau was accessed a slashing penalty and Hartford benefited 27 seconds later on the power play. Groulx blasted a one-timer home for his team-leading 11th goal of the season. Then, at 4:32, Ben Harpur found Adam Sykora in front of the net and Sykora flipped a wrist shot past Skarek for his third goal in the last three games.
Anton Blidh made it 4-0 at the 9:52 mark when he took Roobroeck’s pass out front and tossed a shot into the top left corner of the cage for his ninth of the year.
The Islanders struck back 57 seconds later with their only goal of the afternoon, which came on the man advantage. At 10:39, Groulx was called for roughing and Pinho cashed in 10 seconds later. Terry fired a shot off Garand's right pad, and Pinho recovered the rebound and skipped the puck home to make it 4-1.
With time winding down in the middle frame and a loose puck sliding down the slot towards Skarek, the Islanders’ netminder stepped out to play it and tried to find a teammate, but his pass was intercepted by Nathan Sucese, who slid the puck into the wide-open net for the 5-1 final.
Tensions boiled over in the third period after Jaroslav Chmelar laid a big hit on Wyatt Newpower in the neutral zone. Bardreau dropped the gloves and fought Chmelar in response to the hit, leading to Bardreau’s first fighting major of the season.
The Islanders went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the penalty kill went 4-for-5 on Sunday. Hartford led in shots, 33-30.
Next Time Out: The Islanders return to the road next Friday, Jan. 10th with a 7:05 p.m. matchup against the Providence Bruins at Amica Mutual Pavilion. The game can be heard for free via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network or seen live on AHLTV on FloHockey, beginning with the Connecticut Lottery Pregame Countdown at 6:45 p.m.