Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The end is here, but it is not near. There are still 39 games left this season, but it’s settling in that those games won’t be about climbing back into the playoff race. It won’t be about if they are sellers, but rather who goes and whether younger players get a longer look the rest of the way.
There were a lot of familiar themes to last night’s 6-3 loss in Buffalo. Giving up the first goal - again. A shorthanded goal allowed - again. A goal against with seconds (or less) left to play in a period - again. The end result was another game without a point against a beatable team playing a backup goalie.
It’s nearly impossible to listen to “there is half a season left” and “we have games in hand” rhetoric. You were already an optimist if you were holding out hope for this battle-tested team to roll off 7, 8, 9 in a row, but the reality is their best chance to salvage the season has already passed them by. The Boston Bruins are vulnerable, but it will likely be another Eastern Conference as the beneficiary if they continue to slip.
Coming up, the most valuable Islanders assets, and is Sorokin ready to handle the No.1 goalie load?. Plus, the silver-anniversary Islanders team was announced 25 years ago, and the details of our February subscriber giveaway. But first, a recap of last night’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Victor Olofsson scored the go-ahead goal with 2:55 left in the third period, and the Buffalo Sabres (16-24-8) defeated the Islanders 6-3 at KeyBank Center on Tuesday. Alex Tuch scored with 0.6 seconds left in the second to give Buffalo a 3-2 lead heading into the third. Dustin Tokarski had 30 saves and Dylan Cozens had three assists in the win including one on Tage Thompson’s short-handed goal in the first. For the Islanders, Kyle Palmieri broke through, scoring twice and Anders Lee added a second-period goal. Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves for the Islanders (17-20-6), who have lost three straight to end their four-game road trip.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 The Islanders did not allow a short-handed goal until Game 7 against Tampa Bay. They have allowed six already this season and the one on Tuesday night was the most egregious. Tage Thompson scored this goal as only he and teammate Dylan Cozens were in the zone with all five Islanders skaters.
🔻 After Anders Lee tied the game at 2-2, the Islanders had a fantastic opportunity to take the lead when Zach Parise’s shot deflected off two posts to Beauvillier. Yet, with Tokarski out of position, Beau couldn’t get the puck past defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Despite tying the game three times last night, the Isles would never take the lead. This was their best chance.
🔻 If you get up before the end of an Islanders period, you might miss something you didn’t want to see anyway. Yet again (more in Sound Smart), the Islanders allowed a goal in the final minute, this time the final second as Alex Tuch knocked down Peyton Krebs' shot and redirected it from the slot.
🔻 Palmieri’s second of the game tied the game at 3-3 mid-way through the third period, but the Sabres would prevail. On the game-winning goal, there was a defensive miscue in coverage as Zdeno Chara sent Scott Mayfield puck-side leaving Olofsson able to find space and get off a wrist shot that beat an unsettled Sorokin. The goal ended a 30-game drought for Olofsson. Two empty-net goals would follow.
3 REACTIONS
❶ THE WRONG SIDE: "When we had a chance to win, these are games that we have to start having,” said Anders Lee. These are moments that we have to start being successful in. That's how we're going to have to start to be able to dig out of this. If this keeps happening we're going to be looking on the wrong side."
❷ RESET BUTTON: "Obviously it's been a disappointing first half of the season for all of us," Kyle Palmieri said. "Individually it was time for me to hit the reset button and find a way to help my teammates win hockey games."
❸ DIDN’T GET THE RESULTS: "We got two goals out of Palmieri's line. Barzal's line actually had one with Lee off the faceoff," Barry Trotz said. "I didn't mind the lines. Casey's line was back to their identity. They were fine. We just didn't get the result again. That's the frustrating thing."
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders return home on Thursday night to host the Boston Bruins at UBS Arena. Face-off is set for 7:30 pm.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: The Islanders’ forward lines were ‘right back from where they started from’ on Tuesday after the three games in western Canada. The identity line was reunited, Anders Lee and Josh Bailey flanked Mat Barzal and Kyle Palmieri returned to the lineup on a line with Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier.
Palmieri was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous two games since coming off the paternity list. He has scored once in 29 games and then twice last night in Buffalo including banking a shot off Tokarski’s mask to tie the game at 3-3 in the third period. He said during the first intermission that his wife had sent a picture of their newborn son Luca in Islanders gear before the game. She should keep doing it.
