"They're a really experienced hockey group. We made two mistakes that you need to be able to learn from. Their experience ended up putting the puck in the back of our net."
Bridgeport is the AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders. Their leading scorer during the regular season was 33-year-old Chris Terry, who has played in 152 NHL games with Carolina and Montreal, plus he logged four AHL seasons with the Checkers as part of his pro career.
The AHL's overall postseason points leader, Austin Czarnik, has headlined Bridgeport's offensive production with three goals and seven assists in five games. If that name sounds familiar, that's because the Kraken claimed Czarnik on waivers earlier this season.
Czarnik played six games for Seattle, notching two assists. When the Kraken front office placed the 29-year-old veteran of 142 NHL games on waivers with the intent to reassign him to Charlotte as a depth forward, NYI reclaimed him. Saturday, Czarnik has two primary assists, one on Terry's goal to open the scoring and the other on the game-winning goal.
Not to be lost is Bridgeport's goaltender is 36-year-old Cory Schneider, who has 410 appearances at the NHL level with a career save percentage of .918. Kraken developing pro Joey Daccord, 25, has won two of three goalie duels with former first-rounder Schneider in the series. All three games have proved one-goal decisions.
Saturday's game was 2-1 before a Bridgeport empty-net goal made it 3-1 with a minute remaining. Charlotte forward Zac Dalpe, a developing pro of the Florida Panthers with whom the Kraken are sharing an AHL roster this season, scored 19 seconds later to liven the Charlotte crowd.
But there was no equalizer. In a positive thought about Monday's Game 4, Charlotte's last regulation loss at home was Feb. 11, going 11-0-3 since then with Daccord a big factor in that record.
Kraken developing pros and defensemen Connor Carrick and Cale Fleury assisted on Dalpe's goal. Both D-men have three assists in three postseason games, with Fleury the only Checker to register a point in each of the team's three playoff games. Notably, Carrick led Charlotte in shots on goal with seven Saturday and Fleury was next highest with six. Carrick leads the Checkers with 12 shots on goal in the series.
Kinnear said his team was physically aggressive Saturday and same for the foe: "it's supposed to be fun and competitive. It's supposed to be one-on-one battles. It's what makes our game great and it's what makes playoffs great. Embrace it, enjoy it and let's come out on the right end of the battle."
