Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Take a deep breath, we’re almost at the All-Star break. They say the best defense is a good offense and last night the good offense came from the defense.
The Islanders weren’t able to give themselves any breathing room until the second period last night against the Ottawa Senators. They allowed the first goal yet again (5th straight game), but this time, tied the game before the end of the first and then an Ilya Sorokin clutch save a Scott Mayfield 81-foot pass propelled the team to a must-have 4-1 win.
Check out Nassaumen Hockey’s LIVE postgame reaction to Tuesday nights game below:
Coming up, the original six are reunited on D and a Bridgeport netminder’s sparkling month is recognized, Plus, Jiggs gets the call to be on the call and Denis Potvin’s No.5 is the first to go to the rafters. But first, let’s recap last night’s win.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Ryan Pulock returned to the lineup and provided a boost to a blue-line that registered five points as the Islanders (16-16-6) defeated the Ottawa Senators (14-22-4) 4-1 at UBS Arena on Tuesday night. Oliver Wahlstrom and Mathew Barzal each scored their 10th goal of the season in the second period and Scott Mayfield was named the game’s first star with a pair of pretty assists on goals by Barzal and Adam Pelech. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves in the win to end the Isles’ two-game losing streak and bring them back to the .500 mark. Pulock ended the game with 15:26 of ice time.
🔑 KEY MOMENT(s):
🔸 You may have pulled your groin watching this save. With the game tied 1-1 in the second period, Ilya Sorokin showed off his flexibility, robbing the speedy Alex Formenton by sticking out the left pad and stopping his backhand attempt.
🔹 At the 8:42 mark, Zdeno Chara’s high shot to the net was tipped by Oliver Wahlstrom who then was able to locate the rebound and beat Anton Forsberg. For Wahlstrom, it was his second goal in as many games and his 10th on the season.
🔸 After some good work by Anders Lee on the sideboards, Scott Mayfield delivered an “80-foot pass on a platter” as Brendan Burke said to an open Mathew Barzal who blasted a slap shot into the left corner of the net for a 3-1 Isles lead.
3 REACTIONS
❶ FIRST TIME, LONG TIME: “I think that was our first time with a full lineup that we started the year with,” said Scott Mayfield on Pulock’s return. “So having him back in as a top d-man, it’s big for us and I think he played really well after some time off.”
❷ GAVE US A CHANCE: “We haven’t really had the best starts the past couple of games but I mean Sorokin was good all game, noted Anthony Beauvillier. “He kept us in the game, big saves in key moments too. He gave us a chance to win again tonight.”
❸ PRETTY EASY NIGHT: “It was a little different seeing the lineup that we thought we’d have to start the year. It’s been a process for us, said Trotz in the post-game. “This year, it’s been just a very difficult year, in a lot of ways, but it was good. It was good to see Ryan back in there. And then you know, I thought it was pretty easy night for our D for the most part.”
⏭ NEXT UP: Thirds times a charm. Tonight we expect Jordan Eberle and the Seattle Kraken’s game versus the Islanders to be played as scheduled. Puck drop is at 7 pm. This is the final game before the All-Star game where Adam Pelech will represent the Isles in Las Vegas.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: The Islanders activated D Ryan Pulock off long-term injured reserve before Tuesday’s game. Pulock missed 25 games after suffering a lower-body injury in November that had an original timetable of 4 to 6 weeks but healed slowly.
“He will help us,” Trotz said. “He’s a veteran guy who’s important to our lineup. He’s missed probably 25 games or so, which is significant for us. He’s a big piece for us, both offensively and defensively.
Pulock’s return meant that the Islanders’ defense was back to their full-strength opening night lineup. A lot has changed since the injury. For perspective, in the game in which Pulock was injured, Noah Dobson was a healthy scratch. That’s unimaginable now as Dobson’s game has developed and matured, partly as a necessity with Pulock out.
In the corresponding roster move, Robin Salo was loaned to the taxi squad. Salo has played 18 games this season, posting a minus-4 with one goal and three assists in that span. With the condensed second-half schedule, Barry Trotz has alluded to giving veteran defenseman Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara the occasional night off which should mean more opportunities for Salo as the season goes on.
👏🏻 BIG MONTH: The American Hockey League announced today that Bridgeport Islanders netminder Jakub Skarek has been named AHL Goaltender of the Month for January. The 2018 3rd round pick went 5-0-2 during eight appearances in January, recording a 1.98 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage for the New York Islanders’ AHL affiliate.
Skarek is 12-8-4 in 26 appearances with Bridgeport this season, posting a 2.76 goals-against average along with a .911 save percentage and one shutout.
🎙 GETTIN’ JIGGY WIT IT: Legendary play-by-play announcer Jiggs McDonald, who spent 15 years as the voice of the Islanders, will be back on the call for the team’s game against the Seattle Kraken later tonight.
The game with Seattle was originally set to be played this past Saturday, but had to be rescheduled due to the recent storm as you know. With the date change, Brendan Burke is no longer available due to the fact that he was already scheduled to work a game with TNT this night. Therefore, Jiggs will be filling in for Brendan and making his UBS debut after performing emcee duties at the home opener on Nov. 20th.
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves to improve to 6-1-0 in his last seven games (.919, 1.85 GAA). Among goalies who have played at least five games in that span, only Ville Husso of the Blues (1.37) has a lower goals against average. Sorokin now has thirteen wins, matching his rookie season total. The Islanders have now won 8 of 9 against the Sens and have scored at least four goals in each game.
🗓 ISLE REMEMBER: 30 years ago on February 1, 1992, Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin became the first Islander to have his number retired as the captain’s No. 5 was raised to the rafters at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
“This building became, at a very young age, the most important structure in my life. If I'm to be memorialized or immortalized, it should be here," Potvin said during his pre-game ceremony. "I now feel like I'm really home and I'm never going away."
You can watch his speech HERE (Oh, look, there’s Jiggs!)
🔗 Ryan Pulock’s return provides lift to Islanders by Joe Pantorno, AMNY “Ryan Pulock is finally back in the picture for the Islanders after missing 25 games with a lower-body injury that was suffered on Nov. 15. What was originally given a 4-to-6 week timetable for a return extended over 10 weeks — the first-pairing defenseman’s absence creating a sizable void within the team’s ranks.”
🔗 3 Islanders Needs at the 2022 Trade Deadline by Jon Zella, The Hockey Writers “And though the trade deadline is less than two months away – March 21 – the Islanders need to start thinking about making some sort of move if they have any hopes of re-entering the postseason conversation.”
And we leave you with this …. Tuesday marked the start of Black History Month and the Islanders featured a video on social media of 5th graders from Elmont that created special Islanders’ themed patches to commemorate black history.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter for regular updates until the next newsletter.
And please check out our newsletters about the Knicks and Mets, too.