In two games this weekend Bridgeport put up an incredible 81 shots, scoring 10 goals. Defensively they only let up 58 shots and allowed 2 goals. To make things even more impressive, it wasn't all Casey Cizikas and Matt Donovan. Scoring came from all over the place, 4 assists from unheralded Kael Mouillierat (give the guy some Likes), a hat trick from fan favorite Micheal Haley and 4 assists from Jon Landry.

BP is picking the right time to get hot as the season winds down. They are 3 points behind rivals Connecticut with 2 games in hand. Although they are in 8th (tied for 7th currently) they have games in hand against 2 of the 3 teams 3 points behind them. With dreams of the playoffs (and possibly Home Ice) in the heads of everyone at BP, they are looking to win their first playoff series since 02-03. That team was lead in scoring by 22 year old Trent Hunter, and backstopped by 20 year old Rick DiPietro. May the future be brighter for the next generation of Sound Tigers in the NHL.

Friday February 11th Vs Springfield (Blue Jackets)

Earlier this season Manny Legace had BP's number. He allowed just 3 goals in 3 games, going 2-1 in those games. Today though was a storm that Legace probably didn't see coming when he strapped on the pads. BP scored 55 seconds into the game from Donovan (Cizikas, Sean Backman) and didn't let up as they outshot Springfield 13-6 in the first. Haley (Mouillierat, Brett Gentile) and Trevor Frischmon (Donovan) also scored. About 4 minutes into the 2nd it was Haley (Steven Olesky, Jeremy Colliton) putting another one home. Although Springfield got on the board, they were buried when Justin DiBenedetto (Mouilierat, Jon Landry) and Ty Wishart (Cizikas, David Ullstrom) scored on PP goals within a minute of each other. Wishart (Donovan, Mouilierat) and Haley (Mouilierat, Landry) scored in the 3rd after Legace was pulled to round out the scoring. 3rd Star Donovan, 2nd Star Wishart, 1st Star Haley. [Highlights]

Saturday February 12th Vs Connecticut (Short Island Smurfs)

Much different game, as goalies Kevin Poulin (27 Saves, 28 Shots) and Chad Johnson (40 Saves, 42 shots) were 1st and 3rd stars respectively. CT opened the scoring, but BP tied it up 5 minutes later from DiBenedetto (Landry, Backman). That was the end of scoring in regulation, CT outshot BP 12-8 in the 1st but BP took over the game with 33 shots in the final 2 periods against 16. 37 seconds into OT and Ullstrom (Landry) won the game and got himself 2nd star of the night honors.

It looks as though Wishart is on his way back to the Island [Update: With Rhett Rakhshani being returned to Bridgeport]. The Islanders are going to need to make a decision on the pending RFA either way, and it's always better to make that decision after seeing a player in the NHL.

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Two games this week for Bridgeport, winning a rout on Friday and dropping a close game last night. They are still on a winning streak while away from BP. They are tied for first in their division with Connecticut, but currently hold the tiebreaker with 2 more wins. Despite being first in the division, they are still a bubble team for the playoffs as their 51 points would have them tied for 7th. The two teams tied for 9th both have 51 points so far on the season. Casey Cizikas has also taken over 3rd place in rookie points, and his +22 is 3rd overall in the AHL.

Friday February 3rd Vs Portland (Phoenix)

Bridgeport came out and scored a goal from David Ullstrom (Kael Mouillierat, Micheal Haley) 23 seconds into the game to set the pace. Portland scored less then two minutes later, but that was as close as they would come. Tony Romano (Cizikas, Tyler McNeely) scored with four minutes left in the first to get the lead back. Tomas Marcinko (Trevor Frischmon) scored BP's 3rd goal on 11 shots chasing Portland's Justin Pogge from the net. Marcinko has career highs in goals (6) and points (13) this year. Justin DiBenedetto got the next two goals (Frischmon) (Scott Howes) for BP. Portland got one back before Tony Romano (Cizikas, Matt Donovan) closed out scoring. Stars of the game were 1. Dibo, 2. Frischmon and 3. Romano. [Haley Vs Hollweg] [Donovan Vs Pouliot] [Olesky Vs Werek]

Saturday Feburary 4th Vs Manchester (Los Angeles)

Manchester has been one of the best teams in the AHL, and it's always a tough game for BP. BP never had the lead in this game, as Manchester jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a PP goal early in the first. Ty Wishart (Howes, Jeremy Colliton) scored to tie things up a few minutes later. Two Manchester goals late in the 2nd and early 3rd put things out of reach for BP despite Haley's (Cizikas, Jon Landry) 5th goal of the year. Kevin Poulin was 2nd star of the game with a 26 save on 29 shot performance. Cizikas' assist continues his now 7 game point streak and he has points in 14 of his last 15 games. [Highlights] [Gillies Vs Johnson] [Gentile Vs Mullen]

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Well all good things come to an end, as Bridgeport finally dropped a game in the month of January. BP though had two third-period comebacks to force overtime. Winning 2 of 3 games this week, Bridgeport have overtaken their Connecticut rivals for first in the Northeast. Another big week for Casey Cizikas, who posted 4 goals and 5 assists. He's also moved up to 19th overall in points in the AHL and 4th among AHL rookies. Kevin Poulin started every game, including a 50 save performance.

