Last night on Hockey Night in New York, it was another successful week for the Isles as they opened up a 6-game homestand 2-0-1 to remain in the thick of the playoff mix with a blowout win vs the Jackets and reversing their fortunes with a comeback win vs the Kings. Sean and Stefen discussed their recent play, bringing Bortuzzo into the fold, and previewed the week ahead.
Nick Alberga of The Leafs Morning Take joined in to talk Leafs with some fun banter, including the infamous John Tavares, Shohei Ohtani, a Jason Blake reference, and more!
Good Morning, Islanders Country.
There are wins, and then there are WINS.
It would have been acceptable to lose to the Kings on Saturday night, the same way LA’s previous 11 road opponents had to start the season.
In a role reversal, the Isles found themselves in the opposite position they’ve been so often this season, behind two goals late in the game against a team that hadn’t blown a third-period lead all year. Then, in a season that hasn’t made much sense, the Islanders earned a signature win against the hottest team in the league when JG Pageau scored just 13 seconds into overtime.
The whole coming back in the third period and winning In OT is much more fun when your team does it. It was the team’s first OT win in 10 tries; five earlier chances ended with losses in the extra five minutes, four times at UBS Arena.
Head coach Lane Lambert said they thought they would win the hockey game when asked about the team's mindset during the second intermission. He believed that despite the Kings’ stingy defense bottling up the Islanders in the neutral zone and limiting high-danger scoring chances.
“We know what we're capable of, and I think that was an example of that tonight,” said Anders Lee. “It's one of those things where you just have to continue to push through and get a bounce here or there every once in a while. We earned that win.”
🎧 Isles Fix Podcast Network
Make sure you are subscribed to The Red Line on your favorite platform.
Throughout a hockey season, good teams find ways to win games and earn points when facing adversity, whether inside a game or a prolonged stretch.
The Isles are down three of their regular defensemen and still have found a way to collect points in 11 of their last 12 games (7-1-3). Yet, it takes games like Saturday night to make you start to believe that this team is, in fact, good and even has a chance to be better than that.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Isles Fix to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.