Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The Isles decided it was in their best interests to show signs of life last night when they barely had a pulse. In what was unquestionably the biggest game of the year, the first true “must win” feel this season, they needed to play desperate hockey from puck drop, and the fact that they didn’t is an indictment on the players that keep telling us they have the character to bounce back, but don’t.
Head Coach Patrick Roy remained positive after the game, going as far as to say that the team “deserved to win” a game they were trailing 5-1 in the third period. The comments were so over the top that Thomas Hickey had to politely disagree on the MSG Networks postgame show, pointing out that while the Islanders were pretty even at even strength, mistakes are part of the game, and the Isles made too many mistakes and the Red Wings capitalized on them.
Maybe Roy is taking the long view, and it’s about a whole lot more than these next 13 games for him. We get that, and he’s still evaluating this team at a micro-level, so maybe his motivations for stretching the truth have a purpose.
These are the types of stretches where fans start calling for major change. Even the most steadfast believers in this group know that their identity has diminished to the point where they are barely recognizable from the teams that are the reason why you wanted to believe in them. There’s 13 games left, but the feeling already is, where do they go from here? At the trade deadline, GM Lou Lamoriello said the players tell you what to do at that point of the season. What does he think the players are telling him now?
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Captain Dylan Larkin returned to the lineup after missing eight games and scored twice as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Islanders 6-3 at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night to move five points up on the Isles for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Christian Fischer had a goal and two assists, Andrew Copp scored twice for the Red Wings (36-28-6), and James Reimer made 34 saves. Mike Reilly, JG Pageau and Mathew Barzal each had a goal for the Islanders (29-25-15), who have lost six straight (0-5-1) after winning six straight. Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves in the loss.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔻 After Copp scored his first goal since Jan. 27, Larkin scored with 1:52 left in the period on a one-timer off a DeBrincat feed. It was the 18th time this season that the Isles allowed 2+ goals in less than a six-minute span.
🔻 Isles came out better in the third, but then Copp scored his second of the game off the inside of Sorokin’s pad for a 4-1 lead.
🔻 Pageau and Barzal each scored to make 5-3, and then Bo Horvat had this glorious chance to make it a one-goal game with around four minutes left.
3 REACTIONS
❶ PLAYED A GOOD GAME: I know the name of the game is winning, but our guys played a really good game, said Patrick Roy. “[If they] play this game again, and I'm pretty sure we would win it."
❷ NO QUITTERS: "There are no quitters on this team," JG Pageau said. "We didn't get the result we want, we're going to look back at the game, see what we can do better. Everyone can embrace the challenge and get ready to start a winning streak and that's kind of our mindset right now."
❸ BAD START TO THE THIRD: “[Roy] came out to talk to us after the second and said let’s go out and try to win in the third period,” Mike Reilly said. “Not the start we could have had there.”
GAME IMPACT SCORE
⏭ NEXT UP: The Isles return home with a six-game losing streak for back-to-back weekend games against the Winnipeg Jets and New Jersey Devils.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Patrick Roy went with three new lines on Thursday night as Mathew Barzal centered Anders Lee and Hudson Fasching. Due to Detroit’s quickness, Roy elected to sit Matt Martin as Pierre Engvall drew back in the lineup and played with JG Pageau and Simon Holmstrom. Kyle MacLean played left wing on a line with Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck. Meanwhile, Roberto Bortuzzo returned to the lineup after missing 31 games as Sebastian Aho was scratched.
The Patrick Roy Effect
The timing of the article would have been better received during the team’s six-game winnings streak, but in The Athletic, Shayna Goldman provided a deep dive into the changes in how the Islanders have played since Patrick Roy took over for Lane Lambert on Jan. 20th.
The Isles turned one of the biggest weaknesses — how they defend in transition — into a strength. The team has gone from 32nd in its rate of rush shots against to eighth in the league heading into Tuesday night, only allowing 10.9 per 60 since the coaching change. The team’s rush chances were also reduced, from the 24th-worst standing in the league during the Lambert era to the fifth-best over the last two months.
Despite how the last stretch of games has gone, Roy was able to turn around a number of the troubling trends we saw under Lambert, which makes it so surprising to see how things have fallen apart in the last six games. It’s equally as surprising that he hasn’t been able to get them out of this rut.
Shifts Happen
For the New York Post, Ethan Sears went behind the numbers of the Islanders’ shift times following Patrick Roy’s comments after the loss to Carolina on Tuesday night. What he found was that while Roy’s comments made sense, especially about not having prolonged shifts and getting stuck in the defensive zone, you couldn’t draw any clear conclusions between shift lengths and wins.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, The Isles allowed three goals in the second period for the third straight road game; that last happened in October 1995. The Isles have allowed three goals in a period in three straight games for the first time since April 2022.
🎥 ISLES REWIND: On March 22, 1984, Bryan Trottier scored 5 seconds after the opening face-off against the Bruins at Boston Garden. The goal tied the NHL record set in 1981 by Doug Smail of Winnipeg for the quickest goal in a game. Despite the fast start, the Islanders needed two goals from Mike Bossy to erase a 3-1 deficit and tie the Bruins 3-3.
You can watch the entire game HERE
🎧 Talkin’ Isles - Mark Streit “Former Islanders defenseman Mark Streit joined Greg and Cory for Ep. 60 of the podcast. Streit talks about growing up in Switzerland (1:49), his NHL Draft story (12:19), the Islanders' 2013 playoff run (21:57), signing with the Islanders in 2008 (15:53), playing for Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey (27:49), his watch company (31:41) and more”
🔗 The Reason Islanders Patrick Roy Doesn't Withhold Information by Stefen Rosner, The Hockey News “Patrick Roy has been transparent from day one about who is going to be in goal, what lineup changes he's making, and why. He doesn't do it for the media or the odd makers. He does it for the fans”
🔗 Patrick Roy Sending the Wrong Message to Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin by Anthony Russo, The Hockey Writers “Ahead of Roy’s comments, Sorokin in recent games only really had a rough start against the New York Rangers, where he posted a .839 SV%. But the criticism from the head coach doesn’t do any justice. Sure, he’s probably frustrated that Sorokin hasn’t given the Islanders elite goaltending for most of the season – but it’s a distraction from the core issues.”
And we leave you with this ….it was a few weeks ago, but the team put together this video montage of 2024 Alumni Weekend.
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