Good Morning, Islanders Country.
We’ve reached the quarter pole of the NHL season, which means we can start looking at standings and statistics with a more critical eye. The Islanders are the owners of a 12-8-0 record, having won 10 of 14 games, and sit T-2nd in the Metropolitan Division with 24 points, the fourth most in the Eastern Conference.
Islanders records after 20 games in the last five seasons:
2018-19: 10-8-2
2019-20: 16-3-1
2021: 10-6-4
2021-22: 5-10-5
2022-23: 12-8-0
That’s the second-best start through 20 games in the last five years, and regardless of tonight’s outcome, they’ll be in playoff position at Thanksgiving, a spot that leads to a playoff berth approximately 75% of the time.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress from Day 1. There are certain areas that we know we need to improve on and we’ll continue to work on. We’re not unhappy with our record right now.” - Lane Lambert
While much of the attention remains on the forward group, the Islanders are 12th in the league, scoring 3.30 GAA. That should be plenty, but it’s their team defense that has slid, and despite the often heroics of Ilya Sorokin, the team is 11th in goals against average (GAA), good but not in the Jennings Trophy conversation the way they were during their peak under Barry Trotz.
Simply put, there’s room for improvement. But if you’re sitting in playoff position without having played many 60-minute games, uncertain of line combinations, and prone to defensive lapses, perhaps it means the best is yet to come.
Coming up, the NHL’s best player skates on Long Island and the team feels good about where they are. Plus, playing hard has always been a hit with Cal Clutterbuck; a Barzal breakaway beats the Devils in OT, and everyone is complimenting Thomas Hickey.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: After an off-day on Tuesday, the Islanders are back on the ice on Thanksgiving Eve against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. McDavid leads the league in scoring with 16 goals and 19 assists for the Oilers. His teammate, Leon Draisaitl, is second, having scored 11 goals and added 20 assists. The Oilers are 10-9-0 on the season. When they score, they win. All of Edmonton’s 10 wins have come in games where they’ve scored at least three goals.
There are a handful of NHL players fans might pay to see; McDavid is one of them. Isles fans have seen plenty of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin throughout the years, but McDavid combines size and speed unlike any other player in the league with bursts of quickness that makes opposing defenses look like they are standing still.
If the Islanders hadn’t come back in those third periods and hadn’t scored those overtime goals, their record would be upside down, and the good feelings surrounding their first 20 games would be non-existent.
But those things did happen, and it has the Isles being optimistic about what they’ve been able to accomplish and excited about what they’re building toward.
◾️GOOD ENERGY: “The energy in the room is good,” said Anthony Beauvillier. “A positive record. We feel good about our game. I feel like we always give ourselves a chance to win the game or at least get a point every night.
◾️GOOD STRETCHES: “We’ve put some really good games together,” captain Anders Lee said. “A couple of good stretches. We’re always looking to build and looking to get better. Not every night is going to be perfect.”
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders, like almost all of us, have off on Thanksgiving before back-to-back games against two teams behind them in the Metropolitan Division, starting with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.
📊 STANDINGS:
In an exclusive with NYIHockeyNow, Stefan Rosner spoke with Cal Clutterbuck a couple of days ahead of breaking the NHL's all-time hits record. The Islanders’ fourth-liner talked about how he always was drawn to the physicality of hockey and how his aggressive style has always been part of his game from a young age.
◾️ ROCK’EM, SOCK’EM: “I just liked it. I’ve always liked it,” Clutterbuck said. “I just remember from the time I was nine or 10 years old when we were first allowed to hit back then…it’s like 17 [now], which I don’t think is right either, but just remember that first game. I used to watch the old ‘Rock’em Sock’em’ tapes and loved the big hits.”
◾️ HUNTER, NOT THE HUNTED: “I preferred to be the one who’s the aggressor. Be the hunter, not the hunted. So that was always my mentality. And as you go up in the ranks and the crowds get bigger, you start to get a reaction.”
“It’s always kind of been a thrill for me. It’s just been part of my game.”
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, on the night Cal Clutterbuck set the all-time hits record, the Islander did something for the first time in EXACTLY four years with Clutterbuck and Alexander Romanov each recording nine hits on the night.
Four years earlier, Leo Komarov and Adam Pelech reached the mark. It was the last time an Isles defenseman had nine hits before tonight. Clutterbuck and Matt Martin also did it in 2015 vs. Philadelphia; that was the first time it happened since hits became an official stat in 2005-06.
🗓 THIS DATE IN ISLANDERS HISTORY: On November 23, 2018, Mathew Barzal scored on his own rebound after being stopped on a breakaway at 3:40 of overtime, and the Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in Newark. "There was more skin in the battle than we've had in the last couple games so I'll take our game," Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. "New Jersey has been a very good team at home; they've been dynamite at home. I liked a lot of our game."
🎧 Nassaumen Hockey Podcast - Evaluating the New York Islanders after 20 games (Ft. Brett of Isles Meetups Philly): James and Jon sit down right before Thanksgiving to try and answer a difficult question - who are the New York Islanders? After a 2-2-0 road trip, we know less about who the Islanders are than at the beginning of the season. Despite a roller-coaster November mixed with sloppy defensive play and loads of mistakes, the Islanders sit at 12-8-0. Can they right the ship and solidify themselves as a contender, or is it all for show?
🔗 Islanders feeling good about themselves at quarter mark of season by Andrew Gross, Newsday “The Islanders returned home very early Tuesday morning 20 games into their 82-game schedule, one quarter of the way into what they believed would be – and are now even more convinced will be – a bounce-back season.”
🔗 EXCLUSIVE: Clutterbuck Now All-Time Hits Leader, ‘Be The Hunter, Not the Hunted by Stefan Rosner, NYIHockeyNow “When you think of NHL players that laid the body throughout their career, Scott Stevens or Darius Kasparitius come to mind. That’s who New York Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck said he watched on the “Rock’em Sock’em” videos, which played a part in him becoming a physical player.”
And we leave you with this…there was a lot of attention on Thomas Hickey’s appearance on Monday night. Before the game, a viewer wanted to know what type of hair products he uses, and then after the OT winner, Anthony Beauvillier, complimented him on his new uniform, a nice fitting suit.
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.....there are FEW people more gratified by the organization finding a GOOD place for one of my favorite HUMANS, Thomas Hickey than ME - hoping there MIGHT just be one for TRAVIS, too post-playing career (to say NOTHING of MattyMa.....)