The Bridgeport Islanders took on the Hartford Wolf Pack at home on Saturday (Mar. 9), with both teams looking to extend their three-game winning streaks (the first of which the Islanders have had all season). After a hard-fought battle that saw several big hits and a fight, the Islanders came out on top in a shootout by a score of 3-2, gaining a key two points. Here is what you need to know.
Duscore
William Dufour was one of four Islanders riding a three-game point streak into their matchup with the Wolf Pack (along with Ruslan Iskhakov, Matt Maggio, and Karson Kuhlman). Dufour picked up both a goal and an assist, bringing his point total to 20 in 41 games this season. His assist set up the Islanders’ first goal of the game, a goal that was about as fortunate as they come. Wolfpack defenseman Brandon Scanlin was attempting to advance the puck in his own zone when he tripped on Maggio’s broken stick, and the puck slipped right into the possession of the awaiting Dufour, who found Brian Pinho in front of the Wolf Pack net for a point-blank goal.
Dufour’s goal came just over a minute after the Wolf Pack had netted two shots in just over five minutes to take a 2-1 lead. The Islanders’ forward was able to find the back of the net on a wrist shot that sailed just over the glove of Wolf Pack goalie Dylan Garand, ultimately sending the game to overtime.
Iskhakov’s Unbelievable Winner
The game went to a shootout after an exciting overtime period that saw Jakub Skarek make a stop on what was effectively a three-on-zero rush by the Wolf Pack. The first round saw Maggio score after Skarek stuffed Hartford’s Alex Belzile. The second frame went scoreless, but Nic Petan put home a shot over Skarek’s glove to keep the game alive in his first game as a member of the Wolf Pack to start the third round, putting the game on Iskhakov’s stick. He did not disappoint.
Iskhakov took a quick approach, moving the puck back and forth before taking it between his legs and elevating it over Garand’s blocker, stonewalling the netminder and winning the game for the Islanders with a goal you must see and believe. This was not Iskhakov’s first unbelievable goal this season: the All-Star has been all over the stat sheet (leading the Islanders in both goals and assists) and the highlight reels thus far in 2023-24.
Narrowing the Gap
The Islanders have been at the bottom of the Atlantic Division for nearly the entire year. Their poor play in the first several months of the season led to a gap between them and the rest of the division, which looked insurmountable considering their inability to string together wins until now. The Islanders finally seem to be catching fire while it is getting late in the season. They have won four in a row and have come out on top in five out of their last six games. With 16 games left in 2023-24, they sit ten points behind the Springfield Thunderbirds for a playoff spot and eight points behind the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
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While the gap between the Islanders and a playoff spot is certainly not ideal this late in the season, they are getting hot at the right time. It will undoubtedly be an uphill battle, but if they keep up their positive play, the deficit is not insurmountable, especially considering that a quarter of their remaining games come against the Phantoms, the next of which will be to close out their weekend on Sunday. The Islanders should feel great about their chances against any opponent at the moment: they have put over 30 shots on net in each of their last eight games, outshooting their opponents in all of them. Against Lehigh Valley in particular, the Islanders have a solid three points in two games thus far this season, allowing just two goals in those contests. They will need to continue their strong play against the team from Lehigh Valley on Sunday in another key home matchup as they look to extend their winning streak to five games.