The Bridgeport Islanders got their season started on Friday, beating the Rochester Americans in overtime 4-3 before falling 4-2 to the Syracuse Crunch a day later. Here's the latest, including GM Chris Lamoriello's answers from his first media session of the season.

The New York Islanders kicked off their season with a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.

Their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders, got started on Friday, beating the Rochester Americans in overtime 4-3 before falling 4-2 to the Syracuse Crunch a day later.

Forward Ruslan Iskhakov (2018, 2nd Rd) is on fire to start his second AHL season, with five points (two goals, three assists) already, including this overtime dagger:

Brian Pinho, one of the Islanders' four offseason acquisitions, has five points (one goal and four assists).

Defenseman Dennis Cholowski and forwards Arnaud Durandeau and Jackson Cates also had tallies through the club’s opening two games.

Jakub Skarek made 24 saves on open night, while Ken Appleby made 33 saves in the second of the back-to-back.

Ahead of the start of their season, Bridgeport general manager Chris Lamoriello addressed the media, as with new and returning players, there is much to be excited about this season in Bridgeport.

The biggest change comes from behind the bench as it is the first year Rick Kowalsky will be the head coach. Kowalsky replaces Brent Thompson, who spent the last nine years as the bench boss of the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, as he accepted an assistant coach role with the Anaheim Ducks.

“Rick has been a successful head coach at two levels professionally,” Lamoriello said. “Just knowing philosophically how we felt, we knew it was an easy place to go right away.”

When asked what Kowalsky brings to the table," Lamiorello explained, “he’s got a great relationship with the players. I think from a systematic standpoint, he knows what he wants. He has experience as an NHL assistant coach, he’s run a power play at that level. So I think his experiences and where he’s at as a coach right now are a perfect time for us.”

Kowalsky spent the last two years as an assistant to Thompson and ran the Islanders rookie camp back in early September at Northwell Ice Center in East Meadow, NY.

On top of Thompson leaving Bridgeport, the Islanders organization also lost veteran goaltender Cory Schneider, who decided to call it a career.

“We were very fortunate to have the goaltending that we had over the last few years, and Cory was a big part of that,” Lamiorello stated.

Schneider appeared in 65 games for Bridgeport in three seasons with the organization as he tried to get back to the NHL after a few years of battling injuries.

Schneider’s departure now opens the door for the younger goalies in the system to make an impact, like AHL starter Skarek, along with Tristan Lennox (2021, 3rd Rd) and Henrik Tikkanen (2020, 7th Rd).

“Anytime you see a player move on and call it a career, it opens up that opportunity for younger players, and that is what we are excited about,” Lamiroello said. “That opportunity is going to bring some challenge, and I think the challenge is at the right time.”

Lennox and Henrik Tikkanen start the season as the tandem for the Islanders’ ECHL affiliate, the Worcester Railers.

The Islanders' prospect pool continuously gets bad grades, but there are a few prospects that Islander fans should be excited about.

Top prospects William Dufour (2020, 5th Rd) and Matthew Maggio (2022, 5th Rd) have everyone in the organization excited.

Dufour is now in his second full-professional season and for Maggio, his first. Both players have been critiqued for having their best junior seasons at age 20, but Lamoriello believes some players develop on different timelines.

“Every player has a different path to success,” Lamoriello said. “It’s a lot better to be too ready than too soon, and we’ll certainly have the patience to make sure when any of these players get their opportunities that they are as ready as they can be at that given time.”

Lamoriello shared that COVID-19 affected these prospects' timelines, with parts of seasons being missed. He also mentioned Dufour moving from center to the right wing was a big boost to his game.

Young players need to be surrounded by veteran leaders, and after losing veterans Chris Terry and Andy Andreoff this summer, the Islanders brought in vets Karson Kuhlman and Pinto.

“There is some more diversity with that depth, and I think the experience helps add to that with those younger players.”

The Islanders' practice rink and NHL arena are state-of-the-art facilities. Bridgeport is following suit.

The home locker room at Total Mortage Arena has undergone some new modifications along with the rest of the arena. Lamoriello is encouraged by making the arena look “younger” and creating a great fan experience.

“There is going to be some things that the fans will start to see in the next 12 to 24 months as we work with the city to engage in some capital improvement projects,” Lamoriello said. “We’ve got to continue to make people feel comfortable and let them know it’s a great place to watch an event. As far as the team goes, give them something to get excited about.”

Bridgeport continues their season as they host the Utica Comets on Saturday, Oct. 21, for their home opener with puck drop at 7 PM ET. 

Brendan Yerkes contributed to this story.