
Islanders Down Crunch, 5-2
January 24, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
SYRACUSE, NY - Chris Terry had three points for the second time this month and Jakub Skarek tied his career high with 43 saves, leading the Bridgeport Islanders (10-26-2-2), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, to a 5-2 win against the Syracuse Crunch (17-14-5-4) at Upstate Medical University Arena on Friday.
Terry scored two goals and added an assist, while William Dufour and Gemel Smith also beat Syracuse goaltender Matt Tomkins (6-8-3). Liam Foudy put the exclamation mark on Bridgeport's fourth win in its last six road games, recording an empty-netter to extend his goal streak to a career-high four games.
Sam Bolduc and Tyce Thompson tallied two assists each.
Returning from a six-game absence due to injury, Dufour made it 1-0 on the Islanders' first shot of the game just 2:12 in. Eetu Liukas angled a pass up the boards to Dufour in transition, who had a step on the Crunch defense and zipped a wrist shot under Tomkins from the right circle. It was his sixth goal of the season, while Liukas collected a point for the fourth time in his last five games.
Skarek (5-11-1) stopped all 15 shots he faced in the first period, made 11 saves in the second, and 17 more in the third.
The Islanders built a 4-0 lead in the second period thanks to a pair of goals from Terry and Smith's eventual game winner. Terry hit double digits with his 10th goal of the season at the 2:58 mark, skating to the left circle and ripping a shot past Tomkins' blocker. Grant Hutton took Thompson's pass in the deep slot, head faked, and served up Terry near the faceoff dot.
Just 1:02 later, Smith muscled home Terry's rebound from the doorstep to make it 3-0 on the power play. His fourth goal of the season came just 13 seconds after Declan Carlile was called for interference. Bolduc had the secondary assist.
Terry recorded his third point of the period with another power-play goal at 11:24. The team's leading scorer took a cross-ice pass from Bolduc, stepped to the right circle, and placed a pin-point snap shot into the top-right corner for his 11th goal of the season - his seventh goal in the last eight games. As of tonight, Terry is tied for seventh in the AHL's scoring race with 35 points (11g, 24a) in 39 contests.
Syracuse battled back with two straight goals to keep the Islanders honest. Tristan Allard sent home a rebound on the Crunch's 26th shot to make it 4-1 at the 15:48 mark. Jujhar Khaira followed up on the power play at 3:02 of the third.
Skarek took over from there, making key save after key save to keep it 4-2. Former Bridgeport defenseman - now Syracuse head coach - Joel Bouchard pulled Tomkins for the extra attacker in the final three minutes, but Foudy found the empty net for his fifth goal in the last four games. Foudy has 15 goals of the season, two behind Brian Pinho for the team lead.
The Islanders went 2-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill. It's the fourth time this season the Islanders have scored multiple times on the man advantage. Bridgeport was outshot 45-23, earning its first win of the season when getting outshot.
It was also Bridgeport's first win of the season against a North Division opponent. They finished their two-game series against Syracuse 1-1-0-0.
Next Time Out: The Islanders complete a four-game road trip tomorrow night with a 7:05 p.m. matchup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at PPL Center. 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 6:45 p.m.
Connect with the Bridgeport Islanders
Keep up with the latest Islanders news and connect with other fans on Facebook (@AHLIslanders), Twitter (@AHLIslanders) and Instagram (@AHLIslanders).
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from January 24, 2025
- Roadrunners Drop 3-2 Heartbreaker to Canucks - Tucson Roadrunners
- The Canucks Secure 7th Straight Victory With A 3-2 Win Over The Roadrunners - Abbotsford Canucks
- Halliday Scores in Overtime as Belleville Sens Bite Back at Bears - Belleville Senators
- Islanders Down Crunch, 5-2 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Checkers Fall 4-1 in Milwaukee - Charlotte Checkers
- Amerks Blanked by Bruins in Providence - Rochester Americans
- Wolf Pack's Comeback Bid Falls Short in Heartbreaking Loss to Rocket - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Penguins Lose to Comets, 5-3 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Bears Get Another Point in 4-3 OT Loss to Senators - Hershey Bears
- Dipietro, P-Bruins Post Third Straight Shutout in Win Over Americans - Providence Bruins
- Crunch Fall to Islanders, 5-2 - Syracuse Crunch
- T-Birds Throttle Phantoms to Begin 3-Game Weekend - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Comets Keep Rolling, Beat Penguins for 4th Straight Win - Utica Comets
- Cameron Hebig Added to 2025 All-Star Classic Roster - Tucson Roadrunners
- LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks Return to Ontario for 2025 Empire Classic - Ontario Reign
- Anaheim Ducks Reassign Nikita Nesterenko to San Diego - San Diego Gulls
- Alex Limoges Named to 2025 AHL All-Star Classic - Hershey Bears
- Limoges, Beck, Pouliot, Hebig Added to 2025 AHL All-Star Rosters Presented by FloHockey - AHL
- Defenseman Derrick Pouliot Named 2025 AHL All-Star - Syracuse Crunch
- Bojangles Game Preview: January 24 at Milwaukee - Charlotte Checkers
- Wolf Pack Return Home to Battle Laval Rocket - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Game Preview: Condors v Reign, 7 p.m. - Bakersfield Condors
- Forward Sam Gagner Agrees to Professional Tryout with Belleville Sens - Belleville Senators
- Game #38 Preview: Tucson Roadrunners vs Abbotsford Canucks - Tucson Roadrunners
- Game Preview: Bears at Senators, 7 p.m. - Hershey Bears
- Checkers Sign C.J. Smith to AHL Deal - Charlotte Checkers
- Preview: Phantoms vs. Thunderbirds, Game #41 - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Preview: Islanders at Crunch - Bridgeport Islanders
- Griffins Stun Moose in Comeback Win - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Parker Ford scores two goals in Manitoba loss - Manitoba Moose
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
Other Recent Bridgeport Islanders Stories
- Preview: Islanders at Wolf Pack
- Islanders Top Checkers
- Preview: Islanders vs. Checkers
- Penguins Blank Islanders
- Preview: Islanders at Penguins

