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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Well, that wasn’t boring, but it wasn’t fun either.
As bad losses go, this one was up there. The Isles had the lead, had the momentum, and were the team that needed the points; it was a game you expected them to win. I mean, they scored five goals, four through two periods, with one of the best goalies in the world in net.
Given the circumstances and standings, it’s a game you have to win.
That felt especially true after Bo Horvat extended the lead to 4-2 with under five minutes to go in the second period. The Islanders were in a position to win their fifth straight and move up to the top Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Perhaps at that point, you even started thinking about another winnable game on Saturday afternoon in Montreal. That was a mistake.
Instead, they allowed up a goal on their next shift, took a bad penalty, and blew the lead in the third period as Ilya Sorokin struggled on a rare off-night, allowing six goals in a game for only the second time in his career (4/24/22 vs. WSH).
In the end, it was Anthony Beauviller getting the storybook moment, tipping in a PP goal for the would-be game-winner. You were so annoyed by what had transpired you couldn’t feel good for him at that moment.
Just as you started to believe the team had turned a corner, they let an opportunity slip away in a game where they committed 23 giveaways, something Lane Lambert called “unacceptable at this point of the season” in the post-game.
The momentum was building, then it slowed down, and then it stopped. It was lost. How unlikely was this loss? It was the first time Isles scored 5 goals and lost in regulation since a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 22, 2018, in Brooklyn. An unacceptable effort led to an unlikely outcome.
Coming up a day of emotions for Beau and Bo as the Islanders and Canucks meet 10 days after their trade. Plus, Samuel Bolduc gets back in the lineup, Brock hits the 20-goal target yet again, and Barzy and his best friend share a moment.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Anthony Beauvillier scored the eventual game-winner on the power play in the third period as the Vancouver Canucks rallied from two goals down to defeat the Islanders 6-5 at UBS Arena on Thursday night. Elias Pettersson had two third-period goals and an assist, and Brock Boeser had a goal and two assists for the Canucks (21-27-4), who got 24 saves from Collin Delia. Former Canucks captain Bo Horvat scored in his second consecutive game for the Islanders. Mathew Barzal, Kyle Palmieri, Brock Nelson, and Noah Dobson also scored. After registering shutouts in his two prior starts, Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals on 34 shots for the Islanders (27-23-5).
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔸 Bo Horvat is looking forward to a game where he doesn’t feel nervous. He’s had an Islander debut, a home debut, and a game against his former team, but his play hasn’t suffered. Horvat scored his second goal as an Islander finding space to be on the receiving end of a Mathew Barzal pass for a one-timer that gave the Isles a 4-2 lead with 4:47 left to play in the second period.
🔻 The other (or lone) Canucks All-Star, Elias Pettersson, scored on the PP to tie the game at 4-4 and then beat Ilya Sorokin again at the 8:28 mark to give Vancouver the lead.
🔻 After Adam Pelech took his second penalty of the third period, Beuavillier tipped in Brock Boeser’s shot at 16:58 of the third and gave the UBS Arena crowd the all-too-familiar celly. It marked the first time the Islanders allowed two PP goals at home since Dec. 2 vs. Nashville.
3 REACTIONS
❶ TOO MANY MISTAKES: "This one hurts for sure," Brock Nelson said after the loss. "Being up 4-2, to think we can close it out at home against a team on a back-to-back, we made too many mistakes."
❷ NOT GOOD ENOUGH: "Thought we just didn't break the puck out well," Noah Dobson said. "Too many turnovers and I think overall it's just not a good enough effort. We definitely have to be better than that."
❸ SENSE OF FRUSTRATION: "When you're up 4-2 late in the second period and don't win the hockey game, you feel like you let something slip away," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "There's a sense of frustration in that.
