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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
With all those great teams in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it’s somewhat surprising that it’s only the seventh time in franchise history that the Islanders have started a season with two straight wins - and remarkably, the first time they’ve done it with both games at home.
They’ll be seeing a step up in competition when they try to make it 3-0 for the first time since 2014-15 as they host the high-powered New Jersey Devils later tonight at UBS Arena.
The Devils are younger, faster, and the opposite of a team that would ever be called “boring.” New Jersey has been off since Monday, giving head coach Lindy Ruff time to correct what’s frustrated him in the last two losses. After three games, they looked to regroup this week and may showcase some swaps of their top two lines to create more balanced scoring.
Don’t expect the Isles to hold them to 14 shots, but if they carry over their structure and stay out of the penalty box, they’ll have a chance to keep up with the Devils, but they’ll have to find the back of the net more than once.
Coming up, Barry Trotz says he won’t be back behind a bench, and Zach Parise is reportedly finding the itch. Plus, defending Noah Dobson and Sebastian Aho’s defense, Corey Schneider talks about his time spent with the tight-knit Isles and the first shutout in team history.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: The Islanders held practice on Thursday morning ahead of their home game later tonight at UBS Arena against the New Jersey Devils (1-1-1). Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt have scored five goals and six assists to lead the top line for New Jersey, while defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Seigenthaler have added two goals and five assists.
◾️ The Isles are more than likely than the last team Barry Trotz ever coached. In a story from Andrew Gross in Newsday, the two-time Jack Adams winner and Stanley Cup-winning coach said he’d be surprised if he were ever back behind the bench. “I can honestly say I have no intentions of coaching again,” said Trotz. My coaching career, you can put it in an envelope. The only way that could happen is if something happened here, and you might see me for a day back there.”
Trotz, now the General Manager of the Nashville Predators, had a career coaching record of career record of 914-670-60-168 and is second on the all-time list of games coach with 1,812.
As for one of the coaches he mentored, Trotz says Lane Lambert has performed how he expected. “He’s been exactly what I thought,” Trotz said. “Some coaches would be a little bit miffed…I wanted my staff to be involved in the whole process. I’d say, ‘At some point, I’m going to get let go, and I want you to be one of the guys who replaces me.’
◾️ The "door is always open" for Zach Parise to return to the New York Islanders.
That was the message from GM Lou Lamoriello when he spoke to the media in September at the start of rookie camp. After the summer came and went without Parise making a decision, the update was that he would not be joining the team for training camp but hadn't made the decision to retire.
Now, according to Chris Johnston of The Athletic, in a story about unsigned free agents, he states that Parise has resumed skating to build up his fitness.
When the 39-year-old Parise last met with the media on May 1st after the Islanders' first-round exit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he said it would likely be "here or nowhere" as in Long Island if he were to play this season.
Stay tuned.
◾️ Also in Newsday, Laura Albanese, who attended morning skate in place of Gross, writes about the strong defensive performances from Sebastian Aho and Noah Dobson that were on display on Tuesday night vs. Arizona.
“What I’ve seen — it’s not necessarily more urgency, but more understanding of every little moment counts,” head coach Lambert said of Dobson and Aho. “We’re talking body position, stick position, things that like. Things that [assistant coach] Doug Houda worked with them on and done a really good job of.”
Noah Dobson responded to a shaky first game with one of his better all-around defensive performances and even contributed on the penalty kill, something he had primarily done only in practice with Scott Mayfield out. Dobson admits that rounding out his defensive game is a focal point for him.
“If you look at where I was when I started to where I am now, I think there’s definitely been steps to improve in the defensive zone," Dobson said. “I think you’re always growing and developing your game in all areas and it’s definitely something I’ve been keen on — being able to put up decent numbers offensively and still been trying to grow defensively.”
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are back on the ice tonight against the New Jersey Devils as they wrap up their three-game homestand to start the season. Face-off from UBS Arena is at 7:30 PM EDT.
📊 STANDINGS:
🎙 On Talkin’ Isles with Cory Wright and Greg Picker, former Islanders back-up goaltender Corey Schneider talked about his three years in the Islanders organization, which included just one nerve-wracking game of action against the New Jersey Devils two seasons ago.
◾️ IT WAS REFRESHING: "When I got there, I couldn't believe how tightly knit the group was, how close it was," said Schneider. "You know, we'd gone through a couple years in New Jersey of rebuilding, starting over, (a) lot of young guys, and we were sort of the older guard. So to step into a locker room where there were a lot of veteran guys, it was refreshing.”
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Mathew Barzal recorded his 106th goal, passing Benoit Hogue and Ed Westfall for 29th in club history. It was Barzal's 17th game-winning goal. Ilya Sorokin now has 17 career shutouts, breaking a tie with Rick DiPietro for 3rd in club history; Sorokin has played 138 Islander games, which is less than half of DiPietro's 318.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On October 20, 1974, after 161 games, the Islanders finally got their first shutout in franchise history in a 5-0 win against the Washington Capitals in Landover, MD. Billy Smith made 26 saves for the first of his 22 shutouts during his Hall of Fame career.
From the New York Times: Smith said the possibility of a shutout was not on his mind as he entered the third period with the Islanders five goals ahead. But Al Arbour, the Islander coach, said Smith's teammates on the bench were saying: “Let's work out there for Smitty. Check hard, and don't give them anything.”
🎧 Nassaumen Hockey Podcast: Hot Start Not Without Question Marks The New York Islanders started the 2023-24 NHL Regular Season 2-0 after wins against the Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes. But, their hot start is not without its question marks as the team attempts to prove they have plenty more in the tank.
🔗 Islanders Practice Report: Preparing For Important Weekend; Wahlstrom Close To Return, NYIHockeyNow “It seems that forward Oliver Wahlstrom is inching his way closer to cracking the Islanders’ lineup after being a scratch through the first two games of the season.”
And we leave you with this…if you’ve been debating whether or not to purchase the Islanders “Soro-King” shirt from AthleteLogos. You can buy HERE.
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