Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Last night’s game conjured up memories of 1995 much more than any retro jersey.
The New Jersey Devils had 13 shots before the Isles registered their first with 3:07 left in the opening period. No pace. No sustained pressure. Few quality chances. It was way worse than the final score would indicate. If it weren’t for Ilya Sorokin and the goalposts, the Devils could have scored 6, 7, or even 8 goals.
Don’t believe me, look at this heat map:
What’s worrisome is that New Jersey is a dangerous offensive team with similar attributes - such as speed to the Isles upcoming opponents. Over the next five games, the 2-2-0 Islanders will play the Lightning, Panthers, Rangers, Hurricanes, and Avalanche. Whatever went wrong last night needs to be corrected - and quick, or the Isles could find themselves chasing the Metropolitan Division standings once again.
Coming up, there are a lot of hot takes on the return of the Fisherman, and we show you where it ranked across the NHL landscape of Reverse Retros. Plus, at least the penalty kill is still perfect and the Islanders - Rangers rivalry began 50 years ago today.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Jack Hughes scored his first of the season, Ondrej Palat scored twice and Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists as the New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Islanders 4-1 at UBS Arena on Thursday night. Anders Lee scored and Ilya Sorokin made 38 saves for the Isles who were outshot 43-17. Mackenzie Blackwood made 16 saves for the Devils, who have won two in a row.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 After a somehow scoreless first period, the Devils broke through at 1:35 of the second period as Hughes blew past Robin Salo and avoided a tumbling Alexander Romanov to calmly slide a backhand five-hole past Sorokin for a 1-0 lead.
🔻 With the game still 2-0 in the third period, JG Pageau had the Isles best chance of the night to make make a game of it, but Blackwood was able to come across his crease and squeeze the shot between his arm and chest to maintain the two-goal lead.
3 REACTIONS
❶ WE WEREN’T READY: “We didn’t start the game well. We weren’t as ready as New Jersey was,” Robin Salo said. “They came quick right from the start, and we just weren’t ready to answer that.”
❷ GOTTEN UGLY: “He was he was outstanding, said Mathew Barzal of Sorokin. “Genuinely just like amazing. Probably could have been three nothing after the first and he made some spectacular saves. Yeah, it could have gotten ugly early on and he was there for us.”
❸ BREAK DOWNS: "There were some situations where our coverage broke down, said head coach Lane Lambert. “And obviously, some of it was just losing battles, one on one battles...It wasn't necessarily so much the structure."
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are in Florida over the weekend for back-to-back games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: The Islanders, to borrow a New York Post headline, brought back their most hated jersey. But there are plenty of fans, especially those not old enough to have seen Ken Belanger and Brett Lindros in action, that are excited for its return as the team’s Reverse Retro 2.0 Adidas jersey, which was officially released on Thursday morning.
Some traditional fans felt the Islanders went too far, while others felt they didn’t go far enough. “A bit of a bummer to see some of the more fun elements from the original uniform have been stripped away here,” said Chris Creamer of SportsLogos.Net. Either way, the hot takes were plentiful.
The Islanders will wear the polarizing new look six times at home this season, starting versus the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 10. The other five games are games on Dec. 23, Dec. 27, Jan. 12, Jan. 21, and Jan. 28.
“It’s going to be great,” Islanders winger Anthony Beauvillier told amNewYork. “I love the Fisherman jersey so I can’t wait to see it.”
“I like the throwback stuff,” Zach Parise said. “I like the different looks, the different colors. Not the change, but just for a different look. It’s always neat for the fans. It’s fun for the players, too. You walk in the room and you see a third jersey or a different jersey, it gets exciting.”
📊 HOW THEY RANK: A fan survey was run by J Fresh Hockey after all 32 jerseys were released. With 2,835 fans voting, the Islanders were ranked 6th overall.
In The Athletic, the Islanders didn’t fair quite as well, even if it brought back a flood of emotions for a Long Island native and current Blackhawks beat writer.
I’m glad the Isles had the guts to go with Gorton’s this time around after chickening out last time. If the fisherman logo can become cool, literally anyone can become cool. Except me in 1996 - Mark Lazerus, The Athletic
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Devils had the first 13 shots of the game and then had nine of the first ten shots in the third period. Anders Lee scored for the second straight contest in his 600th caree game. The Devils finished with 43 shots; their most vs. the Isles since Jaroslav Halak stopped 42 of 46 in a 5-4 shootout win on January 7, 2018. The Isles killed all three New Jersey power plays and have killed 15 of 15 this season.
🗓 THIS DATE IN ISLANDERS HISTORY: On Oct. 21, 1972, the New York Islanders played the New York Rangers for the first time. The Blueshirts captured the first victory in the rivalry with a 2-1 win at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The teams have met 286 times, with the Isles holding the edge in the all-time series with a 133-127-19-7, a points percentage of .510.
🔗 Anthony Beauvillier and Mathew Barzal back together again and creating chances for Islanders by Andrew Gross, Newsday “The quick-skating Beauvillier, already entering his seventh NHL season as a 25-year-old, had a goal and an assist in the Islanders’ first three games. His speed — and Barzal’s — has meshed with Lambert’s system of an aggressive attack and trying to transition the puck quickly out of the defensive zone.”
🔗 Zach Parise off to much better start compared to 1st year with Islanders by Joe Pantorno amNewYork “Parise is just one of the beneficiaries of the Islanders’ new system under Lane Lambert which has featured more offensive support from the defense to help open up more opportunities for the attack.”
And we leave you with this …. we haven’t seen the picture yet, but Newsday Isles beat writer Andrew Gross says that he dressed as the Gorton Fisherman for Halloween in college. We don’t believe it to be Islanders inspired.
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.....comments I left in the related Eyes On Isles posting included words like 'POINTLESS', 'deplorable' - and presented what COULD'VE been a MUCH-less polarizing design idea which only switched out FISHY for the Island map and RETAINING the traditional CIRCULAR crest configuration, reverted back to his ORIGINAL color scheme - while significantly enlarging the man's head, lowering the net top, possibly making his stick blade much bigger, held slightly aloft and with 4 winds of orange tape - emailed my contact at the team's front office but, NO response; probably being BOMBARDED with 'em these past 24 hours.....MAY try to do my own mock-up soon if I see it's articulatively feasible with MS Paint!
Last night's was a RUDE, painful [re]awakening that resembled some of those against both Carolina & the Rangers these past several seasons; NJ has truly INSANE acceleration capabilities and to a MAN anyhow, our speed just CAN'T compare - someone once MORE lamented Lamoriello not offering Gaudreau enough to sign and, SEEING Barzy harassed SO much (again) I'm wondering if, DESPITE his express desire to stay on Long Island it might not be better for ALL parties if he found a team that can take some of the pressure OFF him - NO way could they have afforded to add Johnny Hockey TOO.....