Good Morning, Islanders Country.
It was a slow news day. No game, no practice, no media availability, just 24 hours to reflect on two nights of thrilling come-from-behind, never-say-die hockey.
It was lovely.
You probably spent the day watching highlights, boasting to your friends that root for the Blueshirts, and checking out the NHL standings that show the Islanders (9-5-0) have the fourth-best winning % in the league and are winners of seven of their last eight games.
It’s not often you can savor the feeling of your hockey team coming back from multi-goal third-period deficits on consecutive nights. It’s only happened three other times in NHL history! The Islanders now lead the league in comebacks, having won five of their nine games when once trailing. It has them and their fans feeling good vibes heading into tonight’s game at UBS Arena.
Coming up, tonight’s visitors are used to the road, and Lane Lambert gets rave reviews from his players. Plus, a sign of change, an homage to Score-O, Igor’s struggles versus the Isles, and Connor McDavid was verifiably traded to the Isles.
Let’s dive in.
📰 NEWS: The Islanders were off on Wednesday as they get ready to hit home ice later tonight against the visiting Arizona Coyotes. Head coach André Tourigny’s team is a respectable 5-6-1 through 12 games under difficult circumstances.
You thought the Islanders’ 13-game road trip to start the season was tough? The Coyotes opened up on a six-game road trip, have played just four “home” games at Mullet Arena, the rink of the Arizona State Sun Devils, and tonight on Long Island, will play game three of a 14-game road trip.
Arizona has won its last three road games, including the first two on this marathon trip. Nick Ritchie has six goals and two assists on the season, while Clayton Keller has three goals and nine assists over the last 10 games.
After a 2-4-0 start, first-year head coach Lane Lambert was facing early adversity. The Islanders had just been worked over by the New Jersey Devils (doesn’t look so bad now, does it?) and were facing down a gauntlet of games that, if it went wrong, could send their season into an early tailspin with last year’s disappointment fresh in the minds of players and fans.
But rather than let that happen, the team got to work, found their chemistry and scoring touch, and became one of the hottest teams in the league. More than that, they’ve shown resiliency, and then some in engineering three third-period comebacks. Lambert and his team passed their first test with flying colors, and the players say it is a testament to their new but familiar coach behind the bench.
◾️ IN THE DETAILS: “Laner is as detailed of a head coach as you’re ever gonna find,” Matt Martin told The New York Post following the win Tuesday. “He was a detailed assistant coach as well, even when Trotz was head coach. In terms of in-game adjustments and what we’d do, I think Laner had a lot of say in that stuff.”
◾️ DESERVES THE CREDIT: “I think it’s a credit to Lane and his staff,” Anders Lee said. “[And] I think it’s a credit to players taking what they have to say and being coachable and putting out great efforts every night. And it’s a team effort.”
🛣 ISLANDERS WAY: Per Stefan Rosner of NYIHockeyNow, Red Road, the road next to UBS Arena's Silver & Diamond parking lots will be renamed Islanders Way later this morning.
Co-Owner Jon Ledecky and Supervisor Don Clavin will unveil the new street sign as they commemorate the team's time in the Town of Hempstead.
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are back at UBS Arena tonight to welcome the Arizona Coyotes. The puck drops in Elmont at 7:30 PM.
📊 STANDINGS:
🚨 SCORE O-YEAH: Not every Rangers fan went home upset on Tuesday night. Ryan Rosado participated in the “shoot to win” competition and went home with a brand-new car when he shot the puck through a small cutout from center-ice.
🚘 ORIGIN STORY: Keeping with the theme for WFAN.com, Peter Schwartz, in great detail, writes about the history and origin of “Score-O” at the Nassau Coliseum. When you purchased a $2 program, if the box on the bottom of the Chevrolet ad on the back was signed by an Islanders player, it meant you could participate in Score-O and have a chance to win a car.
From the red line, the fan would get two attempts to shoot the puck into a small opening in a board that was placed in front of the net. The contest was supposed to be great advertising for the Chevy dealers and at no risk!
No one was going to make the shot, the Islanders team couldn’t even do it! But no one told “Norman One Shot” from East Islip, who incredibly hit the target during Score-O’s debut on October 13th, 1979, during the second intermission of a game versus the Buffalo Sabres. It’s a fun read; check it out.
📚 SOUND SMART: Tuesday’s comeback 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers notched another “L” in the loss column for Igor Shesterkin vs. the Isles. Last season’s Vezina Trophy winner. The rivalry has not gone in his favor in nine career games where he’s totaled an uncharacteristic .884 SV% and 3.15 GAA and a record of 1-7-1. The one win came last November at UBS Arena against an Islanders roster more resembling the Brideport Islanders due to COVID-19 protocols. It’s safe to say, at this point, the Islanders have his number.
🗓 THIS DATE IN ISLANDERS HISTORY: On November 10, 1984, a pair of youngsters paired up for the game-winning goal. Pat Flatley scored at 11:15 of the third period to break a 4-4 tie and lift the Islanders to a 5-4 victory over Pittsburgh Penguins. Flatley and Pat LaFontaine broke into the Pittsburgh zone on a 2-on-1 rush, and the future Isles captain beat Penguin goaltender Michel Dion to his short side from the right faceoff circle for his third goal of the season.
🎧 Nassaumen Hockey Podcast: Episode 129 - James Nichols and Jon Zella cover the last week in New York Islanders hockey, where the team has continued to come back in third periods following some inconsistent play.
🔗 Islanders starting to cash in on power-play opportunities, by Andrew Gross, Newsday: “The Islanders’ assertion all along, even if the analytics didn’t necessarily corroborate it, was that power-play chances were being created and it was just a matter of converting on the opportunities. That’s certainly been the case of late as the Islanders are 5-for-14 (35.7%) on the man advantage over their last five games with a power-play goal in four of them.”
🔗 Islanders giving coach Lane Lambert rave reviews by Ethan Sears, New York Post: “Fourteen games into his head-coaching career, Lane Lambert says he hasn’t been surprised by much. His Islanders have surprised the outside world, however, with a 9-5-0 record following a second-straight third-period surge that led to a 4-3 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night.”
And we leave you with this…As you may have heard, $8 a month can now get you the coveted blue checkmark on Twitter - and that has some unintended consequences. On Wednesday, a now-suspended Twitter impersonating Connor McDavid announced that he'd been traded to the New York Islanders.
It gave Oilers fans minor heart attacks and Isles fans a chuckle as they knew it was a farce. After all, the tweet said, “in long island.”
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