A Broken Record
Isles fail again in the shootout; Ovi moves past Jagr; Jean Potvin passes away at 72
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The Isles have been above NHL .500 for a total of only eight games this season, the last time being nearly two months ago on Jan 21. Nevertheless, heading into the third with a 2-1 lead, I gave myself permission to dream a little. I started looking at the Caps’ upcoming schedule - a tough slate of games - wondering if the Isles could get the deficit under 10 points with 15 or so games to play.
Shame on me.
A rookie scored his first NHL goal to tie the game and then Ovi broke another record. The moment called for a regulation win to dream on, but playing beyond 60 minutes continues to befuddle this team. The Isles are now just 2-9 in games that go into overtime or the shootout.
Coming up, the Isles announce the passing of Jean Potvin, and Barry Trotz continues to rotate goalies. Plus, some Islanders are playing way over their market value and remembering the time Billy Smith threw down with Lanny McDonald. But first, let’s recap last night’s shootout loss.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Alex Ovechkin scored his 767th NHL goal to pass Jaromir Jagr for third in history, helping the Washington Capitals (33-18-10) earn a 4-3 shootout win against the New York Islanders (24-24-9) at Capital One Arena on Tuesday. Trailing 1-0, Brock Nelson tied it 1-1 at 4:55 of the second period for his team-leading 24th goal. Josh Bailey set up Kyle Palmieri to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 17:02. Washington tied the game on the first NHL goal for Axel Jonsson-Fjallby before Ovechkin’s record-breaker gave the Capitals the lead. In the eighth round of the shootout, Anthony Mantha scored for the win. Goaltenders Semyon Varlamov and Vitek Vanecek each made 29 saves.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 “Wow…Wow,” said Anson Carter in the TV booth. Josh Bailey’s 30th point and 24th assist was a highlight reel move, puck-handling through John Carlson and finding the stick of Kyle Palmieri who just needed to tap it in for a 2-1 second-period lead.
🔻 Leading 2-1 in the third, Ryan Pulock got caught on a 2-on-1 and Dmitry Orlov made a perfect pass to Axel Jonsson-Fjällby who scored his first NHL goal to tie the game at 2-2.
🔻 History in DC. At 15:02 of the third, Alexander Ovechkin scored his 767th career NHL goal, passing Jaromir Jagr for third-all time on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle off a face-off win by Evgeny Kuznetsov. His teammates came out to congratulate the 36-year-old forward as the Caps took a 3-2 lead.
🔶 The Islanders didn’t go down quietly. Anders Lee scored his eighth goal in the last five games to tie the game at 3-3 with just 1:59 to play. Lee found Noah Dobson’s rebound and beat Vanecek to secure a point for the Isles.
🔻 TJ Oshie and Kyle Palmieri each scored in the third round of the shootout before both teams went scoreless until the eighth round when Anthony Mantha scored the deciding shootout goal, beating Varlamov low-glove side.
3 REACTIONS
❶ IN EVERY GAME: "We're competing. We're in every game,” said Anders Lee. “Top to bottom, I think we've all played pretty solid hockey from the goalies on out and we're just trying to continue to put these good games together.”
❷ NEEDED TWO IN 60: We've done good things and didn't get the result," Brock Nelson said. "To put it bluntly, knowing where we're at, the time of year, we'd like to have that one in regulation for sure."
❸ TASK AT HAND: “It was a good response,” Barry Trotz said of his team after the Ovechkin goal. “Obviously, the place was going crazy for Ovi and there's a lot of energy in the building and we fought through that and found a way to concentrate at the task at hand.”
⏭ NEXT UP: The Isles take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on St, Patrick’s Day. Face-off is at 7 p.m.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: After the game, the Islanders announced that Jean Potvin, brother of Denis, passed away at the age of 72. Jean was a member of the Islanders from 1972-73 through 1977-78 and rejoined the club for the 1979-80 and 1980-81, winning two Stanley Cups.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Potvin family," Islanders President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello said. "Jean was a leader on the ice, helping the organization win two Stanley Cup Championships. He made his home on the island and was always such a friendly face in the community. We send our sincere condolences to all those who grieve his loss."
Back in 2016, the New York Times did a profile on the brothers’ legacy with Isles.
