Good Morning, Islanders Country.
If you had gone to bed with the Islanders holding a 2-0 lead after one earlier this season, you would’ve dreaded waking up to a blown lead and overtime loss.
11 days ago, the Islanders trailed the Tampa Bay Lightning by nine points for a playoff spot. Today, on NHL Trade deadline day, they are just two behind, with two games in-hand after their fifth straight win last night in San Jose.
Patrick Roy called it a “beautiful win” as 13 players collected a point and overwhelmed the woeful Sharks. The Isles are playing as a team with soaring confidence, resolve and most importantly belief that what their new head coach sold them on is a blueprint for success.
“I think the focus is on our games and how we want to play, and no one here can control what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Roy said. “I will say this to you: I’m very excited about the way the team is playing, and that’s all that matters.”
Back on Dec. 5, the Isles blew a three-goal, third period lead at home to these same Sharks. You may recall that Lane Lambert said to lose that game was “sin". Those sins kept repeating themselves for two more months, but the Islanders no longer resemble the team that couldn’t get out of their own way all season.
It’s been a remarkably quick and sudden turnaround. GM Lou Lamoriello found a coach that helped this team find a new identity and refreshed style of play. It’s no longer a long shot for them to make the post-season. After months of being unable to put an end to their bad habits, their game has turned around and now they need to keep doing what they’re doing.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Kyle McLean, Mathew Barzal and Sebastian Aho each scored in a span of 5:01 in the second period lifting the Islanders to a 7-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night for their fifth straight win. Noah Dobson scored just 19 seconds into the game and Bo Horvat later added his 25th goal of the year for the Islanders (28-20-14), who are now just two points out of a playoff spot. Alexander Romanov and Anders Lee also scored as Ilya Soroin made 23 saves. Thomas Bordeleau and Mike Hoffman scored for San Jose and Magnus Chrona had 26 saves in the Sharks (15-40-7) ninth straight loss (0-7-2).
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔷 After San Jose cut the Isles lead to 3-2 with 11:49 left in the second, Kyle MacLean scored the goal of the game just 15 seconds later with a wrist shot from a nearly impossible angle to extend the lead.
“The goal that MacLean scored was a big one for us,” Roy said. “Every time they scored we got one back. It's a great sign.”
🔶 The Isles kept coming at 14:21 Mathew Barzal made it 5-2 after he gloved down a clearing attempt and then finished off a a give-and-go with Brock Nelson
🔷 The Isles capped off the second period burst when Aho scored with a snap shot from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Horvat.
3 REACTIONS
❶ FEELING GOOD ABOUT OURSELVES: “These wins matter,” Horvat said. “These games matter here coming up and all the way down the stretch. They’re going to matter every single night. We’re definitely feeling good about ourselves right now and we have to keep that going.”
❷ KNOW OUR GOALS: “We're getting more confidence every single game,” Romanov said. “We know our goals. Right now our goal to win six in a row.”
❸ SUPPORTING THE RUSH: “They're a big part of our offense,” Roy said. “When I say unit of five, it includes the defensemen. We want to make sure that our forwards are covering for our D when they do and, our D has been feeling good about themselves when they're supporting the rush or moving the puck.”
GAME IMPACT SCORE
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders will have two days off in California before taking on the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night. Face-off is set for 8:00 PM EST.
📊 STANDINGS: Following the Lightning’s 4-2 loss to the Calgary Flames, the Isles are now just two points behind Tampa Bay with two games in hand. They’re also two points behind Detroit. Meanwhile, the Phialdelphia Flyers scored a late goal to beat the Florida Panthers 2-1, and are four points up on the Isles.
📰 NEWS: There’s been plenty of action leading up to this afternoon’s NHL Trade Deadline, but the rolling Islanders have been quiet up until this point. Whether they make a move or not, Patrick Roy knows his job remains the same. “My part...very simple. Coach the team," Roy said in The Hockey News. "That's all I want to do. I want to coach the team and make sure we're ready.
"When does the deadline finish? [brief pause] I'm just kidding. I haven't really worried about it. I love the group that is on the ice with me right now, and working with these guys, I'm extremely happy.”
Dobber 300
Noah Dobson skated in his 300th game on Thursday. The 24-year-old Dobson is the first Islander defenseman with at least 64 points since 1984-85 when Denis Potvin had 68, and the first with at least 56 assists since 1983-84, when Potvin recorded 63. After a lucky goal on Thursday night, Dobson has the fifth most points amongst defensemen through 300 games in franchise history.
Most points through 300 games by an Islanders defenseman:
Stars Being Stars
The Islanders new-look, all-center top line is getting more comfortable and confident with each other. and last night was their biggest one yet. Barzal extended his point streak to six games (three goals, four assists). Horvat has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past three games. Nelson has eight points (three goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak.
Barry & Beau
Preds GM Barry Trotz acquired one of his former players as Anthony Beauvillier was sent to Nashville from Chicago for a fifth round pick. Beauvillier has now been traded three times in a little over a year and really struggled. The pending UFA has just four goals and 10 assists in 45 games.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, The Isles had goals from three defensemen for the first time since October 15, 2022, vs. Anaheim; they had not done so on the road since February 4, 2002, in Florida. Seven Islanders scored goals for the first time since 2021. The Isles scored seven goals in a road game for the first time since October 18, 2018, in Los Angeles (also 7-2, and also the last time the Isles won by five goals on the road).
🎥 ISLES REWIND: Mike Bossy scored the 39th and final hat trick of his career on March 8, 1987, to rally the Islanders past the Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 at Chicago Stadium. All three goals for Bossy were scored in the third period as the Islanders overcame a 3-0 first-period deficit. It was the 100th hat trick in team history. After Bossy’s hat trick tied the game, Bryan Trottier stuffed in the game-winner with just 23 seconds left on a play from behind the goal.
''It was nice to actually achieve something I'd been telling myself I was capable of doing,'' said Bossy, who was attempting to complete his 10th consecutive 50-goal season. ''I'm not saying that scoring three goals tonight will make me overly optimistic about getting 50, but it certainly improves my chances.''
Bossy would only play six more games that regular season, finishing with 38 goals. He would retire after the playoffs at the age of 30.
🎧 The Red Line: Streaking! “In the latest episode of “The Red Line” with co-hosts Phil Farber (@PhilzFacts) and David Tuchman (@TuckOnSports), the boys talk about the new team identity established by Patrick Roy, eliminating mistakes, Bo Horvat’s accountability, and Kyle Palmieri’s hot streak.”
🔗 NY Islanders GM Lamoriello has done a little bit of everything at the trade deadline via Eyes on Isles “In his previous five seasons as GM on Long Island, the Islanders have been in a variety of positions at this point in the NHL calendar, and Lamoriello has shown us a little bit of everything during his tenure. He's done nothing when we expected a move and made a splash when we didn't see it coming. He's even announced new contracts.”
🔗 When Patrick Roy thought Islanders were starting to turn it around by Ethan Sears, New York Post “His team had just lost a crucial, four-point game, but Patrick Roy felt the tides were turning. It was two weeks ago Saturday, after a fourth loss in five games for the Islanders, 4-2 to the Lightning, and Roy told general manager Lou Lamoriello that the only thing missing was confidence.”
And we leave you with this ….Patrick Roy is all smiles as a fan wearing a tee shirt with name receives a puck over the glass.
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