False Starts
The troubling trend continued in 4-2 loss to Edmonton; Brock Nelson is named a first-time All-Star; Clutterbuck returns to the lineup; Isles wrap up trip tonight in CGY
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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The Islanders talked about having a better start and instead had a worse one, somehow playing their worst 1st period of the road trip and being outshot 18-4 by the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. This time, they were unable to escape the period only down 1-0, and the “rope a dope” strategy that worked in Vancouver had no chance of success against the Oilers’ speed that kept the Isles on their heels and didn’t allow them to head north all game.
Sometimes, the more you talk about the negative things about your game, the more likely they will keep occurring. That’s what is happening to the Islanders, who, despite emphasizing starts after slow ones all season, continue to repeat the same pattern and remain without answers.
“I don’t think we were ready.” - Ryan Pulock
“We’re searching for answers on that… we have to find answers.” - Lane Lambert
“It’s not good enough to start the game like that.” - Noah Dobson
A look closer at the stats illustrates just how dominant Edmonton was in this game. The Oilers had 38 shot attempts in the opening period compared to just 10 for the Isles, but the high-danger shots tell an even bleaker story.
Per Natural Hat Trick, the Oilers finished the game with 40 scoring chances and 20 high-danger chances overall, with 14 of them coming at 5-v-5.
As for the Islanders, they had 0 high-danger chances all night against Jack Campbell and his .878 Save Percentage. Oof. The game was not as close as the final score. But the Isles have had the ability to surprise us with a strong performance when the circumstances say otherwise, and they’ll have a chance for redemption tonight in Calgary.
Coming up, Brock Nelson is a first-time All-Star, and how you can get one of his teammates to join him. Plus, Barzal remains on a heater, Clutterbuck hits and scores in his return, and the time John Tonelli scored five goals, but Mike Bossy still ended up with more points.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Connor McDavid had two assists to reach 500 in his career, and Leon Draisaitl scored and registered his 400th NHL assist as the Edmonton Oilers snapped a five-game home winless streak with a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders at Rogers Place on Thursday night. Kailer Yamamoto scored a short-handed goal, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added two assists for the Oilers (21-17-2). Jack Campbell made 20 saves for his first win since Dec. 13. Mathew Barzal scored for the fifth straight game, Cal Clutterbuck scored in his return to the lineup after missing eight games, and Ilya Sorokin, making his eighth straight start, made 34 saves for the Islanders (22-16-2).
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 It appeared the Isles would be down no worse than 1-0 after one, but while on the PP, McDavid stripped and knocked down Nelson, which sent Kaller Yamamoto up the ice. He finished off the short-handed goal with a toe-drag as Noah Dobson slid on by.
For McDavid, this was his 500th career assist, making him the fifth fastest player in NHL history to reach the mark, doing so in his 527th game.
3 REACTIONS
❶ SALVAGE THE TRIP: "We wanted to follow up the way we finished in Vancouver, we talked about [having] a good start and we didn't get it and maybe had a worse one," Brock Nelson said. "The good news for us is we get to get right back out tomorrow and try to salvage a trip. We want to come out with a better performance and a better effort."
❷ PLAYING FROM BEHIND: "We can't expect to start off slow and spot the other team two," Noah Dobson said. "It's a tough league play in as it is on the road. When you're playing from behind it makes it even tougher against good teams. We have to learn from that. We obviously have to fix it and get ready for tomorrow night."
❸ GOT TO BE BETTER: “We failed to make little plays to get pucks out of your zone when teams are coming at you hard,” said Lane Lambert. It didn’t help that we gave the power play two chances early and they gained a bunch of momentum off of that. We’ve just got to be better. That’s it.”
GameScore Impact Card
⏭ NEXT UP: The four-game road trip ends later tonight at the Scotiabank Saddledome as the Isles visit the Calgary Flames.
Face-off is scheduled for 9:00 PM ET.
📊 STANDINGS: Despite the loss, the Isles remain in playoff position and fifth in the Metro as the Pittsburgh Penguins fell 5-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights.
