After a scoreless first, the Islanders got to work in the middle frame with three straight goals before the 11-minute mark of the period to blow the contest open.
The home team finally broke through in the latter part of the third period thanks to a conversion on a goal-mouth scramble by Oliver Okuliar, but it fell short of sparking a rally. Bridgeport netminder Jakub Skarek continued to stymie Charlotte - finishing with 29 saves - and an empty netter for the Islanders sealed the deal on a Charlotte loss.
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the gameAn honest effort. If you look at the schedule, for a healthy group it’s been a tough schedule. You come back off the road, lots of travel, come back, play Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, and then you add the injuries to it. An honest effort. Proud of the group. They need family time, and the break falls at a good time so they can – I don’t like the word “reset,” to be honest – but just go and enjoy the family because there’s a lot of sacrifice throughout the year with family and stuff. Go enjoy, have a great Christmas and holiday, and we’ll be back on the 26th.
Kinnear on if any injured players are close to returning
I’m not sure, to be honest. I’ve got to reassess where we’re at, but there’s still some long-term injuries that aren’t coming back. This group is more than capable, as you’ve seen in the last two or three weeks, so we need that to continue and to continue to build what we’ve done before Christmas.
