ISLANDERS WIN STREAK ENDS WITH LOSS TO BRUINS
By: Jason Shaya, Bridgeport Islanders
Providence, RI. – Coming into the Saturday night, the Bridgeport Islanders looked to win their fifth game in a row but they had to do it against the top team in the AHL, the Providence Bruins. Providence, winners of their last three games, clinched a playoff spot. The Islanders were determined to move even closer to doing the same if they could find a victory on the road. Despite going up by a pair of goals in the opening period, Providence pushed to comeback and take the game by a 6-4 score.
During the first period, Travis Mitchell scored off a faceoff win and fired a shot that beat Michael DiPietro at 10:32 for his first of the year and a 1-0 lead. Later, Matthew Highmore scored at 11:39 on a wrap-around shot as the Isles lead 2-0. But, Providence pushed back with two goals to tie the game. Joey Abate beat Marcus Hogberg off a deflection at 15:15 and then Georgii Merkulov tied the game at 18:38.
During the second period, Riley Tufte broke the tie at 13:47 on the powerplay to make it a 3-2 game for Providence. Tufte scored another goal on a deflection off a Islanders defenseman at 14:44 to make it a 4-2 game.
In the final period, James Hagens scored his first professional goal on the powerplay for the Bruins at 8:26 making the game 5-2. Cole Eiserman scored his first AHL goal after deflecting a puck by Matt Luff into the net at 12:53 on the powerplay. Tufte completed the hat-trick at 14:44 put Providence up by a 6-3 score. Isles defenseman Cole McWard added a goal at 17:07 bringing the contest to a 6-4 score but it wasn’t enough to fully close the gap.
The Isles are back on the ice at Total Mortgage Arena at 10:30 AM against the Hershey Bears. Seats are still available. Please visit bridgeportislanders.com for more information.
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