Bridgeport Islanders Struggles Continue With Three More Losses
The Bridgeport Islanders lost all three of their games this past week. With the three regulation losses, Bridgeport has lost 16 of its last 19. Its nightmare season continues, as its record drops to 8-25-2-2.
On Wednesday, Bridgeport opened their week by falling 4-0 to the Springfield Thunderbirds. Matt Maggio and Cole Bardreau returned to the Islanders lineup after missing Sunday’s contest, but Aidan Fulp and William Dufour missed all three games this week.
Head coach Rick Kowalsky gave the net to Henrik Tikkanen, fresh off of his first AHL shutout. Unfortunately, Tikkanen couldn’t manage to keep the magic going. The Islanders surrendered the first goal 5:37 into the game and never managed to score a goal themselves. Springfield scored again in the second period, then twice more in the third period to earn the 4-0 shutout. Unlike recent outings, none of the goals were truly Tikkanen’s fault.
Bridgeport gets hemmed into their own zone for a while, horrible defensive structure
2-0 SPR #Isles I #Gonefishin
— Joey McAuliffe (@Joey_McAuliffe8) January 16, 2025
The first came on a horrible bounce that Tikkanen couldn’t have predicted. The second was a cross-crease pass that didn’t give Tikkanen a chance. The third was a low-slot deflection through a screen and the fourth goal was an empty-netter. Tikkanen made 23 saves on the 26 shots he faced. This is a vast improvement from some of his early-season starts.
Wednesday’s loss fell solely on the skaters. You need to score at least one goal to win a game, and the Islanders failed to solve Thunderbirds goaltender Colten Ellis on their 31 shots. Not to mention, they played without discipline all night.
For example, at the end of the second period, forward Liam Foudy shot the puck into the opposing net after a stoppage. It was a petty gesture that immediately started a scrum. The refs correctly identified that Foudy’s move had caused the entire fight, and gave Foudy a two-minute unsportsmanlike penalty. Springfield scored on the power play at the start of the third period.
Their effort on Friday night against the Syracuse Crunch was equally weak. This time, Kowalsky gave the net to Jakub Skarek. After a scoreless first period, Bridgeport allowed three goals in the second period: two at even strength and one on the power play. The first two goals came exclusively from more defensive malpractice. Each time, the malpractice came from the defensive pairing of Christain Krygier and Sam Bolduc. Bolduc, in particular, was on the ice for all four goals against the Islanders.
The Isles managed their first goal of the week late in the third period, courtesy of Cam Thiesing, but the goal proved meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The Crunch cashed in on the empty netter a few minutes later, and the Islanders fell 4-1 to the Crunch.
On Saturday night, Bridgeport managed to get some run support at the cost of any defensive fortitude they had. With goalie Hunter Miska making his first start as an Islander, Bridgeport surrendered six goals. After a scoreless first, both teams combined to score six goals in the second period. The teams split the first two goals to enter the second half of the period tied at two (courtesy of Chris Terry and Bolduc), but Bridgeport couldn’t keep the puck out of their net. They allowed Springfield to pot two more goals before the period’s end and entered the third period trailing by two goals.
Foudy opened the third period by scoring just 42 seconds into the frame, but Miska and the defense surrendered two more goals. Eetu Liukas scored late in the third, but it was again too little too late. Bridgeport fell 6-4.
Bridgeport plays again on Monday, Jan. 20 against the Thunderbirds on the road. The game will begin at 3:05 p.m. For Bridgeport, it is the beginning of a four-game road trip where they will face four different teams in four different cities. All AHL games can be streamed on flohockey.tv.
Bridgeport Report Week 15:
4-0 L, 4-1 L, 6-4 L (0-3-0-0)Top Performers:
E. Liukas – 1G, 1A
C. Terry – 1 G, 1A
L. Foudy – 1G, 2Atough to crown Top Performers this week tbh…
Bridgeport has lost 16 of their last 19#Isles I #Gonefishin I @FloHockey pic.twitter.com/8MKbfbq0VM
— Joey McAuliffe (@Joey_McAuliffe8) January 19, 2025
Featured image courtesy of the Syracuse Crunch
Joey McAuliffe is a passionate Islander fan pursuing a Masters of Accounting in Buffalo, NY. His favorite player of all time is Jordan Eberle. He has followed the team closely since 2014, but he began regularly attending games during the 2006 season. Outside of hockey, Joey loves music and the Buffalo Bills.
