Good Morning, Islanders Country.
It’s not just that the Islanders have lost three of their last four. It’s that they lost three of their last four against teams not currently in playoff position - two at home where their opponent was on the second half of a back-to-back.
And while banking points against teams behind you is always important, it felt especially important with the next slate of games - all against teams they are looking up at in the standings - in some cases, far up.
The team’s upcoming schedule is daunting. Yes, I know; we said the same thing after the 2-4-0 start, and look what happened, look how the team responded!
Maybe the Islanders have been playing down to their competition (which is inexcusable), and maybe they’ll surprise us again (it could happen), but they won’t be able to overcome slow starts and anything but stellar goaltending against the league’s top teams. In recent days, they’ve slipped from second to fourth in the Metro and could slip more if they don’t play their best hockey during this stretch.
Coming up, we wait on Pelech’s news and take a closer look at the next three opponents. Plus, we are days away from seeing the Fisherman in action, the Isles are taking their shots, and distant family member Tage Thompson goes off.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: The Islanders had a day off on Wednesday, so we didn’t receive an update on Adam Pelech’s status after he exited Tuesday night’s game five minutes into the third period after his head awkwardly hit the boards following a rough hit from D Robert Bortuzzo.
Robin Salo, who, when he’s not been in transit back and forth to Bridgeport, has been a healthy scratch for over 20 straight games, is presumed to be the first up to take Pelech’s spot on the blue line if he misses time. For NYI Hockey Now, Stefen Rosner took a closer look at the potential D pairings if Salo needs to step in.
⏭ WHAT’S ON TAP: We told you about the gauntlet of games coming up; here is a closer look at the next three opponents. This is not meant to scare you, although it might. You’ve been warned.
New Jersey Devils (Friday, Dec 9)
The Devils have a 21-4-1 record and 43 points - the most in the NHL. New Jersey is one of only six teams in NHL history to win 21 of their first 26 games, and the team hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. They’ll enter Friday night’s game with an 18-1-1 record over their last 20 games.
How crazy is this? Last year, they had 27 wins all season! When NJ dominated the Isles in a 4-1 on Long Island back, it was chalked up to a bad night for the home team, but the Devils took off, having lost only twice in regulation since Oct. 15.
Carolina Hurricanes (Saturday, Dec 10)
Last season’s Metropolitan Division champions have been surging as of late, having picked up points in nine of their last 10 games (4-1-5) to jump into second place behind the Devils, a position the Isles held until their recent dip.
Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov have been good, as expected, but the team’s leading scorer is 23-year-old Martin Necas (12G, 16A). This was unexpected. A season ago, Necas recorded a career-low 0.51 points per game in posting 14 goals and 40 points in 78 regular-season games. He signed a two-year bridge contract for a total of $6M, but his promising potential has taken shape, and that makes Carolina as dangerous an offensive team as ever.
Boston Bruins (Tuesday, December 13)
The Devils may have the most points in the league, but the Bruins have the league’s top winning % with a record of 21-3-1. On Tuesday, their NHL record home winning streak to start a season was snapped at 14 games against former coach Bruce Cassidy and the Vegas Golden Knights in a 4-3 SO loss.
David Pastrnak has been his usual phenomenal self, scoring 17 goals and 18 assists in 24 games this season. Meanwhile, Linus Ullmark has been lights out in net, holding a 14-1-0 record with a 1.93 GAA, and is among the Vezina favorites.
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are back on the ice for practice today as they prepare for their home and home with the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes.
📊 STANDINGS:
🌊 WAVE HELLO: The next time the Islanders take the ice at home, they’ll look different. Not necessarily the lineup, but what they’ll be wearing. If you forgot (or wanted to forget), the Reverse Retro Fisherman jerseys make their debut on Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes at UBS Arena. Get ready.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Isles outshot the opponent in each period for the third straight game, matching the club record; this also happened in December 2009 and January 2015. The team dressed the same six defensemen for the 22nd straight game, but that streak is in doubt as we await the status of Adam Pelech.
🗓 THIS DATE IN ISLANDERS’ HISTORY: On Dec. 8th, 2018, Matt Martin scored a tiebreaking goal with 16:36 remaining in the third period, capping an impressive comeback for the Islanders in a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings.
The Isles trailed 2-0, but the game turned following this hit by Niklas Kronwall on Anders Lee. Soon after, Josh Bailey took Kronwall down in the corner, and the play galvanized his teammates. Casey Cizikas and Ryan Pulock scored to tie the game in the second period before Martin’s game-winner in the third.
"I thought when that hit happened, with Bailey going over there and answering the bell, I thought from that standpoint, he pulled the rest of the group in," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "Our leadership, the guys were really good."
🔗 NY Islanders Zach Parise aging gracefully via Eyes on Isles “Through 27 games last season, Parise only tallied six points, scoring just one goal and adding five assists. He was more snakebitten, even unlucky at times, but one thing is for sure, he gave 100% on the ice every shift. Parise finished the 2021-22 season with 15 goals and 35 points”
🔗 Cold Wingers; Can Islanders Sustain Playoff Push? by Stefen Rosner, NYI Hockey Now “The New York Islanders have shown vast improvement on the offensive side of the puck this season, as they have averaged 3.19 goals per game through 27 games (86 goals) after just 2.79 a year ago. But the increase in production has had a lot to do with the members of the backend, as 20 of those goals have come via defensemen.”
And we leave you with this…There have been two 6-point games in the NHL this season. The Sabres' Tage Thompson has both of them (October 31 and last night). He's the first player in NHL history to have the first two 6-point games of a given season.
Here’s a video of his coach Don Granato hanging him five-game pucks, one for each goal he scored. And here’s a picture of him on Draft Day 2016 with his father, Bridgeport coach Brent Thompson behind him.
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I keep banging the drum that all the defensive scoring has obscured the fact that we've been much worse in our own zone, especially Dobson. While the accolades pour in for his goal scoring, he is (as of Tuesday) the only Dman on our team with a negative +/-. By the eye test he has looked terrible too, bad passes, out of position, failing to keep the puck in the OZone.
Yes, we're scoring more goals, but if we don't tighten up our D we are going nowhere. Mleszcko pointed this out during the Blues game.
.....as I did SAY yesterday.....
.....so, could the ISLANDERS have drafted Tage - or would that have caused administrative problems somehow?
As to Robin - LIKE him fine but, no WAY he can REALISTICALLY fill the skates, ROLE of COBRA Pelech - ESPECIALLY having not seen NHL ice time in 20 games.....should MAYBE bring up Grant Hutton INSTEAD - if they even still HAVE him.....