The Bridgeport Report: Week 15
Feb 1, 2023By Dalton Rice | Bridgpeport Islanders
Jakub Skarek’s third professional shutout along with multi-goal performances from Arnaud Durandeau and Chris Terry led the Bridgeport Islanders (19-17-6-1) to a pair of wins against a trio of Atlantic Division rivals last week.
The Islanders started the week in Hartford on Wednesday, facing off against the Wolf Pack (17-16-3-6) for the sixth time this season. Bridgeport tallied three goals in the first period and five straight to begin the game, never looking back in a 6-2 victory. Otto Koivula, Andy Andreoff (one goal, one assist), Paul Thompson (one goal, one assist), Terry (two goals, one assist), and Vincent Sevigny all scored, while Ruslan Iskhakov finished with three assists. Skarek (6-10-3) stopped 32 of 34 shots faced, with eight saves over the course of Bridgeport’s eight penalty kills. The Islanders finished 1-for-4 on the power play and 7-for-8 on the kill.
Bridgeport’s only loss came in a 3-1 defeat to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (20-16-2-3) on the road Saturday. Cole Bardreau’s second-period goal on a tic-tac-toe feed from Erik Brown was not enough as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ affiliate put the game away with two goals in the final 24 minutes of play. Bridgeport outshot its opponent 29-21 and went 0-for-4 on the man advantage.
The Islanders ended January with a 2-0 win against the Atlantic Division-leading Hershey Bears (28-9-4-1) on Sunday. Durandeau had each goal for the Islanders and netted both on the power play. Skarek stopped all 39 shots he saw, blanking the Washington Capitals’ affiliate on their Teddy Bear Toss Night for his first shutout of the season and third of his pro career.
Bridgeport opens February with a 7 p.m. home game against Hershey on Friday before three straight on the road beginning Saturday, facing the Springfield Thunderbirds, Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Hartford Wolf Pack. Those games bookend the 2023 AHL All-Star Break, which begins this Sunday. The AHL All-Star Classic is Feb. 5-6 at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec.
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The Week Ahead
Friday, Feb. 3 vs Hershey Bears (7 p.m.): Bridgeport's second-to-last meeting with the Bears comes on “Pride Night” at Total Mortgage Arena. The Islanders are 1-2-1-0 in the series following Sunday’s win. Chris Terry (one goal, two assists) and Arnaud Durandeau (two goals, one assist) lead the Islanders with three points in four matchups against Hershey this season. Click here for tickets.
Saturday, Feb. 4 at Springfield Thunderbirds (7:05 p.m.): The Islanders visit MassMutual Center on Saturday for their final game before the 2023 All-Star Break. Bridgeport is 3-2-3-0 against the St. Louis Blues’ affiliate through eight of the 12 meetings. Watch Saturday's game for free via AHLTV.com.
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Ice Chips
Terry’s Big Week: Chris Terry tallied five points (two goals, three assists) in three games last week, giving him a team-best 42 this season. He scored twice and added an assist on Wednesday before logging two helpers on Sunday afternoon, his team-leading 12th multi-point game. The five-time AHL All-Star is tied for eighth in league scoring and on pace to set a career-high in points. Bridgeport is 9-1-1-1 when Terry has at least two points in a game this season. In addition, the veteran forward has points in nine of his last 10 road games (four goals, 11 assists).
First-Year Firepower: With three assists against the Wolf Pack on Wednesday, Ruslan Iskhakov is tied for second among AHL rookies in helpers (22) and third in points (31) through 40 games Since the 2017-18 season, only one Bridgeport rookie has recorded more points than Iskhakov (Otto Koivula, 46 points in 69 games, 2018-19).
Shining Bright: Laval, Quebec native Samuel Bolduc is headed back to his hometown this Sunday to represent Bridgeport at the 2023 American Hockey League All-Star Classic. This is his first AHL All-Star appearance. Bolduc made his NHL debut on Jan. 23rd at Toronto and played four games with the New York Islanders, in addition to a career-high 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists) for Bridgeport this season. He shares 10th place among AHL defensemen in scoring.
Quick Hits: Paul LaDue played his 300th pro game between the AHL and NHL on Sunday at Hershey... Bridgeport’s power play scored at least two goals for the 10th time this season on Sunday and now ranks fifth in the AHL at 23.0%... The Islanders’ penalty kill ranks ninth (82.5%)… The Islanders are the only team in the Eastern Conference that have not allowed a shorthanded goal… Bridgeport’s seven shorthanded goals scored are tied for fifth.
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Team Leaders
Goals: Andy Andreoff (20)
Assists: Chris Terry (29)
Points: Chris Terry (42)
Shots: Chris Terry (124)
Plus/Minus: Parker Wotherspoon* (+12)
Penalty Minutes: Seth Helgeson (63)
Power-Play Goals: Andy Andreoff (8)
Wins: Cory Schneider (13)
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Across the Sound
The New York Islanders (25-22-5) entered the NHL’s All-Star Break on a two-game winning streak and in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division, just two points out of a Wild Card spot with 30 games left. Mathew Barzal scored the overtime-winning goal in a 2-1 victory against the Vegas Golden Knight at UBS Arena on Saturday. On Monday, the Islanders acquired forward Bo Horvat (31 goals, 23 assists in 49 games) from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for former Bridgeport forwards Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty, and a conditional 2023 first-round draft pick.