NY Islanders' AHL Affiliate Drop Final Two Games Before All-Star Break

In defeat, the Bridgeport Islanders have fallen to last place in the league

Hershey Bears vs. Bridgeport, 01/31/2025 | Game Highlights
Hershey Bears vs. Bridgeport, 01/31/2025 | Game Highlights | Hershey Bears

The Hershey Bears swept the Bridgeport Islanders in their final weekend series before the All-Star Break. The final score of both games was 5-4. In defeat, Bridgeport’s record fell to 10-30-2-2. With 24 points, they are now officially the worst team in the AHL.

Game 1: Friday, Jan 31

In a matchup between teams who surrendered nine goals in their previous game, Hershey took the ice seemingly offended by their Wednesday night result. Within 50 seconds, they took a 2-0 lead courtesy of Ivan Miroshnichenko and Pierrick Dube.

Unlike Wednesday night, the Islanders did not take the beating lying down, and Brian Pinho cut Hershey’s lead in half at 7:18 of the first period. Three minutes later, William Dufour ripped a shot from the high slot that pulled the score even. Forward Chris Terry had the primary assist on both goals, giving him 26 on the season.

The Islanders kept up the strong momentum into the second period, forcing Miroshnichenko into a slashing penalty at 3:42 of the second. The Islanders quickly capitalized on the man advantage, when Gemel Smith buried a rebound behind Bears goalie Hunter Shepard. They now have a streak of seven straight games with a power play goal. 

Hershey, however, are the two-time defending Calder Cup Champions, and they showed the heart of a champ in the following minutes. The Bears took five of the next seven shots and tied the game when Miroshnichenko beat starting goaltender Henrik Tikkanen for his second goal. 

In a bizarre third period, Miroshnichenko beat Tikkanen just 30 seconds into the frame. The goal gave Miroschnichenko a hattrick, the second one surrendered by Bridgeport in as many games. Again, Bridgeport did not lay down. 

Matt Maggio pulled the game even just three minutes later with a nifty through-the-legs deflection off of a Sam Bolduc shot. But, Tikkanen again struggled to keep the puck out of his net. A minute after Maggio’s equalizer, Alex Limoges beat Tikkanen to restore Hershey’s one-goal advantage. It was a lead they never relinquished. Bridgeport only managed four more shots in the period, and none beat Shepard. Bridgeport would have to try again on Saturday night. 

Game 2: Saturday, Feb 2

Bridgeport came out with renewed focus on Saturday night. Instead of getting jumped on, the Isles did the jumping early in the contest. The Islanders elected to play Saturday with seven defensemen and ten forwards, and that decision paid dividends in the game’s opening period.

Newly reinserted Isaiah George gave the Isles an early 1-0 lead on a screened point shot. Then Sam Bolduc did the same only a few minutes later. Terry jammed a rebound past Bears goalie Clay Stevenson to give the Isles a 3-0 advantage. Unfortunately, the Isles couldn’t hold the lead. Hershey’s Bogdan Trineyev cut the deficit to two in the first period’s final minutes. 

Then Bridgeport collapsed during a double minor penalty kill in the second period. Ivan Miroshnichenko (again) scored in the waning moments of the first penalty to cut the lead to just one, and fifteen seconds later Hershey’s Spencer Smallman tied the game off a rush on the opening faceoff.

No matter what the Islanders did, Hershey was right there. Eetu Liukas gave the Islanders a 4-3 lead with four minutes to go in the period, only for the Bears to tie the game at four within 30 seconds of Liukas’ goal.

Despite their mistakes, Bridgeport found themselves tied entering the third period for the second straight game.

But like Groundhog Day, the Bears once again took a 5-4 third-period lead when defenseman Ethan Bear scored his sixth goal of the year. Despite netting six shots in the third period, Bridgeport once again could not find the game-tying goal late in the third period. They fell 5-4.

The Bridgeport Islanders will return to action on Friday, Feb 7 at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The puck will drop at 7:05 pm. All AHL games can be streamed on flohockey.tv.

For those wishing to watch Brian Pinho at the AHL’s All-Star game festivities, the skills competition will begin Sunday, Feb 2 at 9 pm. The showcase will begin on Feb 3 at the same time. These events can also be streamed on flohockey.tv and NHL Network

Schedule