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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
It was always an Ilya Sorokin-sized stretch to think the Islanders had an improbable, if not impossible playoff run left in them.
There was a lot of “if Washington does this and the Isles do that” after Thursday’s win vs. the Red Wings that pulled them within 15 points with four games in hand. But after back-to-back losses to teams simply in another class this weekend, instead of the playoff window being cracked ever so open, it is sealed shut.
Coming up, Grant Hutton gets the call from Bridgeport and Anthony Beauvillier might be under a microscope the rest of the way. Plus, Brock Nelson has the hottest month since Ziggy, a look back at Jason Blake hitting the 30-goal mark, and Lou talks Fisherman jersey (kinda). But first, a recap of Sunday’s loss.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves and Victor Hedman and Alex Killorn scored second-period goals to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 victory over the Islanders on Sunday at UBS Arena. Ross Colton and Mikhail Sergachev added third-period goals for the Lightning, (41-18-6). Brock Nelson scored his 31st of the season for the Isles (28-27-9). Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves on 20 shots in the first two periods but left with an upper-body injury. Semyon Varlamov made 12 saves on 14 shots in the third.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 Adam Pelech made a strong defensive play and lofted the puck to Brock Nelson who led the Isles on a 3-on-3 odd-man rush. Brock held on and ripped a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy for his 12th goal in 13 games and a 1-0 lead.
🔻 After Victor Hedman’s career-high 18th goal tied the game at 1-1 early in the second period, the Lightning took the lead at the 9:47 mark. Alex Killorn pushed the puck ahead to Anthony Cirelli who then made a perfect pass back to Killorn for a deflection past Sorokin to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.
🔻 At the end of the second period, JG Pageau’s tying goal was disallowed as replay showed Kyle Palmieri was off-side. Then midway through the third, with Semyon Varlamov between the pipes, the puck came back to Mikhail Sergachev who shot on net with an unguarded Ross Colton in front. Colton took the rebound and went backhand to forehand for a 3-1 lead.
3 REACTIONS
❶ NOT AS BAD AS IT LOOKED: "It was a pretty even game, there weren't a lot of chances both ways," Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "Both teams were playing with a lot of bite and a lot of detail and there wasn't much room. I thought they had a little bit of a push, but we were fine in the first eight-or-nine minutes.”
❷ WIND OUT OF OUR SAILS: “They got the third goal and honestly it sort of sucked the air out of our bench for a while and they got a few chances and ended up getting the fourth one, but the third goal was the big one,” said Trotz. “I thought we were okay. They knew that in the third we were going to try to come, and we did for the first eight or nine minutes, they scored their goal about the nine-minute mark and that sort of put a dent in us."
❸ GOAL OVERTURNED: “It would have been nice to be even, no question,” said Trotz on JG Pageu’s disallowed goal. “They’re a hard team to score on, especially with their goaltender, their backend, their defense is as good as their is in the NHL, obviously you don’t want to chase the game.”
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders play a home and home with the Blue Jackets starting Tuesday night in Columbus. Face-off is set for 7:00 PM.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Isles’ goaltender Ilya Sorokin did not come out for the third period with what head coach Barry Trotz called an upper-body injury. During the game, Sorokin was struck twice off the mask and finished his day with 18 saves on 20 shots. “He’s been huge,” Trotz said. “He’s a guy that can steal you games. Every night we feel we match up against their goaltender, no matter who it is in the league.” Trotz was not yet sure if Sorokin would travel with the team to Columbus for Tuesday’s game. Cory Schneider or Jakub Skarek would serve as backup for Semyon Varlamov if the 26-year-old Russian would miss time.
⬆️ CALL UP: Before the game, defenseman Grant Hutton was an emergency call-up from Bridgeport with Sebastian Aho described as ‘nicked up.” Hutton has been playing well in Bridgeport, scoring 3 goals and adding an assist in his last three games (all wins) as the B-Isles push for a playoff spot.
The feeling following the injury to Scott Mayfield was that the Islanders would prefer to keep Hutton (and others like Robin Salo) in the minors for the AHL playoff push, but with Sebastian Aho being “nicked up,” Hutton received the call. Like Aho, who has had noticeable miscues in recent games, Hutton is a Group-6 unrestricted free agent so this opportunity at the NHL level can help solidify his chances of being brought back by the organization next season.
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🔬 UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Lou Lamoriello was pretty clear in his message after the trade deadline, stating in not so many words that he would be analyzing the roster for the remainder of the season. Despite his belief in the current core, expect a bit of a shake-up in his effort to retool the roster this summer.
James Nichols of The Fourth Period takes a closer look at who the Islanders GM is going to focus on closer than the rest:
Beauvillier has been at the forefront of trade proposals for the Islanders, mostly because of his reasonable cap hit and term. A change of scenery might do him some good in one of those “hockey trades” Lamoriello mentioned. He’s picked it up recently with 10 points (1G,9A) in his last 10 contests, but if Beauvillier wants to be a part of the Islanders’ plans moving forward, he’ll want to prove he can be a consistent contributor, especially given that he’s solidified in their top-six. With five weeks left in the season, it may already be a little too late.
Beauvillier has turned it up as of late, but he’s known to collect points in bunches. He’s built some chemistry with his new linemate in Anders Lee centered by Brock Nelson. However, with his name included in so many mock trades in the last year, Beauvillier seems like a prime candidate to be in one of those “hockey trades” Lamoriello claimed he will be engaging in this summer.
Check out the rest of Nichols’ article to see who else will be under Lamoriello’s microscope for the remainder of the 2021-22 season.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per NHL PR, Brock Nelson became the first Islanders player to score at least 12 goals in a calendar month since Ziggy Palffy scored 13 goals in 14 games in March 1996.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: In the first period of Saturday’s 6-3 loss in Boston, Brock Nelson became the second Islanders player to register his first 30-goal season at age 30 or older (age-based at end of the season). The other: 33-year-old Jason Blake (40-29—69 in 2006-07). Blake hit the 30-goal plateau on February 27, 2007, with a three-goal hat trick against the Flyers. His 30th came in the first period when he tipped Chris Campoli’s shot to give the Isles a 1-0 lead in a game NY won 6-5 in O.T.
🔗 Rangers, Islanders goalies dominate the net by Aidan Graham, AMNY “Goalies from New York’s two NHL teams are out-performing the rest of the league and giving opposing offenses headaches as the teams make their final pushes this season.”
🔗 Islanders make necessary defensive call up from Bridgeport by Michel Anderson, Eyes on Isles “Grant Hutton is ready to get a look. He will be a Group 6 UFA when the season ends (he hasn't played enough NHL games for Isles to retain his rights). So why not see what he's got before the Isles have to make a decision on possibly extending him or letting him walk?”
And we leave you with this ….GM and President of Hockey Ops, Lou Lamoriello, spoke to Season Ticket Holders in an exclusive Town Hall event before the game. Nick Hirshon, author of “We Want Fishsticks!” was in attendance a put out this video of fans being polled about the rumored return of the Fisherman logo.
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