By: Alan Fuehring, Bridgeport Islanders
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (January 10, 2025) – The Bridgeport Islanders (7-22-2-2), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, came up short in a 4-1 loss to the Providence Bruins (18-12-3-1) at Amica Mutual Pavilion on Friday.
The Islanders peppered goaltender Michael DiPietro (12-4-3) with 35 shots but converted only once when Chris Terry ripped home a power-play goal midway through the second. DiPietro was perfect on the other 34 chances to improve to 6-0-1 in his last seven starts.
Vinni Lettieri scored twice and added an assist for the Bruins, who improved to 8-0-0-0 in the season series.
Georgii Merkulov opened the scoring just 2:01 into the contest with his eighth goal of the year. The former AHL All-Star settled in the deep slot near the blue line and directed a lengthy shot right on that dipped and knuckled past Henrik Tikkanen (1-7-0). All four Providence goals came at five-on-five.
Riley Tufte made it 2-0 at 1:27 of the second period – his 11th goal and eventual game-winner. Fabian Lysell skated through the right circle and had a shot redirect off Calle Odelius’ visor, which fell in front of the crease for Tufte’s finish.
The Islanders got back to within striking distance at 12:11 of the second, thanks to Terry’s fifth goal of the season and second on the power play. With Jaxon Nelson in the box for slashing, Odelius fed a pass to Terry in the right circle, where he stepped into a wrist shot and beat DiPietro. Tyce Thompson earned the secondary assist for his fifth point in the last seven games.
It was Terry’s 62nd career goal with Bridgeport, passing Steven Regier (2004-08) for eighth place on the team’s all-time list. Terry sits one goal behind Steve Bernier (2016-20) for seventh.
Bridgeport took a 2-1 deficit into the intermission and began the third period with 45 seconds remaining on a 5-on-3 power play but came up empty courtesy of DiPietro and a strong Bruins’ kill. Instead, Lettieri scored two goals 3:24 apart to seal the 4-1 final.
Tikkanen made 33 saves.
Next Time Out: The Islanders open a four-game homestead on Sunday with a 5 p.m. matchup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Total Mortgage Arena. The game can be heard for free via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network or seen live on AHLTV on FloHockey, beginning with the Connecticut Lottery Pregame Countdown at 4:45 p.m.
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