Bridgeport Islanders First Two Weeks in Review
The Bridgeport Islanders have commenced their 2021-22 season, with the first two weeks including games versus the other three teams in New England, as well as the Laval Rocket. Let’s look at the first two weeks of the season.
Week 1
The Bridgeport Islanders began their first season under their rebrand by visiting the Hartford Wolf Pack on October 15 at the XL Center. Bridgeport scored first against the Wolf Pack as Chris Terry tipped home a shot by Arnaud Durandeau. Hartford scored two unanswered as the Islanders went 0/5 on the power play. Hartford escaped with a 2-1 win.
In the second game, the Islanders headed to Providence to take on the Bruins at the Dunkin Donuts Center. Ken Appleby got the start. Arnaud Durandeau continued his dominant start as he started a play that led to an Andy Andreoff goal to tie it at one to end the first period. The score remained deadlocked until a shootout, in which Providence beat the Islanders. Ken Appleby made 42 saves.
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To close out the weekend, the Islanders took on the Springfield Thunderbirds for the first time since 2020, as the Thunderbirds sat out the 2020-21 season. Jakub Skarek was back in net. Chris Terry scored his second of the season. Michael Dal Colle scored to tie it up at two, but Springfield took back the lead. In the third period, Anatolii Golyshev scored his first goal in North America, but again, Bridgeport lost in the shootout, 4-3.
After the first week, the Islanders were 0-1-2 with three one-goal losses. They would play Springfield two more times in the next week.
Week 2
To open up the weekend, the Islanders headed back to Springfield to take on the Thunderbirds and the game was back and forth for the first 50 minutes of the game. Springfield scored two late goals and beat the Islanders 3-1 to hand Bridgeport their first multi-goal loss of the season.
On October 23rd, the Islanders played their home opener against Springfield. It was not the best start as Springfield scored three goals in the first two periods to lead 3-0. Michael Dal Colle cut the lead to two at the end of the second on the power play. To open up the third period, Bridgeport scored two more power-play goals, one by Arnaud Durandeau and one by Chris Terry. For the third time this season, Bridgeport headed into overtime. After trading possession for the first three minutes, Robin Salo sneaked one past Charlie Lindgren off of a screen by Arnaud Durandeau and the Islanders won their first game under that moniker.
To close out the first six games, The Islanders took on the Laval Rocket. Jakub Skarek got the start for the second straight game and made 37 saves along with two goals by Anatolii Golyshev and Chris Terry’s team-leading fourth goal, leading Bridgeport to a 3-0 win. It would make them 2-2-0-2 and has them at a .500 point percentage.
Coming into this week, The Islanders will host Providence and Hartford on Saturday and Sunday at Webster Bank Arena.
A Native of Danbury, CT. Christian is one of the longest tenured Drive4Five writers, Christian Gardecki began writing for Drive4five In May of 2017. Christian covers Minor League Hockey and the Bridgeport Islanders for Drive4Five. Outside of Drive4Five, Christian was the captain of his High School Hockey team and currently attends Hofstra University with a major in journalism. Christian was the play by play broadcaster for the Danbury Westerners summer collegiate baseball team during their 2021 NECBL Championship. Christian also was the Public Address Announcer for the Danbury Hat Tricks Minor Pro Hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and NAHL Junior team from 2019-21.