📰 NEWS: From one the most underrated players in the league to NHL All-Star. Islanders center Brock Nelson is headed to his first All-Star game after he was announced as the Islanders representative to represent the Metropolitan Divison as selected by the NHL Hockey Operations Department on Thursday night.
Nelson’s skating ability, hockey IQ, and shot have always been there, but now he's having the statistical type season that puts him among the best in the league. While Barzal is the face of the franchise and already a two-time All-Star, Nelson has been the team’s most consistent offensive player and, up until Mathew Barzal’s three-point game on Tuesday, was their point leader.
The 31-year-old 2010 first-round pick has a team-leading 15 goals through 40 games, and his 23 assists have him just five helpers away from matching his career high. For the full list of All-Stars, click HERE
◾️ Forward Cal Clutterbuck was activated off IR after missing the previous eight games after going down with an injured right hand on Dec. 16. “It’s huge,” said Matt Martin about having his linemate back. “He plays a shutdown role and has offensive ability. He plays in all situations. With the amount of injuries we’ve had as of late, we’ve had to be a little more careful with matchups. It gives us our depth again.” The Isles roster now stands at 22, with an open spot remaining.
Clutterbuck scored in his return, deflecting Scott Mayfield’s shot past Jack Campbell to bring the Isles to within two before the end of the second period. He also finished the game with a team-high tying seven hits in 10:32 TOI.
◾️ Forward Kyle Palmieri did conditioning work and participated with the team in practice for the first time since Dec. 16. G Semyon Varlamov, activated off IR before the game in Vancouver is expected to get a start tonight in Calgary.
◾️Head coach Lane Lambert noted that rookie Simon Holmstrom has resumed skating back in New York - a good sign that indicates he somehow avoided a serious injury vs. the Florida Panthers. Meanwhile, Oliver Wahlstrom is not yet skating, and the plan is for Adam Pelech to start skating “soon.”
The current 3-on-3 format of the NHL All-Star Game and selection process, where every team has a representative, doesn’t lend it to many teams having multiple players in the game. There was definitely a case - a strong one- that Ilya Sorokin should have been the Metropolitan Division goaltender over his cross-town rival and friend Igor Shesterkin.
If Islanders fans want to see their goaltender at the All-Star Game (not all due after what happened to Rick DiPietro in 2006), they’ll have to work for it by voting online and waiting to see where the chips and votes fall.
📚 SOUND SMART: At this rate, Mathew Barzal may finish with 30 goals after scoring none in the first 18. Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, The Isles center extended his goal-scoring streak to a career-best five games; Barzal now has a team-leading 11 goals over the last 22 games as he moved into a tie for 3rd place on the team in goals with Zach Parise with 11.
Barzal scored his goal at 4:42 of the second period when Josh Bailey neatly slid a pass to him at the right circle. Barzal stopped it on his backhand and let go a quick wrist shot to cut the Edmonton lead to 2-1.
🗓 ISLES REWIND: On Jan. 6, 1981, John Tonelli scored five goals to tie a team record in the Islanders’ 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The great Mike Bossy played the part of playmaker on this night, assisting on all six Islanders’ goals, setting a new team record.
Wearing a large black sombrero that had been thrown on the ice by a fan after his third goal, Tonelli talked about his feat. ''The puck kept coming to me,'' he repeated. ''It kept coming and coming, and I had lots of chances. You can thank Trots and Boss for that.' To date, Tonelli and Trottier (twice) are the only Islanders to score five goals in a game.
🎧 Island Ice Ep. 151: Barzal's scoring, Dobson interview, Andrew's Answers “Andrew Gross checks in from Edmonton on the Isles' four-game West Coast trip to discuss the team, plus hear from Noah Dobson and get the answers to your questions.”
🔗 Barzal and Cizikas Clicking for Islanders by Cory Wright, NewYorkIslanders.com “They are effectively the opposite ends of the Islanders battery, but in five periods together as linemates, they've provided the Islanders with some juice.”
And we leave you with this …. Brock Nelson + All-Star = Brock Star
This also means Shannon Hogan serenading us with Smash Mouth. Enjoy!
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