Kyle MacLean scored his first two goals of the season on Wednesday night, as the Bridgeport Islanders (1-2-0-0), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, suffered a 4-2 loss to the Providence Bruins (1-1-0-1) at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
The Islanders took a 2-2 deadlock into the third period for the third consecutive game to begin the season. Jakub Skarek (1-1-0) turned aside 28 shots.
MacLean put the Islanders out front just 6:28 into the contest with a heavy wrist shot that leaked behind goaltender Michael DiPietro. The 24-year-old wrestled the puck free near the top of the right circle, moved to the deep slot, and released a bullet that was too much for the Bruins’ netminder. MacLean’s unassisted tally made it 1-0.
Providence responded with two goals in a span of 38 seconds to take its first lead. Justin Brazeau wandered to the doorstep and hammered home John Farinacci’s centering pass from behind the net at 12:03 before Trevor Kuntar cleaned up a rebound for his first pro goal at 12:41.
MacLean retaliated less than five minutes later to tie the game at 2-2 and secure his first career multi-goal game. Grant Hutton orchestrated the chance from the left circle by sending a cross-ice feed to the slot, where MacLean wired home a one-time slap shot past DiPietro’s blocker.
The Islanders outshot the Bruins 10-9 in the second period, but both goaltenders showed up and took the 2-2 tie well into the third. Georgii Merkulov’s power-play goal at the 8:27 mark proved to be the difference. Mason Lohrei touched the puck to the bottom of the right circle where Merkulov hit a one-timer past Skarek’s glove.
Oskar Steen capped the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final 19 seconds.
The Islanders went 0-for-5 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. A chippy evening full of minor penalties included 15 combined infractions between the Atlantic Division rivals.
Bridgeport and Providence meet again Nov. 19th at Total Mortgage Arena.
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