GameScore Impact Card
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders head north of the border to Montreal for a Saturday afternoon matinee against the Canadiens. The early face-off is at 12:30 PM ET
📊 STANDINGS: The Florida Panthers beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 to get to within one point behind the Islanders for ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
📰 NEWS: The storyline before the game was Bo vs. Beau, a quick homecoming for Anthony Beauvillier 10 days after being traded and Bo Horvat playing against the team he served as captain for over four seasons. “It’s weird,” Horvat said. “I’ve never played against Vancouver. Seeing the guys that you grew up playing with over the years and that jersey, and you’re not wearing it, it’s definitely weird.
“I’m just going to be relieved when the game starts going. Again, more nerves are stopped, and we can just go and play hockey.”
A SPECIAL PLACE: “It will always be a special place in my heart. Wearing an Islanders sweater, it was great,” Beauvillier said in NYIHockeyNow. “So much history behind the logo and that dynasty team, and it meant the world to me, and honestly, as I’ve said that before, I came here as a teenager and left as a man, and I owe everything to the organization, guys in locker room.”
◾️After netting his first NHL goal on Tuesday night, Samuel Bolduc earned the start ahead of Sebastian Aho against the Vancouver Canucks. "(We have) a lot of trust in (Bolduc)," Lambert explained before the game.. "We've talked about his poise, and he's got size, his reach. He does a lot of the little things well, good stick positioning and things like that. He's done a good job.
The Islanders, who at one point of the season were carrying only six defensemen regularly, now have eight on the roster since Bolduc and Parker Wotherspoon were called up from AHL Bridgeport. Needless to say, there is active competition for the sixth D spot for the rest of the season.
Before the game, Beauvillier spoke with MSGNetworks’ Shannon Hogan about a weird week and an even weirder day returning back to UBS Arena. At the first TV timeout, Beau received a video tribute and a standing ovation from the crowd.
📚 SOUND SMART: According to NHL PR, Brock Nelson became the eighth player in Islanders history to record seven or more seasons with 20-plus goals, joining Bryan Trottier (13x), Mike Bossy (10x), Brent Sutter (10x), Denis Potvin (9x), John Tavares (9x), Clark Gillies (8x) and Bobby Nystrom (7x).
🗓 ISLES REWIND: On Feb. 10, 2019, rookie Devon Toews scored the tiebreaking goal early in the second period, and Thomas Greiss stopped 26 shots as the Islanders beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 at Barclays Center. Anthony Beauvillier also scored for the Metropolitan Division-leading Isles, which won for the fourth time in five games and ninth in 12 (9-1-2) to increase its lead to five points over second-place Washington.
🔗 Whirlwind for Bo Horvat, Anthony Beauvillier ends with reunion by Andrew Gross, Newsday "Bo Horvat is moving on, making plans for his post-Vancouver life on Long Island with his wife, Holly. The couple even did some preliminary house hunting this week in Garden City and Manhasset.”
🔗 Islanders trade board: What they need, and who might make sense by Kevin Kurz, The Athletic “So are the Islanders done dealing before the March 3 trade deadline? Maybe. But the roster still looks like it needs at least one or two more upgrades if they are going to have any chance of making a playoff run. And there are still other players out there that could help.”
And we leave you with this …. more Beau and Barzy long-distance friendship goals.
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I've been saying for weeks that our D makes too many mistakes. The staff's absolute refusal to explore any other way to leave the D zone other than up the boards is inconceivable. We give up so many chances for breakouts and offensive chances by virtue of having zero transitional plays. Even when a defensemen slows down and settles the puck w/ no pressure, the play is often a 100 ft pass that results on a tip/dump-in or icing. That is not offense.
Dobson has been downright awful, all year. The goals make everyone blind.
Give me Aho over any of the other D6 candidates, at least he lugs the puck.
.....as I noted in a related 'Four On The Isle' posting Comments thread, two people - and ARGUABLY, one person - that being Alexander Romanov & a likely-DEMORALIZED-[by-same] Ilya Sorokin, were PRIMARILY responsible for Vancouver's final FOUR goals - Alex, NEEDS to GO, I'm SAD to say (for MULTIPLE reasons) with PARKER brought BACK up, STAT.....