Good Morning, Islanders Country.
“We had a long talk in the room after the Buffalo game and knew something had to change” - Mathew Barzal
At first, it seemed like more of the same. The Islanders played a strong first period, only to fall behind as Ilya Sorokin let in a soft Taylor Hall goal from a bad angle. But then, something did change. The Islanders were rewarded for their strong play, got a little puck luck, and converted on their scoring chances. They were the better team and the final score reflected it.
It was a ‘four-point’ game against a Bruins team holding the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. When the second-half started, you hoped this game would bring the team to within 10 or even 8 points. Instead, it’s 16. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant evening for the home crowd, and a win to build off of heading into Sunday’s game against Montreal.
Coming up, Bellows is in as Bailey is held out and everyone’s favorite couple might soon be reunited. Plus, a policy change at UBS Arena, and Butch gets bragging rights. But first, let’s recap last night’s 4-1 win.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: The Islanders defeated the Bruins 4-1, for their sixth straight home win over Boston (27-17-4), and snapped a three-game losing streak on Thursday night at UBS Arena. Noah Dobson’s goal at 5:50 of the third period broke a 1-1 tie and with under seven minutes to play, Mathew Barzal extended the lead to 3-1. Brock Nelson added an empty-netter for his team-leading 16th goal. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves for the Islanders (18-20-6) and JG Pageau scored a power-play goal in the second period. Taylor Hall had the lone Boston goal and Linus Ullmark made 25 saves in defeat. The Islanders improved to 4-16-2 against teams holding a playoff position with two of those wins coming against the Bruins.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 Down 1-0 in a second period that featured the wave at UBS Arena, the Isles got even on the power-play. Dobson’s slap shot trickled behind Ullmark and was located by Pageau who knocked it in to tie the game at 1-1 at the 11:30 mark.
🔶 Nelson fed the puck to Dobson at the right point who made a slight move before putting a wrist shot on net that somehow found its way across the goal line. Replay would show that the puck went off the right post, then off Ullmark’s back for the would-be game-winner.
🔷 Kieffer Bellows did a little bit of everything in his return to the lineup (5 shots, 5 hits, 1 assist) and he was the engine that set up the Barzal goal that made it 3-1. Bellows unleashed a heavy wrist shot, then fought through defenders to find a rebound that deflected to Barzal who had an empty net.
3 REACTIONS
❶ RESPONDED WELL: "I didn't know how we were going to respond because we've been going upstream when it comes to the games, every game we're chasing it," Barry Trotz said. "Today I was wondering how we'd respond in the second and third and we responded well."
❷ KEEPING IT SIMPLE: "Just getting back in the lineup, I wanted to keep it simple," Kieffer Bellows said. "I thought the boys were really supportive of me and wanted to help me out there. I felt good about my game. All around, I thought everyone played well in the second and third. That's why we came out with the win."
❸ BEING THAT BIG PLAYER: "Dobson is feeling that he's not only just a member of the team, but he's a big part of the team now," Trotz said. "He's crossing over to being that big player that you rely on. He's running our first power play, he's playing in lots of different situations for us, he's creating some offense, he gets to join the offense a little bit in situations. I think he understands that he has to have some really big impact for us. Tonight he did."
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are back in action on Sunday afternoon as they host the Montreal Canadiens at UBS Arena. Face-odd is set for 2 pm.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Josh Bailey was out of the lineup on Thursday and listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The often-criticized forward has 21 points (3 goals, 18 assists) in 38 games this season for a respectable 45 point pace. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov will return to Long Island this weekend after testing positive for COVID-19 while the team was in Calgary.
Kieffer Bellows took Bailey’s space in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for eight consecutive games. "He’s been a better left-winger than right-winger," coach Barry Trotz said before the game. "For me, he’s probably ready to transition over to a little more full-time basis as much as possible. I think he’s capable of it. It’s just a little bit of consistency. Maybe it’s Kieffer’s time."
🙁 MORALE WATCH: The Islanders’ inability to play consistent winning hockey is undoubtedly weighing on the minds of the coaches and players. The game doesn’t come easy when you are short on confidence and long on frustration.
"I think every year you’re always worried about the morale," Trotz said. "They’re professionals. They’re paid well to perform well and I think they’ve got lots of character. It’s been trying this year with all the different things that have hit us. We haven’t been able to get a break. And when we do, we don’t seem to finish the deal. We found ways to not win those real close hockey games.
The season has been especially frustrating for Ryan Pulock. Fresh-off signing an eight-year extension in the off-season, the hard shooting defenseman missed two months recovering from a lower-body injury and was helpless as the team went winless in 11 games to dig themselves an immense hole.
"It’s tough," said Pulock. "Guys know what’s at stake and we know we have to be better. We need to find our game right now to give us a chance. There’s no give-up in this locker room. There’s no quit. Guys are mad at how we’ve been playing and we’re going to dial it in to find a way to take steps in the right direction here."
👥 TOGETHER AGAIN: One of the top defensive pairs in the league might be back together ‘in snippets’ to start and then back together for good relatively soon. Barry Trotz sounded eager to reunite Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock before the game, but feels that it’ll take a bit more time for Pulock, back recently from injury, to log the 20+ minutes against the opposition’s best players. Pelech is averaging 21:16 of ice time this season while Pulock has only hit that mark once since returning.
“The plan is to put Pully and Pelly back together,” coach Barry Trotz said before the game. “What you’ll probably see is snippets of that the next little while and maybe some full-time stuff on the road trip [next week] here.”
😷 MASK DOWN: Following New York State Department of Health’s updated COVID-19 health and safety guidance, masks are optional for guests to wear inside of UBS Arena. Those that want to continue wearing masks are welcome to do so.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Barry Trotz coached his 250th regular-season game behind the Islander bench, joining Al Arbour and Jack Capuano as the only ones to do so; 25 of the other 31 NHL teams have named a new coach since Trotz joined the Islanders on June 21, 2018). Noah Dobson has eight of the Isles' 14 goals by defensemen this season; his 22 points this season are one more than he had in his first two seasons. He needs two more goals to become the youngest Islander defenseman in 24 years to score at least ten goals.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: On February 17, 1992, Tom Fitzgerald scored at 2:55 of overtime in a President’s Day matinee at the Nassau Coliseum as the Islanders came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Winnipeg Jets of 5-4 in overtime.
“My eyes just lit up and there was nobody near me,” Fitzpatrick told Newsday’s Mark Herrmann. “I didn't even see Ray (Ferraro). I was just thinking net, net, net.”
Trailing 3-1 after 40 minutes, the Isles rallied to take a 4-3 lead in the third period on goals by Benoit Hogue, Hubie McDonough, and Steve Thomas. Pierre Turgeon assisted on both Hogue’s and Thomas’ tallies, as he became the first Islander since Mike Bossy (19 in 1983-84) to have a point streak of at least 16 games.
🔗 Islanders reuniting Ryan Pulock-Adam Pelech defensive pairing by Ethan Sears, New York Post “The Islanders’ Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech made up one of the NHL’s best defensive pairings last year. And soon, they could be together again.”
🔗 With Kieffer Bellows in lineup, Barry Trotz says 'maybe it's Kieffer's time' by Andrew Gross, Newsday “Kieffer Bellows was back in the Islanders’ lineup on Thursday night against the Bruins at UBS Arena, marking the former first-rounder’s latest chance to show he can be an NHL regular after being a healthy scratch the previous eight games.”
And we leave you with this …. while you were sleeping or trying to stay awake, Team Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in the Women’s Gold Medal hockey game. The Canadian on the broadcast decided he needed to rub it in just a bit during the pre-game.
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