The Bridgeport Islanders (2-4-1-0), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, failed to find their offensive footing in a 2-0 loss to the Charlotte Checkers (4-3-0-0) at Bojangles Coliseum on Saturday night. Darien native and Checkers goaltender Spencer Knight made 23 saves for his first shutout of the season.
Ken Appleby (0-2-0) was fantastic in his first appearance since Oct. 14th, making 31 saves including a highlight-reel stop on Gerry Mayhew’s shorthanded breakaway in the third period. The Islanders’ penalty kill was also solid, finishing the night a perfect 6-for-6.
Bridgeport’s power play went 0-for-7 in a choppy, penalty-riddled game that featured 19 infractions for 44 combined minutes. The Checkers had three consecutive 5-on-3 opportunities due to overlapping minors and five total power plays in the third period alone.
It was déjà vu for the Islanders who fell behind 2-0 in the first period and could not recover. Lucas Carlsson scored his second goal of the weekend with a successful wraparound at the 7:21 mark. Appleby turned aside Carlsson’s initial shot from the left circle but the defenseman regained possession and tucked home the eventual game-winner.
Jake Wise also stayed red hot with his third goal in as many games to double the Checkers’ advantage in the final two minutes of the period. Patrick Khodorenko drove the net and threw a shot off Appleby’s left pad that Wise cleaned up with an elevated chance over the glove.
The Islanders outshot the Checkers 10-7 in the second, but were outshot 11-4 in a slow third-period that was marred with penalties. William Dufour and Jeff Kubiak had a team-high four shots-on-net.
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