The Bridgeport Report: Mar. 15, 2023

The Bridgeport Islanders (27-23-7-1), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, collected four points in three road games against the Charlotte Checkers this past week, keeping themselves in the Atlantic Division's final playoff spot.
With 14 games to go, the Islanders sit at 62 points, just four behind Lehigh Valley and three in front of seventh-place Hartford.

LEAGUE STANDINGS

Bridgeport kicked off its trip with a 3-2 win over the Checkers on Wednesday thanks to power-play goals from Arnaud Durandeau and Andy Andreoff, along with a shorthanded tally from Grant Hutton. Cory Schneider (17-7-3) made 40 saves, anchoring the back end while the Islanders were outshot 42-23. Bridgeport went 2-for-5 on the man advantage and 1-for-2 on the kill.

Charlotte got its revenge on Friday night, handing the Islanders a 7-1 loss. Kyle MacLean netted an equalizer 13:18 into the first before the Checkers ripped six straight goals before the end of the game. Jakub Skarek (10-13-3) made 28 saves in the loss, while the Bridgeport players in front of him killed 6-of-7 penalties. The Islanders were 0-for-2 on the power play.
The Islanders responded with a 4-3 shootout victory to close out the series on Saturday, taking the extra point after Charlotte tied the game at 3-3 with a minute to go. Paul Thompson started the scoring 5:08 into the opening period followed by scores from Andreoff and Chris Terry to close out the first 20 minutes. Goals from Ruslan Iskhakov and William Dufour, and a massive glove-save from Schneider, won the game in the shootout. Bridgeport went 0-for-4 on the power play and allowed a goal on one of its two penalty kills. Schneider made 35 saves.

The Islanders complete a four-game road trip on Wednesday in Hartford before hosting the Syracuse Crunch and Wolf Pack this weekend at home. All games can be seen live via
AHLTV.com
, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday, Mar. 15 at Hartford (7 p.m.):The Islanders head to Hartford for the fourth time this season after winning each of the last two games at XL Center. Bridgeport is 2-1-0-0 in Hartford this season, outscoring the Wolf Pack 15-9 in their building. The Islanders overall road record is 14-8-6-1.
Friday, Mar. 17 vs. Syracuse (7 p.m.): The Crunch visit Total Mortgage Arena on St. Patrick's Day for the second and final matchup between the two teams this season. Back on Dec. 17th, Bridgeport suffered a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning affiliate despite goals from William Dufour, Andy Andreoff and Kyle MacLean in Syracuse.
Tickets are on sale now
!

Saturday, Mar. 18 vs. Hartford (7 p.m.):The Islanders host the Wolf Pack for the final time this season, ending a six-game home series that Bridgeport leads 3-2-0-0. Saturday is "Girls Hockey Night," featuring a pink youth jersey giveaway to the first 2,500 kids when doors open at 6 p.m. Bridgeport will also sport their "Fisherman" third jerseys once again!
Get your tickets now
!

Ice Chips

Schneider Shutting It Down:Cory Schneider won back-to-back games in Charlotte last week, including his 300th professional victory on Saturday between the NHL, AHL and NLA (Switzerland). It was 125th career AHL win in his 218th appearance. Schneider is fourth in the AHL with a .919 save percentage and his 17 wins this season are tied for ninth in the league.
Chasing History:Islanders captain Seth Helgeson has played 363 career games for Bridgeport, just five behind Mark Wotton for the franchise record. Helgeson could tie the record on Mar. 24th at Belleville and set it on Mar. 29th at Hartford. The veteran defenseman and Jeff Kubiak are the only players to appear in all 58 games for Bridgeport this season.
Andy-Time, Andy-Where:Andy Andreoff scored twice this past week, bringing his total to 25 on the season, which is one short of tying a career high he set during the 2018-19 season. His power-play goal on Wednesday was his 10th on the man advantage, setting a new career high.

Terry Time:Chris Terry continued his climb up the AHL's scoring leaderboard with two multi-point showings on the week, giving him 15 multiple-point outings on the season. He has a team-leading 56 points (18 goals, 38 assists) in 53 games. The second-year Islander is on pace to set a new career high in assists (43, 2011-12).
Quick Hits:The Islanders' power play moved up to second in the AHL with a 23.1% conversion rate... With an assist on Kyle MacLean's goal on Saturday, Ruslan Iskhakov re-entered into a tie with Iowa's Sammy Walker for most points among all AHL rookies this season (45)… Eleven of Bridgeport's 14 remaining games are against Atlantic Division rivals.

Team Leaders

Goals: Andy Andreoff (25)
Assists: Chris Terry (38)
Points: Chris Terry (56)
Shots: Chris Terry (179)
Plus/Minus:Grant Hutton (+4)
Penalty Minutes:Seth Helgeson (109)
Power-Play Goals: Andy Andreoff (10)
Wins:Cory Schneider (17)