By: Alan Fuehring, Bridgeport Islanders
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (October 26, 2024) – The Bridgeport Islanders (1-5-1-0), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, suffered a 5-2 loss to the Charlotte Checkers (5-1-0-0) at Bojangles Coliseum on Saturday.
Brian Pinho and Fredrik Karlstrom had the goals for Bridgeport, while the Checkers scored four times on the power play to improve to 3-0-0-0 in the season series. Marcus Hogberg (0-3-1) made 35 saves.
Oliver Okuliar opened the scoring 6:57 into the first period, cutting from the wing to the net and finishing on the backhand for his second goal of the season. It was Charlotte’s only even-strength tally on the night. Michael Benning recorded the primary assist – the first of three straight primary helpers for the second-year defenseman.
Pinho responded less than five minutes later to extend his goal-scoring streak to three games. Alex Jefferies tracked down his rebound, fed a pass above the left hash marks where Pinho resided, and beat goaltender Cooper Black’s (1-0-0-0) blocker side at 11:51. Chris Terry earned the secondary assist and pushed his point streak to five games (one goal, five assists).
The wheels came off in the second period when Charlotte scored three power-play goals to build a 4-1 advantage. Wilmer Skoog put the Checkers ahead for 25 seconds into the frame, and Ryan McAllister converted on a one-time slap shot 2:18 later. Kyle Criscuolo followed with a tap-in goal from the doorstep to complete Sandis Vilmanis’ diagonal pass at the 9:16 mark. Criscuolo scored again on the power play at 4:29 of the third.
Karlstrom capped the 5-2 final with his third goal in four games at 5:03 of the third period. In his 200th professional game, Sam Bolduc created a rebound and a mad dash for the puck at the doorstep, where Karlstrom wedged it underneath the Checkers’ goalie. Bolduc logged an assist for the second straight contest.
Next Time Out: The Islanders return home to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game can be seen live on AHLTV on FloHockey or heard for free via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network.
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