Wednesday January 25th Vs St John's (Jets)

Cizikas opened up the scoring with a PP goal during a 5 on 3, assists going to Jeremy Colliton and Aaron Ness. Within 5 minutes St John's scored 3 PP goals, including one during a 4 on 3. Matt Donovan helped power the Bridgeport comeback, scoring a goal (Rhett Rakhshani, Cizikas) and assisting on Cizikas' game tying goal (Rakhshani, Donovan). Poulin had 26 saves on 29 shots. In the shootout, BP lost 2-1. Despite having a hand in every goal, Cizikas was only named 2nd star. Rakhshani was named 3rd star of the night. [Highlights]

Friday January 27th Vs Adirondack (Flyers)

That BP came out of the first period with the score tied at 1-1 had everything to do with Poulin. Adirondack posted 25 shots in the first period alone. Justin DiBenedetto (Ness, Scott Olesky) scored his tenth goal of the year to tie things up with a minute left in the period. Two power play goals by Jeremy Colliton (Rakhshani, Cizikas) and Jon Landry (Ty Wishart, DiBenedetto) put BP ahead for the rest of the night. A shorthanded goal by Trevor Frischmon (Cizikas) made the rout that much more obvious. An Adirondack goal in the 3rd was answered by goals from Tyler McNeely and Cizikas (Olesky). First star of the game was Poulin (52 saves), second star was Justin Debendetto. [Highlights]

Satuday January 28th Vs Syracuse (Ducks)

Poulin said they robbed this game from Syracuse and I have to agree. After Kael Mouillierat (Haley, Ullstrom) scored in the first to tie things, it didn't look good for BP. They gave up two goals to Peter Holland before Cizikas (Jon Landry, Wishart) found the back of the net to get them back within one. Syracuse scored another one to make it a two-goal game again. Shorthanded Micheal Haley (Cizikas) scored to get it close again and Scott Howes (Cizikas, Rakhshani) scored in the final 30 seconds with the goalie pulled to force OT. BP won the shootout with scores from Howes and Ullstrom. Ullstrom was named 1st star, Cizikas 3rd star.

[Highlights from the winning streak] [Highlights from last week's Saturday night game]

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Casey Cizikas continues his strong play for Bridgeport. He has points in 9 of his last 10 games, posting 5 goals and 6 assists. BP won both their games this week, upping their undefeated streak to 8 games.

The Sound Tigers have clawed their way back into the playoff picture, standing 2 points out of a spot. But they are also 2 points behind the Whale for first place in the division. Anders Nilsson is also putting up a strong run of games, posting a .939, .944 and .974 SV% respectively in his last 3 games.

Sunday Jan 22 15 Vs Binghamton (Senators)

In the span of ten minutes this game went from 0-0 to a 3-0 advantage for BP. First blood by Cizikas (Matt Donovan) at the 15 minute mark of the first. Rhett Rakhshani scored the 2nd goal (Cizikas, Micheal Haley) with under 30 seconds left in the first. 5 minutes into the 2nd Brett Gentile (Sean Backman, Donovan) scored his first goal of the year. Binghamton bounced back with 2 PP goals within 2 minutes at the 15 minute mark of the 2nd. But Nilsson held down the fort in the 3rd as BP was outshot 14-6. Stars of the game were #1 Cizikas, #2 Gentile, #3 Donovan.

Saturday Jan 21 Vs Adirondack (Flyers)

BP got the lead early in the 2nd via a Cizikas (Tyler McNeely) goal and added an insurance goal 10 minutes later from Tomas Marcinko (Gentile, Haley). They gave one back 20 seconds later, but Nilsson held down the fort as BP was outshot 28-14 over the last two periods. Nilsson was named 1st star of the game, Marcinko got 3rd star of the game.

We've added some video links and the Bridgeport leaderboard after the jump, plus the amateurs and Europeans.

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With Bridgeport going from December doldrums to a sudden two-week win streak, Islanders fans eyes have turned toward the Sound Tigers prospects, in particular team scoring and +/- leader Casey Cizikas (9-19-28, +14).

He's an interesting piece to watch because, unlike young forwards who are projected as top-six but must grapple with the awkward step to get there at the NHL level, Cizikas already comes packaged with a sort of glorified checker destiny.

