Preview: Hometown Heroes Night
January 18, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Bridgeport Islanders (8-24-2-2) complete a season-long, four-game homestand this evening as they rematch the Springfield Thunderbirds (16-15-2-1) at 7 p.m. inside Total Mortgage Arena. Springfield defeated the Islanders 4-0 on Wednesday. The Thunderbirds haven't played since then, but Bridgeport hosted Syracuse just 24 hours ago, falling to the Crunch 4-1 in their first meeting of the season. Cam Thiesing scored his first professional goal late in the third period, while Jakub Skarek (4-11-1) made 32 saves. It was Skarek's 157th career game with Bridgeport, passing Kevin Poulin for second place on the team's all-time list for goalies.
Tickets for 'Hometown Heroes Night': Available here!
Watch tonight's game live: AHLTV on FloHockey
Listen to tonight's radio broadcast: Mixlr
ISLANDERS VS. THUNDERBIRDS
Tonight marks the sixth of 10 meetings between the Islanders and T-Birds this season, and the second of five matchups at Total Mortgage Arena. Bridgeport is 2-2-1-0 against the St. Louis Blues' affiliate. The Islanders won the first meeting, 4-1, on Nov. 1st and posted a season-high seven goals in a 7-5 victory on Dec. 28th (both in Springfield, Mass). Chris Terry leads all Bridgeport players in the series with six points (1g, 5a) in five games, while Matthew Peca has a series-best four goals for the T-Birds.
VIEW FROM SPRINGFIELD
Head coach Steve Konowalchuk's club is on a three-game winning streak, with a chance tonight to put together four straight wins for the third time this season. Springfield is tied with Hartford for sixth place in the Atlantic Division following its 4-0 win in Bridgeport on Wednesday. Thunderbirds captain Matthew Peca scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season that night, while AHL rookie Simon Robertsson had two points (1g, 1a) and scored a goal for the second straight contest. Robertsson has five points (3g, 2a) in his last two games. Goaltender Colten Ellis is 8-1-1 in his last 10 games since Nov. 15th, and rookie Dalibor Dvorsky, who recently captained Team Slovakia and had nine points (5g, 4a) in five games at the 2025 World Junior Championships, is tied for 10th among all AHL rookies with 23 points.
THIESING SCORES HIS FIRST
Cam Thiesing scored his first professional goal in his 19th career game last night. It came at even strength 15:24 into the third period, after Cole Bardreau and Eetu Liukas created a turnover with an effective forecheck deep in the Syracuse zone. Thiesing has five points (1g, 1a) in 19 AHL games since making his pro debut in the season opener on Oct. 12. He signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the New York Islanders on Mar. 22 following a three-year career at Ohio State University, where he totaled 61 points (32g, 29a) in 108 games from 2021-24.
ROAD WARRIORS
Following tonight's action, the Islanders will play seven of their next eight games on the road, including stops in Springfield, Utica, Syracuse, Lehigh Valley, Hershey, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Islanders have won two of their last three games on the road, and six of their eight wins this season have come away from Total Mortgage Arena.
QUICK HITS
Marc Gatcomb was recalled by the New York Islanders on Friday morning and missed his first AHL game of the season last night... That leaves Calle Odelius and Brian Pinho as the only two players who have appeared in all 36 games for Bridgeport... Chris Terry has six points in his last six games (3g, 3a), and is one goal from tying Travis St. Denis (2016-20) and Otto Koivula (2018-24) for fifth on the team's all-time list (65)... Terry's 22 assists on the season are tied for seventh among all AHL players.
AFFILIATES
New York Islanders (17-20-7): Last: 5-3 L vs. Philadelphia, Thursday -- Tonight vs. San Jose, 7:30 p.m. ET
Worcester Railers (15-17-1-4): Last: 4-3 W vs. Adirondack, last night -- Next: Tonight vs. Wheeling, 6:05 p.m. ET
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