Good Morning, Islanders Country.
All Aboard! Before the game, an automobile some are calling the Wahlly Trolley was seen outside UBS Arena. On the ice, Oliver Wahlstrom, the team’s 22-year-old sniper and youngest player carried the Islanders to a 5-2 win over the Sharks with a pair of goals that sent a desperate San Jose team to their fifth straight loss to start the season.
The Islanders attempted 80 shots and had 46 shots on goal, their most ever at UBS Arena. Through three games this season, the Isles have 116 shots on goal, an average of 38.7 per game. Last season, the team averaged 29 shots a game which was 29th in the NHL. In a game that was tied nearly through two periods, the Isles turned up the pressure and didn’t relent, dominating the second and third periods to secure two points.
Coming up, Varly gets his first action of the season, and Alex Romanov is the new kid on the block. Plus, Miro Satan gets the best of Henrik Lundqvist in his first game versus Isles, and that time Mike Bossy wore the “C” on his sweater. But first, let’s recap the Isles’ win Tuesday night versus San Jose.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Oliver Wahlstrom scored twice, and Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves in his first start of the season to lead the New York Islanders (2-1-0) to a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. Anders Lee, Zach Parise, and Cal Clutterbuck (EN) also scored for the Isles. Nico Sturm gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 12:50 of the first period. Evgeny Svechnikov had a goal and an assist, and James Reimer made 40 saves for San Jose (0-5-0), which has lost five straight to begin a season for the first time in its history.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔹 Tied 2-2 with under a minute left in the second, Brock Nelson won a face-off back to Wahlstrom, who slid into the slot and unleashed a hard low wrister that beat Reimer glove side to regain momentum and the lead.
🔸 A little over five minutes into the third, the Isles gained a two-goal advantage when Dobson won a battle on the side wall that led to Wahlstrom one-timing the puck through Reimer for his second goal of the game and a 4-2 lead. It was his seventh October goal in 14 games.
3 REACTIONS
❶ SHOOT FROM EVERYWHERE: "I like to shoot from everywhere, I try to catch the goalie off guard," Wahlstrom said. "It's something I always worked on when I was younger.”
❷ A LITTLE NERVOUS: "It was very important for me to start the season with a win, the team helped me a lot, scoring a lot of goals today," Varlamov said. "I felt good overall. I was a little nervous because I hadn't played an official game in a while, so it was nice to get a W the first game I played.
❸MOVING NORTH: "He gives us the confidence as wingers that we can make the play to advance the puck and he's always got a chance to keep it advancing," Clutterbuck said of Casey Cizikas. "That's what makes us effective is that we keep it moving north and he's a big part of being able to get in there first… he dictates where the puck is going to go."
⏭ NEXT UP: After an off-day on Wednesday, the Islanders wrap up their opening four-game homestand against the New Jersey Devils at UBS Arena on Thursday night. Puck drop is 7:30 PM.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Mathew Barzal wasn’t on the ice for the team’s optional skate on Tuesday morning, a deviation from the norm for the center. When asked, Lane Lambert plainly said that Barzal “took his option.”
◾️ Ilya Sorokin and Seymon Varlamov exited the optional skate together, and Lambert would not name a starter when meeting with the media. We’ll watch to see if that trend continues throughout the season.
◾️ In NYIHockeyNow, Stefan Rosner wrote about Alexander Romanov’s ability to get in the shooting lane and spoke with teammates about his other skills and a personality that is starting to come out as he gets more comfortable.
🛑 BLOCK ISLAND: “If you look at Alex, and his shot, blocking ability, and his courage to block shots, he’s always going to have a high number regardless of how much time they spend in their zone. And he’s on the penalty kill as well,” head coach Lane Lambert said Tuesday morning.
◾️“Sometimes it’s circumstance, but I’m never afraid to block a shot,” Romanov said. “It’s my job, the penalty kill and stuff like that. Playing physical.”
↕️ RE-RANK: In The Athletic, Cory Pronman re-ranked the 2021 draft class based on draftees’ performance over the last season. The Islanders Aatu Ratu made amongst the biggest jumps, moving up from No. 52 of the 2nd round to 22nd overall. Eetu Liukas, who was taken by the Isles 157th overall, slotted in at No. 99.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Isles have scored thirteen goals in three games – it's only the second time in the last 32 years that they have scored that often in their first three games. Anders Lee passed Kyle Okposo and Stefan Persson for 16th place on the points list (366)
🗓 THIS DATE IN ISLANDERS HISTORY: On October 19, 2005, Miroslav Satan fired a wrist shot past rookie Henrik Lundqvist to help beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in a shootout at Madison Square Garden.
"I'm not that big of [a] fan [of] it," Satan said about the skill competition. "I don't think the players like the pressure of a shootout, but it makes the game exciting for the fans." The win broke a 10-game winless streak to the Blueshirts (0-8-2). Rick DiPietro had 33 saves in the win for the Isles.
🔗 Alexander Romanov the new kid on the blocked shots for Islanders by Andrew Gross, Newsday “Earning the respect of his new Islanders teammates has not been an issue for Alexander Romanov…And Romanov had already blocked a team-high 14 shots in the first two games entering Tuesday night’s match against the Sharks”
🔗 Can Noah Dobson reach rare points milestone this season? Eyes on Isles “They say a rising tide raises all ships. Using that aphorism, a better offensive team should raise all point totals, making a 60-point season within reach for defenseman Noah Dobson this season.”
And we leave you with this ….courtest The Hockey Samuri, a rare photo of the late great Mike Bossy wearing the captain “C”. Eric Hornick tracked down the original Getty Photos image and confirmed that Bossy wore the “C” on March 16, 1987, when Denis Potvin did not dress.
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.....while Robin beginning to step up.....MORE is a BIG one itself, acquiring Alex may be among THE biggest factors, most important additions this team has EVER made (and I fully expect HIM to start netting goals as WELL - if not QUITE as much as Dobber, Mayfie, Pulie, Robin & Pelie, no......)