Potvin worked on Islander radio broadcasts both late in his playing career and following his retirement. Jean Potvin played 32 games for the Isles in their first Stanley Cup season in 1979-80 but was actually in the radio booth for the playoff run serving as color commentator with play-by-play man Bob Lawrence.
Here is the radio call of Bob Nystrom's overtime-winning goal in 1980. You could say that Jean Potvin deserves credit for the first “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
🏒 BACK TO IT: The Wahlstrom-Barzal-Parise line remained intact on Tuesday with the only change to the lineup being Matt Martin returning to the fourth line in place for Ross Johnston. Kieffer Bellows and Sebastian Aho were the healthy scratches.
🥅 GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE: Having confidence in both your goaltenders is a good thing right? Ilya Sorokin was fantastic on Sunday and for whatever reason, the team has generally played better in front of him this season. That left some fans surprised and slightly disappointed to see Semyon Varlamov get the nod on Tuesday. Bu ‘Varly’ has been playing well himself and was back in the net after stopping 27 shots in Friday’s 5-2 win over the Jets. That performance followed a season-high 44 saves in a 5-4 home loss to the Avalanche on March 7th.
With a condensed schedule, Tuesday was the eighth consecutive game where Barry Trotz alternated his goaltenders. “I believe in both the goalies," Barry Trotz said. "Both goalies have played outstanding and made timely saves. I think with Varly, all year he’s been chasing it a little bit just because of the shutdowns. So both of them are quality goalies and with the number of games we’ve got, our biggest advantage is we’ve got two goaltenders that are capable of winning games or stealing games for us.”
📈 MARKET VALUE: Over The Athletic, Dom Luszczyszyn released his latest player cards for the Islanders where you will find data visualizations for each relevant player, stylized as hockey cards. On the card, under “Contract” is a market value compared to salary - a good indicator as to just how much a player is over or underperforming their AAV for the season.
Among the forwards, the largest disparity between salary and market value is Zach Parise. The model has his market value at $5.1 million. The 37-year-old signed for the veteran minimum after being bought out by the Minnesota Wild.
On defense, Noah Dobson has been playing a star level offensively and his market value is reflective of it, coming in at $8.2M against a salary that sits below $1M.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Islanders remain the NHL's all-time winningest shootout team (87) but are 1-6 this season. The six losses match the club record for shootout losses, done four other times, but in three of the other four seasons, the Isles had a winning record in the shootout. The Isles are now 3/30 (10%) in shootout attempts; they have connected on at least 20% of their attempts in every previous season.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: On March 15, 1979, future Hall of Famers Lanny McDonald and Billy Smith squared off at the Nassau Coliseum.
Rear Admiral wrote about the fight for Barstool Sports a year ago:
It's not too often we got a skater and a goalie square off like this, even in the Wild West that was the 1970s NHL. But then, Billy Smith was no ordinary goalie. Armed with a fiery temper and a stick that he wielded like a scythe, Smith was never afraid to mix it up with anybody. In this case, it was All-Star Maple Leaf and future HHOFer Lanny McDonald, a guy known more for scoring than scrapping but could certainly answer the bell when challenged.
The two reflected on the fight, which started with a Smith spear and ended with both players icing body parts.
🎧 Hockey Press Pass: Brendan Burke of the NHL on TNT & the New York Islanders on MSG Networks “this episode has it all: an inside look at his preparation for his next game; the crucial and challenging years in the minors while wondering if he’d ever get the call to the NHL; the job interviews and process leading up to a contract offer to do Islanders play-by-play; the dynamic in the booth with Butch Goring and Darren Pang; keys to staying sharp (and rested) while traveling across North America in his work for the NHL on TNT.”
🔗 Islanders coach Barry Trotz confident in Semyon Varlamov to start against Capitals by Andrew Gross, Newsday “Semyon Varlamov could soon be tending another team’s net with several playoff contenders needing goaltending help. So Tuesday night’s game against the Capitals at Capital One Arena may serve as both a showcase for the goalie and one of the Islanders’ last chances to make a run for the playoffs.”
And we leave you with this ….The Islanders and Nickelodeon are teaming up again to give Isles Nation a slime-filled multi-platform experience on Saturday, March 19th at 2:00pm. Fans at the game and tuning in from home will experience Nick-themed content throughout the game, featuring characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, PAW Patrol and Fairly OddParents.
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