Game Story: Bridgeport - 1 at W-B/Scranton - 3 (1/28/23)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - In a low-scoring, tight-checking Atlantic Division affair between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Bridgeport Islanders Saturday night at the Mohegan Arena, it was the Penguins coming up with a 3-1 victory on home ice behind two goals from Valtteri Puustinen and 28 saves from Taylor Gauthier.

Ty Glover also scored for the Penguins in the win, with his late second period tally proving to be the game-winner.

Cole Bardreau tallied the lone goal for the Islanders in the loss, while Jakub Skarek stopped 18 of the 20 shots he faced.

The Penguins got the game's opening power play chance, and made the most of the opportunity in taking an early 1-0 lead just prior to the midway mark of the first frame.

Drake Caggiula entered the offensive zone with speed down the right wing before getting it to the middle for Alex Nylander. Nylander slid it to the left-wing circle for a quick one-timer from Puustinen past Skarek with 11:06 left in the 1st period.

The Islanders had a power play chance of their own later in the period, but were unable to convert - heading to the first intermission trailing the Pens by a goal.

Offensive scoring chances, or "Grade A's", were few and far between in the opening 20 minutes for both teams.

Bridgeport opened the middle frame with a bit of an offensive surge, getting a power play on the opening shift of the period. While they were unable to cash in on the man advantage, they tied the game up at 1-1 moments later when Bardreau finished off a feed from Erik Brown 4:32 into the stanza.

From there, the tight-checking defensive battle continued similar to the first frame. The teams traded power play chances in the middle portion of the period, but neither team was able to break the tie until a late-period turnover in the Bridgeport defensive zone spelled trouble for the Islanders.

William Dufour attempted a cross-ice pass on a breakout play, but it instead went right onto the stick of Glover atop the right-wing circle. Glover made no mistake, quickly firing the puck on net and getting it to go past Skarek to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead with 3:07 left before the second intermission.

The Islanders tried to force the issue in the third in search of a game-tying goal, with Bridgeport outshooting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 13-6 in the final frame, but Gauthier and the Penguins defense clamped down and secured the win - adding an empty net tally from Puustinen to complete the 3-1 final score.

Bridgeport Islanders Lineup Notes

Jakub Skarek got the start in net. With Corey Schneider out of action for the Islanders, Henrik Tikkanen served as Skarek's backup.

Islanders Scratches: Cory Schneider, Blade Jenkins and Ryan MacKinnon

Lines/Pairings

Ruslan Iskhakov - Andy Andreoff - Chris Terry Arnaud Durandeau - Otto Koivula - Paul Thompson Erik Brown - Cole Bardreau - Jeff Kubiak William Dufour - Kyle MacLean - Jimmy Lambert

Robin Salo - Paul LaDue Seth Helgeson - Grant Hutton Dennis Cholowski - Vincent Sevigny

Jakub Skarek - Henrik Tikkanen

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Taylor Gauthier got the start in net for the Penguins Saturday night. Filip Lindberg served as the Penguins' backup.

Penguins Scratches: Tommy Nappier, Colin Swoyer, Brooklyn Kalmikov, Lukas Svejkovsky, Sam Poulin, Jamie Devane, Filip Hallander and Xavier Ouellet

Lines/Pairings

Drake Caggiula - Tyler Sikura - Valtteri Puustinen Alex Nylander - Sam Houde - Corey Andonovski Kyle Olson - Raivis Ansons - Nathan Legare Ty Glover - Sean Josling - Josh Maniscalco

Ty Smith - Taylor Fedun Jon Lizotte - Jack St. Ivany Chris Ortiz - Mitch Reinke

Taylor Gauthier - Filip Lindberg

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

7:10: BRI - (PP) Cholowski, minor (hooking) 8:54: WBS - PPG Puustinen (15) - Nylander, Caggiula 14:06: WBS - (PP) Fedun, minor (tripping)

2nd Period

0:21: WBS - (PP) Lizotte, minor (tripping) 4:32: BRI - Bardreau (11) - Brown, Kubiak 8:39: BRI - (PP) Iskhakov, minor (hooking) 11:45: WBS - (PP) Olson, minor (cross-checking) 13:29: BRI - (PP) Koivula, minor (holding) 16:53: WBS - Glover (2) - unassisted 17:31: BRI - (PP) Thompson, minor (slashing)

3rd Period

5:30: WBS - (PP) St. Ivany, minor (tripping) 19:17: WBS - ENG Puustinen (16) - Sikura, Lizotte 19:53: BRI - Thompson, ten-minute misconduct

BOXSCORE

Bridgeport  0 - 1 - 0 = 1 W-B/Scranton  1 - 1 - 1 = 3

Shots

Bridgeport  8 - 8 - 13 = 29 W-B/Scranton  8 - 7 - 6 = 21

Goalies

BRI: Jakub Skarek (18 saves - 20 shots) WBS: Taylor Gauthier (28 saves - 29 shots)

Power Play

BRI: 0-for-4 WBS: 1-for-4

Penalty Kill

BRI: 3-for-4 WBS: 4-for-4