🔄 TRADE TALK: In The Atheltic, Kevin Kurz sourced thoughts on potential Islanders that could be moved ahead of the March 21st trade deadline. Of the pending unrestricted free agents, Cal Clutterbuck was thought to have the most interest value as a known commodity that can fill a bottom-six role.
“I’d be more apt to think that a guy like him would be a fit for somebody than Parise,” one source said. “Clutterbuck, you know what he’s going to bring. He might not be quite what he used to be, but it’s still there.”
Another added: “Looking at their team right now, I think Clutterbuck has some value just because of his experience. … He’s always been a guy that has stirred the pot and has added value in a bottom-six role, a fourth-line role. I could see if they don’t re-sign him, maybe moving him somewhere.
As for the players with years(s) left on their contract, Seymon Varlamov would be an attractive option for a contending team that wants to add goaltending depth to solidify a playoff run if their No. 1 goes down. There could also be teams in playoff contention looking for an upgrade for the rest of this season and next. Still, one source felt the Islanders be smart to hold on to Varly as finding a quality back-up to Ilya Sorokin may be tough to come by.
“If I were them, I would hang onto him,” he said. “It’s one more year. He’s a good goalie. Have him just be a backup at 34 years old, unless you can move him and save some money and maybe get an asset back that you like and have a lower-end No. 2.”
🐳 WHALE OF A TIME: Ilya Sorokin has played like a No.1 goalie since his 13-6-3 record and 2.17 GAA in his rookie season, including leading the Islanders to an opening-round series victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins before ceding the net back to Seymon Varlamov. A rehabbing Varlamov meant that Sorokin started the season as the No.1 and started nine consecutive games to start the season, carrying the load with ease.
With Varlamov now in COVID protocol and having to remain in Canada for at least five days, the next stretch of games belongs to Sorokin and it’s a position his teammates know he’s comfortable in. “He’s been unbelievable for us this year,” said forward Casey Cizikas. “He’s given us a chance to win every single night. It’s fun playing in front of him.” The 26-year-old is 14-11-5 with four shutouts this season.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Alex Tuch’s final second goal at the end of the second period was the fourth time since just January 22nd that the Isles allowed a goal in the last minute and the third time in that span that it has come in the last six seconds.
Pierre Engvall (TOR) 1/22 19:59 (1st period)
Andreas Athanasiou (LA) 1/27 19:54 (2nd period)
Alex Tuch tonight 19:59 (2nd period)
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: On Feb. 15th, 1997, the Isles honored their 25th-anniversary team. Claude Lapointe scored the game’s only goal at 2:46 of overtime as the Isles defeated the Florida Panthers 1-0 in front of a sold-out Nassau Coliseum crowd.
The all-time team introduced that night included General Manager Bill Torrey, Coach Al Arbour, and 12 players: goaltenders Billy Smith and Glenn (Chico) Resch, defensemen Denis Potvin, Ken Morrow, Stefan Persson, and Dave Langevin and forwards Clark Gillies, John Tonelli, Bobby Nystrom, Butch Goring, Bryan Trottier, and Mike Bossy. You can watch the pre-game ceremony HERE
🎧 Nassaumen Hockey Podcast: Instant Reaction with James Nichols and Jon Zella: James and Jon tackle the most recent New York Islanders' loss to the Buffalo Sabres and hit the rewind button to spend some time talking about the last few games.
🔗 Islanders Practicing Patience with Salo by James Nichols, The Fourth Period “Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz saw 18 games of Salo in which the Finnish defenseman scored a goal and added three assists. With Ryan Pulock returning from the injured reserve after a 4-to-6-week timeline turned into an 11-week absence, Salo became the odd man out as Lamoriello and Trotz want to see what they have in the lineup they anticipated coming into the 2021-22 season.”
🔗 Islanders are Ilya Sorokin's team now by Peter Schwartz, WFAN.com “In his brief NHL career, Sorokin has already shown the ability to be an electrifying goalie and has won playoff games. He started this season as the Isles’ number one netminder while Varlamov was continuing to recover from an injury and now, he’s going to be the starter again – and as the team continues to find a way to get back in the playoff race, they have all the confidence in the world that Sorokin is a key ingredient for the winning formula.”
And we leave you with this …. for our February giveaway, one subscriber will get his/her choice of one of our original Ilya Sorokin-inspired styles, part of our Isles Fix Shop.
If you are already subscribed, you’re all set.
If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Subscribe and enter a chance to win this and any of our other monthly giveaways to subscribers.
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