Good Morning, Islanders Country.
It was a game with a familiar face and familiar ending as the Islanders lost 4-3 to Robin Lehner and the Vegas Golden Knights in a Sunday matinee at UBS Arena. New York has failed to earn a second point in six tries this season, failing once again to score in the shootout - now 0 for 7 on the season.
Coming up, Long Island is in Lehner’s heart and on his neck, Greene commemorates his 1,000th, and Nelson puts himself in some impressive company Plus, a mystery backup for Bridgeport and an Isles sweater makes a cameo in the multiverse. But first, a recap of the matinee loss.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Shea Theodore scored the tying goal, his second of the game, with 48 seconds left in the third period and the deciding goal in the shootout as the New York Islanders (8-12-6) fell 4-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights (20-11-0) at UBS Arena. In his first game back on Long Island, Robin Lehner made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who also got a goal from Jonathan Marchessault. Ilya Sorokin made 31 saves and Oliver Wahlstrom had two assists for the Islanders. Kieffer Bellows scored a goal and had his first NHL fight, and J.G. Pageau gave the Isles a short-lived lead late in the third period.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔶 A strong, 10-save second period by Sorokin saw a number of impressive save sequences to keep the Islanders and Golden Knights tied at one after 40 minutes of play.
🔻 Shea Theadore gave the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead early at 5:46 of the third period with a blast from the point. It was his fifth of the season and second in three games.
🔷 Zach Parise forced a Nicolas Hague turnover at the Golden Knights blueline and then found Bellows who tied the game with a wrist shot from the slot at 14:19 of the third period.
🔶 After a Cal Clutterbuck would-be go-ahead goal was called off due to an off-side, Pageau gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead with 2:20 left when he one-timed a Wahlstrom pass from behind the net to beat Lehner low glove.
🔻 The Knights pulled Lehner in the final minute of the third period, and with an extra skater on the ice for Vegas, Theadore continued to wreak havoc with another blast from the blueline sending the game into overtime with just 48 seconds left.
🔻 After Theodore led things off with a goal against Sorokin, Anthony Beauvillier had an opportunity to tie things in the shootout but hit the post. The Isles would go scoreless as Wahlstrom couldn’t solve Lehner either, and Nicolas Roy sealed the for a Golden Knights victory.
3 TAKEAWAYS
❶ OVERTIME SADNESS: "We haven't been great 3-on-3,” Barry Trotz said. “I think that was our best 3-on-3 of the year. The shootouts, I think we're an 0-for. That's an opportunity for extra points."
❷ FIESTY: "I liked [Bellows’] compete," Trotz said. "You could tell his feistiness, he got into a fight with Pacioretty, scored a big goal. His ice time was a little bit limited and that's on me, that's not on Kieffer, he probably is working his way… As a veteran player you probably get a bit more rope than a younger guy and Kieffer is making a case to get a little more rope every time he gets in there. If you look at the minutes, he probably deserved a few more, but that's on me, but he's making a case every time he gets in the lineup."
❸ ONE IS BETTER THAN NONE: "We played with some urgency when we were down a goal to come back like this against a team like Vegas that keeps pressing," Pageau said. "I thought we did a really good job tonight to come back and to get the lead. It's unfortunate to give up a goal at the end like this and lose that point, but overall we grabbed a big point today."
⏭ NEXT UP: After the postponement of Monday’s tilt with the Montreal Canadiens at UBS Arena, the next scheduled game (as of now) is Thursday night at home versus Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Before the puck even dropped, the Islanders learned they lost two more players to COVID protocol. Matt Martin and Robin Salo were late scratches as the team was still waiting on their PCR test results.
🗓 POSTPONED: The NHL and NHLPA came to an agreement on Sunday afternoon that cross-border play will be postponed until after Christmas. As a result, the Islanders and Montreal Canadiens will not play tonight.
🏒EVER-GREENE: The Isles then celebrated Andy Greene’s 1,000th NHL game (11/15/2021) and awarded him with a silver stick, his own jersey signed by the entire roster, and a commemorative plaque celebrating his career. Greene’s wife, mother, and two sons were in attendance for the celebration.
🗿 MILESTONE: Cal Clutterbuck skated in his 900th NHL game in Sunday’s matinee against the Golden Knights. He is now the fifth active Islander with 900 or more games, joining Zdeno Chara, Zach Parise, Andy Greene, and Josh Bailey.
💙 SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP: Robin Lehner returned to Long Island for the first time since his departure in the summer of 2019, and he knew exactly what to do:
No matter the outcome of the game, it was, and always will be, a warm welcome with open arms for Islander fans after a special bond was formed between the fans, but also everyone in the Islanders organization.
“I’m just really proud of him of what he’s done with his life.” - Barry Trotz on Lehner.
🐞 EBUG (SORT OF): Michael Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post reported on Saturday that Bridgeport Islanders goaltender, Cory Schneider, was scratched from Saturday’s contest against the Charlotte Checkers. The reason for his scratch is unknown. With that, B Isles defenseman, Mike Cornell, dressed as Jakub Skarek’s backup in an interesting plot twist.
📚 SOUND SMART: Nelson put himself in some ELITE company scoring his 10th goal of the season in Sunday’s matinee. The 29-year old center is now tied for fourth all-time in most consecutive 10+ goal seasons to start his NHL career behind Bryan Trottier (15), Clark Gillies (11), and Mike Bossy (10).
🔗 Islanders squander late lead, fall to old friend Lehner, Golden Knights in shootout, by Joe Pantorno, amNewYork: “It was only fitting that a meeting between the Islanders’ goaltender of the future and one of the most beloved netminders in team history had to decide Sunday’s affair between New York and the Vegas Golden Knights in a shootout.”
🔗 Fan vote calls Islanders fifth most annoying fan base, by Michel Anderson, Eyes on Isles: “JFresh had enough on Twitter. He wanted to know which fanbase in the NHL was the most annoying and enlisted the help of his 46,000 followers and the rest of hockey Twitter to figure it out. He had his own assumptions but dammit he was going to find out what everyone else thought. Where did the New York Islanders land?”
And we leave you with this …. SORT OF BUT NOT REALLY SPOILER WARNING FOR SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME… The Isles are officially in the MCU as you can clearly see an Islanders jersey hanging in Harold "Happy" Hogan’s apartment!
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