Islanders Stop Phantoms

BRIDGEPORT—Kyle MacLean’s shorthanded goal in the final two minutes proved to be the difference as the Bridgeport Islanders earned a 4-2 win against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms before 3,127 fans at Total Mortgage Arena on Sunday afternoon. Cory Schneider, who improved to 12-10-4 between the pipes, made 42 saves for the Islanders. It was two shy of his AHL career high, Andy Andreoff, Austin Czarnik and Simon Holmstrom also scored for the Islanders, who went 2-1-0-0 during its seventh and final three-in-three series of the season and improved to 3-1-1-0 against Lehigh Valley.

MacLean’s ninth goal of the season came at 18:18 of the third period following a delay of game penalty assessed to Michael Dal Colle. He raced down the left side of the Phantoms’ zone and cut to the doorstep where a backhanded attempt didn’t beat goaltender Felix Sandstrom. However, he immediately beat out two Lehigh Valley players below the goal line and brought the puck back in front, where he lifted a forehand shot over Sandstrom to make it 3-1.

Andreoff drew first blood at 11:46 of the first period, just a few hours after he was returned to Bridgeport by the New York Islanders after playing in the parent club’s setback against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. Andreoff’s 17th marker of the AHL season came on a rebound from the bottom of the right circle set up by Chris Terry’s deflection on a Robin Salo shot. Terry extended his point streak to seven games (seven goals, two assists).

Czarnik doubled the advantage at 17:39 of the second period by skating to the slot and capitalizing on Parker Wotherspoon’s pass. It was Czarnik’s 11th goal of the campaign, and his third since Mar. 27.

The Phantoms nearly got one back towards the end of the second frame, but Wade Allison missed an open net on a 2-on-1 rush in transition, hitting the right post. It was one of three times that Lehigh Valley drew iron in the period and one of five times in the game. The visitors eventually broke through at 13:16 of the third when Adam Johnson deflected Brennan Menell’s lengthy shot to end Schneider’s shutout bid (38th shot against).

The Phantoms continued to apply pressure, but MacLean provided much needed insurance with his first shorthanded goal of the season just over five minutes later. The Phantoms made it 3-2 when Garrett Wilson scored with an extra attacker at the 19:24 mark, jamming the puck in after a scramble in front of the net.

Holmstrom added the final touch with an empty-netter with just 3.3 seconds remaining in the contest. The Islanders went 0-for-2 on the power play, and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

With the win Bridgeport improved to 29-28-7-4, while Lehigh Valley dropped to 26-29-7-4. The two teams will meet again on Friday—this time at the PPL Center in Allentown—with faceoff scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard online via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network, or seen via AHLTV, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.