Bridgeport wins final Battle of Connecticut, beats Hartford 5-2

Bridgeport made sure the last Battle of Connecticut ended on its terms, racing to a 4-0 lead in the first 16:19 and beating Hartford 5-2 at PeoplesBank Arena. In a rivalry that had spanned 25 years, the Islanders did more than win a late-season game. They closed the book on a 254-game series with a result that fit the moment: sharp, fast and unmistakably final.

Victor Eklund opened the scoring at 2:44 with a goal on a five-on-three power play, his third of the season, and Liam Foudy doubled the margin at 4:11 for his 26th. Matthew Maggio added another at 12:33, then Adam Beckman finished the early burst at 16:19 with his career-high 29th goal. By the time Bridgeport had stacked four unanswered goals, Hartford was already stuck trying to play catch-up against a team that had no intention of letting the night drift.

Hartford finally answered late in the first period when Bryce McConnell-Barker scored on the power play for his 19th goal of the season. Trey Fix-Wolansky trimmed the deficit to 4-2 at 9:57 of the third period with his team-leading 28th, but the Wolf Pack never got closer. Luke Rowe put the final touch on it at 19:33 with an empty-net goal, sealing a game that had long since tilted away from Hartford.

The goaltending reset told the story of Hartford’s uphill climb. Callum Tung made eight saves in the opening period before being pulled after the first intermission, and Spencer Martin stopped eight shots in the second. Even with the final score still within reach late, Hartford never found a way to flip the momentum that Bridgeport seized from the opening minutes.

The timing made the result larger than the standings. Bridgeport had already clinched a Calder Cup playoff berth on April 11, its first since 2022, and the Islanders entered this game with postseason urgency as well as historical weight. The AHL Board of Governors later approved Bridgeport’s move to Hamilton, Ontario, beginning with the 2026-27 season, ending the franchise’s Connecticut chapter and giving this final meeting added permanence. The Battle of Connecticut began when Hartford joined the AHL in 1997 and Bridgeport entered in 2001, but the Islanders claimed the last word, and they did it with a 5-2 finish that matched the finality of the rivalry itself.