If he gets third/fourth-line minutes in the NHL, no one complains (well, fewer do, anyway) that the team is wasting his talents.

"He plays in all situations for us." ... "With Casey, [coaching him] pretty easy. He's a smart hockey player, he's a two-way hockey player, he's a team first guy ... pays attention to the details like blocking shots."

>>Mississauga coach Dave Cameron, 2011 SNY Point Blank TV interview

He was the featured player (and captain) in his final year of juniors, and scouts saw his future value as a smart bottom six player with offensive punch. But despite his impressive half season in Bridgeport in a featured role, how will we know when he's ready for the big time? Could he step right in and replace one of the Islanders' bottom six right now?

That's often the fan plea, as the unknown always looks greener and shiny. But should fans expect that of a 20-year-old?

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Wow, what a difference a month can make.

The Sound Tigers went with just 2 wins during the month of December. Now halfway through January they have yet to lose a game, going 6-0. They were helped by Kevin Poulin's return to form, Rhett Rakhshani's return to the lineup, Matt Donovan's sudden offensive explosion and Casey Cizikas flat out being dominating. Anders Nilsson did a fine job filling in for Poulin this week, allowing 4 goals on 51 shots in 2 games.

Rakhshani had 10 points in his first 16 games this season, already has 10 points just 6 games into this month. Donovan meanwhile had 12 points through his first 32 games this season, now has 8 points and a +5 this month. Cizikas ,who has been strong all season, has 6 points this month and his +6 doubles his +/- for the season. His +12 leads the team, followed by Rakhshani at +9. Among rookies, Cizikas is 10 in the AHL in points and Donovan is tied for 22nd. Donovan is 14th in points among defenseman.

Sunday Jan 9th Vs Providence (Bruins)

Poulin's shutout streak came to an end 3 minutes into the second on a goal by Calle Ridderwall. No one held the lead for long in this game as Ridderwall's goal came less then a minute after Tony Romano (Sean Backman, Scott Howes) put BP on the board. Cizikas (Rakhshani, Donovan) scored to make it 2-1 in the 3rd, but Ridderwall answered again a few minutes later. BP won the shootout 4-1, Cizikas was named 2nd star, Romano 3rd star. [Highlights]

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There seems to be popular demand (or at least a populous contingent of unknown majority/minority among our dear readers) who request occasional separate threads for prospective-prospect gazing.

So with the NHL Central Scouting this week releasing their mid-term rankings for North American and European (separate but equal) skaters and goalies (separate but totally not equal, because goaltenders are a subspecies), we can at least take a quick look and provide those interested with a thread for 2012 draft gluttony.

A thorough "consensus" mid-term ranking was compiled by Copper & Blue last month.

By percentage of points earned the Islanders today stand in the familiar 26th place, so there is a good chance they'll call one of these names next June. We've added a few extra observations from sleepless nights of painstaking scouting of these players' lesser known attributes:

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Last week we were talking about how Kevin Poulin looked like he was returning to form. This week Poulin flat out took over as he posted three straight shutouts, breaking Rick DiPietro's old Bridgeport record. In other good news for Islanders prospects Johan Sundstrom had a strong showing as Sweden won the World Juniors. Ryan Strome had 9 points in 6 games for the Bronze winning Canadian team.

Monday January 2nd Vs Worcester (Sharks)

The first shutout for Poulin, as he was also named first star of the night. Casey Cizikas [Rhett Rakhshani, Aaron Ness] opened the scoring. In the 2nd period BP exploded with 3 goals, Tony Romano [Matt Donovan] Kael Mouillierat [Mathieu Aubin] and Rakhashani [Ness, Dylan Reese] were the goal scorers. Rakhashani was named the 2nd star of the night and Ness was 3rd star. Highlights

Wednesday January 4th Vs Manchester (Kings)

Another night, another shutout for Poulin. This time though he was only 2nd star of the night. Sean Backman [Micheal Haley, Romano] got first blood during a 20 shot first period for BP. BP then scored 3 straight PP goals, going 3 for 7 on the PP for the night. Haley [Cizikas, Rahkashani] Romano [Scott Howes, Mouilierat] and Rakhashani [Cizikas, Reese] scored with the man advantage. Haley was named 1st star of the night and Romano 3rd star. Highlights

Saturday January 7th Vs Portland (Coyotes)

Kael Mouilierat must have noticed me complaining about his name last week. Mouilierat scored PP goals to open and close the scoring. Ness and Donovan, Howes and De Haan notched assists on his goals. Rakhashani [Cizikas] and Aubin [Donovan, Mouilierat] had the other goals on the night. Poulin was named first star of the night as he faced over 30 shots for the first time this week. Mouilierat and Donovan were named 2nd and 3rd stars, respectively.

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