Islanders fall 5-4 to Penguins on penalties | Pro Hockey News

Bridgeport, CT – The Bridgeport Islanders took the ice Wednesday morning for their highly anticipated School Day game in front of a sold-out crowd, riding the momentum of a two-game winning streak. In a thrilling game that lasted 65 minutes and counting, the Islanders forced overtime with 38 seconds left but fell to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 5-4 shootout loss.

The fans were treated to action from the start, as Cole McWard followed up a fight just 35 seconds into the match with a goal, firing a wrister over Maxim Pavlenko’s glove at 1:16 for his third of the season.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pushed back at 7:29 with a net-front scrum that ended in Sam Poulin’s sixth goal of the season and his third in as many games.

Adam Beckman put Bridgeport ahead again at 13:46, burying Matthew Maggio’s feed from the slot. The goal was Beckman’s third in as many games and extended Maggio’s assist streak to five games, giving him seven assists in that span.

A dominant shift from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was capped by Aaron Huglen’s first professional goal, tying the game at 18:58 of the period.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton wasted no time taking the lead in the third after a scoreless second period. Alex Alexeyev remembered the puck at the point and fired past Marcus Hogberg 39 seconds into the frame, giving the Penguins their first lead of the game.

Minutes later, the Islanders tied the game at 3 thanks to Isaiah George, who caught a pass at the blue line before running in and firing in his first goal of the season.

The back-and-forth scoring continued at 16:49 when Poulin found empty ice in the slot and drilled a one-timer past Hogberg to give his Penguins a 4-3 lead and his second of the game.

With their backs against the wall and their net empty, Joey Larson deflected a point shot from George with 38 seconds left, sending the game to overtime.

A tense but scoreless overtime brought the match to a shootout. With three conversions for each team in their first four tries, Rafael Harvey-Pinard’s goal gave the Penguins a shootout lead, with Pavlenko making the winning save moments later.

Bridgeport won’t have to wait long for their next game against the Penguins as they head to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday for a puck drop at 7:05 PM. The Islanders return home Saturday to take on the Rochester Americans for Hockey Fights Cancer Night at 7 p.m. For ticket information, visit bridgeportislanders.com.

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